Experiences with loft beds?

[Anonymous]

Our 9yo is in a tiny room, and a loft bed is the only solution that leaves any useable floor space. So far, here are my answers for you:

1. We leave it up to the kids whether to make their beds or not, and they mostly don't. Changing the sheets (which we do NOT leave up to them) is a bit of a PITA, but really not that big a deal if you are okay with a less-than-perfect finish (which we are).

2. No. I think my kids are part feline.

3. We don't really do picture books any more, so she listens from bed but I sit in a chair. When she was younger, and shared bunk beds with her younger brother, we would do stories on the lower bunk and then she would climb up to the upper bunk for sleep. She would always use the potty after stories and before sleep anyway, so this was nbd.
2.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are reconfiguring some rooms due to a new WFH job, and my 7 year old will be moving into a small bedroom (which she's fine with--she likes the room). To save space, we're considering getting a loft bed that is over a dresser, such as this one (or a less expensive version, if we can find one):

https://www.wayfair.com/baby-kids/pdp/harriet-bee-drina-twin-solid-wood-loft-bed-by-harriet-bee-w006508382.html?piid=31856478

Does anyone have a bed like this? It's not as high as a bunk bed, but higher than a regular bed. I'm worried that, after the newness wears off, she won't like sleeping so high up. She only gets out of bed overnight on rare occasions, so I'm not worried about her falling. But I do have some questions for those with experience with loft beds:

1. Is it really hard to make the bed? Also, is it annoying to change the sheets?

2. Did your kid get sick of sleeping up so high?

3. If you read to your kid in bed, was it a pain to climb up and down? It'll be a twin mattress, so it's a small space.

Annoying to make but you can get Beddies.

[Anonymous]

Betty's are horrible quality and harder than hell. To launder in my opinion

[Anonymous]

I had either a loft bed or bunk beds growing up due to small rooms and shared spaces.... I loved both until I got to be about 9 or 10:00 and then I couldn't stand under the loft any more and I didn't want to crawl under there because I hated how dark it was.... It didn't get a lot of light since the bed covered up part of the window.
Bunk beds weren't bad but my sister and I fought over the bottom bunk because we both hated the top after about 6 months. It sucked to get up and down, especially if you had to go to the bathroom and there was no nightstand or light nearby.. My dad finally built a headboard that had a built-in bookcase for it, but that took up more room than it was worth overall... Still couldn't have a lamp because the top of the shelf was too close to the ceiling. Overall, I hated it and would have rather just shared a full-size bed on the ground with my sister than what my parents tried to rig up.

[Anonymous]

A factor I haven't seen here that has arisen for us is when a loft-bed kid is sick and either you want/need to be able to check on them or they need to be able to get to the bathroom on short notice (ugh). We moved DCs to the floor under circumstances like that, so it helps to think through that eventuality.

[Anonymous]

Growing up we thought it was neat when friends had loft beds but to have one myself would have been annoying.
I love being able to easily lay on my bed to read and enjoy the sun shining in on my bed. I would not have liked having to climb up into bed.
I think a shorter loft bed is the worst of both worlds, no night stand, ability to sit on bed, but underneath is really unusable for play/standing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Yes
No
Yes - I sit on the floor to read or have child starts in our bed. -But I’m an older mom. When I was younger, I used to climb into my nephew’s loft. It depends on ceiling height and your comfort with the ladder. Definitely brace it on the wall.

Same here. I sometimes stand while DC lays in bed for reading.

[Anonymous]

My 6yo has been in one since she was 4. It's not a pain to make it because it isn't too high up and she still loves sleeping in there.

I'd highly recommend one with open shelving though. Our's holds SO MANY things under there it's wild. DH and I still geek out about what a great choice that was.

[Anonymous]

I had a full sized loft bed as a kid, so I'm chiming in based on my experiences with that.

My parents were able to get up in it with me for bedtime reading. I think it was a bit of a nuisance for them, especially as my dad is 6'4", so it was tight for him. He did it anyway and I'm grateful for that.

I liked the loft bed for a good several years (about from ages 7 to 12), but I was over it once I was a teen. At that point the floor space wasn't worth it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:1. Yes, huge pita
2. No, kid likes it a lot
3. We do story time in our bed. I’ve never been up in his bed, doesn’t seem like a comfortable place for an adult

Exactly this for us too.

[Anonymous]

My kid has an elevated bed. In being higher up than normal, it’s not comfortable and you’ll have to figure out what to do in place of a nightstand. I’ve wondered about a Murphy bed, if that’s any better.

[Anonymous]

We got a bunk bed from Ikea. It had good guard rails too. My daughter who usually doesn't move a whole lot in her sleep slept on it the first night. No idea what happened but she crossed the guard rail in her sleep and fell down hitting her forehead. It was the scariest event for us. Thankfully all has worked out fine but we had to make a few trips to the pediatrician when she later complained of dizziness. It wasn't a concussion per the doctor but she narrowly escaped it. Carpet on the floor helped. We returned the bed and put her mattress on the floor -- safest option!
This was a rare incident though.
If you plan to buy that bed, please have an extra mattress or pillows on the floor in case your child rolls and falls down. It should be okay to remove once they get used to it.

[Anonymous]

My kid did get sick of it pretty quickly. We actually found that the room felt bigger without it because it took up so much visual space.

[Anonymous]

We got our kids a loft bed that we use as a bunk bed, bc they were too young at the time to trust with a real bunk bed. They're older now but the set up still works. The kids are not sick of it. I don't find changing the sheets to be too challenging - maybe bc I'm tall? But the bed only is up to my chest. I get up there with DD sometimes to lie down and it's fine. DS likes his little cave space underneath.

Will see if things change as they get older but it's been a couple of years now and totally fine.

[Anonymous]

It was too close to the ceiling for him to sit comfortably once he hit a growth spurt. Huge waste of money.