Pool Noodle?

[Ryan]

I wouldn't worry about it for a 3 year old, but that's just totally my opinion.

I would worry about my 11 month old up there, so somewhere between 1-3 years? Depends on the kid, I guess...

Edit for a slightly more helpful answer: If I would trust them at home on a "regular" bed, I'd trust them on the train with a net.

 

[crescent2]

As to the question about ages--- Having just finished a week of teaching a class of 2, 3, and 4 year olds yesterday, I'm convinced they "could" go around the netting at each end if they wanted to, especially the 2's and 3's. Now whether they would want to or try to, or do by accident, depends a lot on the individual child (size, sound or light sleeper, winds up in crazy positions while sleeping, "runs with scissors," etc), so your children might be fine there just as Ryan said. He's done it before, after all, and I have not. The netting is sturdy. I would just not consider the netting an absolute barrier to falling for a very small child, and think about what my child would be likely to try or not try to do or accidentally do. You know your own children better than anyone else does. IF he or she fell from the top bunk, it would be a fairly long fall. (But from which they'd still hopefully bounce right back with minimum harm!)

Fortunately, no one makes you sign a contract ahead of time stating in which bunk your child will sleep. Your gut feeling as a parent when you are there will likely lead you to the best decision for your family. Best wishes for a safe and fun trip!

 

[AlanB]

IMHO I would make the cutoff at 4; under that age you really have look at height & weight issues, as well as how much do they move around. Although again the very tightly tucked in blanket & sheet, which your own weight helps to keep tucked in, still does make it hard to move around much.

I've put both a 4 year old niece & nephew in the upper child's bunk. I've also put a 4 YRO nephew iinto the upper bunk in the Bedroom. And all without incident.

Now when the niece was 3, because of her height I would have been comfortable putting her in the upper. The nephew, no.

 

[SarahZ]

It really does depend on the child's size, weight, and sleeping habits. My brother most definitely would have fallen off because he had a habit of waking up horizontal on top of his pillows with his head or feet off the bed. My parents bought him bed rails that went along practically the entire side of the bed, and my mom put pillows on the floor just in case. That was in a regular twin bed. There is no way she would have put him in the top bunk in a regular bedroom, let alone a moving train.

I, on the other hand, didn't change position when I slept (still don't). If I'd been tucked in, with a net, I could have slept up there no problem even though I was a smaller 3-year old than my brother. I was allowed to sleep on the top bunk when we stayed at relatives' houses, much to the chagrin of my younger brother.

 

[Linda T]

Here's a picture that I took years ago of two of my nieces when we were all on the Auto Train that shows what the safety strap looks like for the upper bunk. In this case, it's the kid's upper bunk in the Family room. That plus the tightly tucked sheet & blanket makes it nearly impossible to roll/fall out of the upper bunk. This safety strap is on all upper bunks, without regard to adult sized beds or kid's beds.

As an aside; this is a very old picture, as the niece on the right, who is younger than her sister on the left, will graduate High School next Friday!

Aloha

What this picture shows, is the netting does not enclose the whole bed. What I was concerned about from the original post, is are the children tall enough that the "netting" will cover enough of the bed to keep them in. There is no danger that the webbing will be strong enough, but could they be at both ends and miss the web.

Huh, so is that how the upper bunk should appear for adults? I just always assumed that the SCA had it set up correctly and left it connected to the wall the door's on. I never figured it really would do any good, now I see I've never done it right. I'll have to ask my SCA next Sunday.

 

[Not-a-Dalek]

I'm back (OP here).

I wouldn't put my three year on the top bunk. She's way too squirmy. I was thinking I'd put my son (who is an extremely tall 5 year old) and husband on the top bunk and me and my daughter (3 year old) on the bottom. We are packed for the trip and have zero space for the noodle now. We are going on a 4 week trip, it was crazy to think it would fit. But I had been stressing about the sleeping arrangements.

Thank you for the input!

((And yes Whovians unite!))

 

[Ryan]

That's going to be pretty tight up in the top bunk. You may be better off with the husband up top and you with both kids in the bottom.

 

[Not-a-Dalek]

I didn't realize it was so tight, thanks for the heads up Ryan.

 

[amamba]

Are you in a family or regular bedroom? Either way I don't think an adult and a child will fit on one upper bunk. They are pretty narrow.

 

[Not-a-Dalek]

To update... Me and my husband both fit comfortably on the bottom bed, with my daughter on the small bottom bunk. My son slept on the top small bunk with no problems.

 

[Ryan]

Excellent! Thanks for the followup.