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Unfortunately, there are 36,000 bunk bed-related injuries on average each year in the United States. While bunk beds are a great option for shared bedrooms, many forget that they come with risks. However, you don’t need to get rid of your bunk bed set in order to keep your children safe—most of these annual injuries are preventable. Learn what you can do to prevent bunk bed injuries in your home.

Ensure That You Properly Assemble the Bed

Whether you’re buying a bunk bed new or used, it’s crucial that it’s structurally sound and comes with all the required parts. For instance, you’ll need to properly secure the guardrails on the top bunk to the bedposts, and the opening near the ladder should be no more than 15 inches wide to minimize the potential for falling out. These rails should also be at least five inches taller than the surface of the mattress.

To test the frame’s stability, it could prove insightful to lean on the mattress to see if it creaks or groans—these sounds could be signs of structural damage. You’re also going to want to make sure that your mattress is the proper size for the frame, otherwise, it could cause the child to slip off.

Think About Placement

Once you have the piece put together, it’s important that you think about the best place to put it. To ensure safety when used, it’s often best to keep the bed away from a ceiling fan or light. You should also keep the bed away from windows and place it in a room with high enough ceilings for the top bunk to be comfortable to the person in it.

Adhere to Age Limits

As most of the annual injuries happen to children under the age of five, it’s crucial that you stick to the age requirements if you’re going to allow your children to use the bed. As a general rule, you should not leave kids under the age of 6 alone in a room with a bunk bed or allow them to use it. Restrict use of the piece to your older kids to ensure that they’ll utilize it in the most appropriate manner.

Know Safety Guidelines and Enforce Them

Before you let your kids use the bunk bed, you need to teach them how to properly climb in and out of it. For starters, you should only permit one person to be on the top bunk at a time. Children should also not be hanging things from the frame as that could become a strangulation risk. You should enforce the rule that kids cannot roughhouse on the bed as this further raises the risk of injury.

Make sure your children, and any of their friends who are over, understand these rules. Guests may need more reminding than your own children, but it’s crucial that they know the proper way to use the piece in order to reduce the possibility of injury in a substantial way.

If you’re looking for the perfect bunk bed for your family at an affordable price, Bi-Rite Furniture has some of the best discount bedroom furniture in the Houston area. If you don’t want to take our word for it, feel free to stop by and inspect our models yourself.