Attic bed for children from 3 years old, how to choose a safe model

An attic bed is an ideal option for a children's room in a small apartment. It takes up little space and carries the child, turning falling asleep into a game. But such a bed has features, you need to choose it carefully, because the high placement of a berth can be dangerous. Therefore, an attic bed for children from 3 years old should be made with special attention to safety. Attic beds can have various additional equipment that turns the lower part of the structure into a game, work or storage area.

Design advantages

Unlike a regular bunk bed, the lower part of the loft bed does not consist of a berth, but of an empty space that can be adapted for any needs. The main advantage of the design is space saving. In a usual, even two-room apartment, there is often not enough space for toys and a child’s desktop. Children are active, they need to play, study, they have many hobbies, often replacing each other. Months pass, and there are more toys, sports equipment, clothes. Buy an attic bed from 3 years old is an excellent way out of the situation. Such a bed frees up one and a half to two square meters of space, using the part of the room that was previously empty. Under the bed should be placed:

The play area is a kind of cozy corner where the child can be alone and do his favorite toys. In the corner it’s fun to play hide and seek, Indians, draw and imagine yourself as a pirate inside the ship;
Work area - children from 3 years old do not fully complete their homework, but they need a table for drawing and modeling, they are interested in playing in adults and watching pictures at the table. When a child reaches a school or preparatory group, a small table should be replaced with a larger table, buy the first orthopedic chair on wheels;
Storage area - many children would like to sleep on the closet and you can realize a childhood dream. Even under a low bed for children from three years old, you can place a full cabinet for clothes and toys with hangers and shelves.

This division is approximately, using imagination, you can combine different options and create unique children's zones with everything that a child needs.

Popular Options

Among the most popular are cots, attics from 3 years old by the Swedish manufacturer IKEA. This company is famous for its laconic furniture made from natural materials. A reasonable distribution of living space is its principle, therefore, in its catalog you can find many options for loft beds and accessories. The main disadvantage of beds from this manufacturer is their deliberate simplicity, which not everyone will like. IKEA specializes in furniture that is suitable for older children, and there are few options for babies.

Other manufacturers are also popular, for example, Mirabelle or Yrel, but when choosing such beds, you need to be guided not by the brand, but by design and materials. For children from 3 years the most popular such design option:

Low bed placement (meter or so);
High protective side, which is missing only near the ladder;
Staircase with wide steps or rungs. Options with steps take up a bit more space, but a drawer can be integrated into each step, and descending the steps is safer. If the bed has a staircase with rungs, then they should be frequent and wide. The child also has something to grab on the sides of the ladder.

The design and color of the bed gives personality to the design. For a boy from 3 years old, they often choose blue, green, purple colors, mothers of girls prefer yellow, red or pink. But such a division by color is not necessary at all, it is more important to choose a bed to the taste of the child. If a girl loves pirates and wants a bed-pirate ship, then it is worth listening to her.

Most often, parents who have a financial opportunity, choose beds made of natural wood, and not from particleboard. There are many reasons for this. Chipboard serves less, can withstand less weight, it may break off the coating over time. All this is true, but such criteria should be relied upon when buying an adult, not a crib. Children grow quickly and do not have time to break a thick board of particleboard. In this case, you should definitely pay attention to covering the bed and other elements of the attic. The best option is water-based varnish. Of course, children at 3 years old are not so nibble all around, as at 7 months, but it never hurts to be secure.

It is difficult to single out several popular options because the loft bed for a girl or boy is a designer that each family changes for itself. Many furniture factories offer not only standard bed options, but also the ability to combine the features of different models in one perfect bed. Design exactly depends only on the imagination of the parents, which means its options are endless.

Parameters and dimensions

There are ten standard sizes for baby beds:

60x120;
60x125;
65x125;
60x140;
70x140;
70x160;
80x150;
80x160;
90x180;
90x190.

The sizes recommended for children 3-5 years old are highlighted in red. A larger bed will seem frighteningly large for a child, because psychologists do not recommend buying beds too "for growth." A child at 3 years old still needs warmth and comfort of the parental embrace, therefore he will definitely prefer a small nest rather than a huge adult bed. An important parameter is the height of the bed. For children from 3 years, the recommended height ranges from 80 to 120 cm, while the attic is not worth choosing above.

An important parameter of the attic is the width of the steps or rungs of the stairs. The optimal width of the steps should be at least 16-18 centimeters. When choosing the steps, measure the length of the child’s foot in advance. The steps should be 2-3 centimeters longer than the length of the foot. The width of the crossbars of the stairs, on the contrary, should not be too large, 3 centimeters is enough.

Additional equipment

An attic bed is a real designer, which can consist of many interchangeable elements. The only required part is a tall frame with a bed on top. The rest depends on the taste and needs of the child.

You can add the following elements to the bed frame:

The countertop is fixed or moving away to the side. The second type of countertop is suitable for older children who need a lot of space for homework;
The staircase is ordinary, on the cabinet door or with steps-shelves. Without a ladder, it is difficult for a child to climb onto the bed; it can be removed when the owner of the bed reaches adolescence. And the stairs can be used to save space. Use the empty space behind the stairs to place a cabinet there or order steps, shelves, which are easier for kids to go down;
A whole cabinet in the entire height of the attic or several shelves. If there is not enough storage space, place several shelves under the bed or under the table, put a nightstand;
A curtain, a chair and other devices for games. The curtain is useful for creating a feeling of privacy and comfort. The rest of the things will change along with changes in the taste of the child and his growing up. At 3 years, you just need to put on the floor a few of your favorite toys for the child or install a toy castle under the bed;
A funny element of the attic bed for the smallest is a wooden slide for descending from the bed. If there is enough space in the room, you can install such a slide and the child will definitely be carried away with his sleeping complex for a long time.

Any of these elements can organically fit into the design of the room, but you should not go too far with their number. First of all, think about what things your child really needs and focus on them. If the kid likes to draw, set a table for drawing, and not an extra bedside table. If the child prefers active games, give him more empty space or even install a sports complex directly under the bed. In the choice of color and design of a berth, you can rely on the psychology of colors. Each of them in any person without exception causes a certain association. Red is aggression and love, and blue strongly reminds of technology and science. Children of early school age will suit blue, green, pink color. Blue or red can be too heavy and tire the child, especially if he is prone to hyperactivity.

Choose the color of the bed muted, not too bright. Well here beige colors are suitable: cream, brown, sand.

Security

Children's attic beds can be dangerous only if the child is prone to sleepwalking or often falls out of bed. Most children can sleep in the attics quite calmly, against accidental falls protect the sides.

The optimal height of the attic bed for a child from 3 years old is 90-120 cm. At this height, the baby will not hit his head if he falls asleep in bed at full height. In addition, at 3 years old, many children wake up at night to drink water or go to the toilet. The fewer steps they have to overcome, the less likely they are to fall. A child cannot just fall out of bed in a dream. All attics for young children are available with sides, so you can fall if you purposefully cross the side or cross it. The height of the sides can be different, but in the first loft bed it is preferable to make a side height of at least 20 centimeters.

An important component of the safety of the crib is the reliability of the fastenings of the stairs or steps. Shelf steps are popular in early attic beds, with toys and clothes. But they should not roll out too easily or be slippery. A child running into a crib may step on the edge of the step - the shelf will leave and the child will fall. It is better to choose shelves that go out tight and decide on the coating of a tree or chipboard, which does not slip if you climb on it in socks.

Please make sure that there are no sharp edges on the handrail, deck or other parts of the attic bed that you can hit with your head. When thinking about the safety of the bed, remember: children are children. At 3 and 5 years old, children are not able to fully evaluate their actions and consistently follow the rules. Do not allow the thought - "the step is a little slippery, but I will forbid it to run, and everything will be fine." Sooner or later, the baby will still spill water, put on slippery synthetic socks. Choose a bed, considering this.