4 year old in top bunk

[BugsMomma]

Have any of you had any experiences with a 4 year old in the top bunks?

We are looking at the Carnival Splendor.

[Onessa]

never cruised carnaval but when DD was just over 4yo we did cruise on RCCI and that was her first time in a berth. She's never been a tosser/turner and the berth was above our bed. She loved it (it was her own little "fort") but we did ask for some extra pillows to put along the rail side so as to make it a bit more difficult for her to have rolled too near the edge while sleeping.

 

She is now 17YO -- so you can see she survived!

[cb at sea]

Should be fine....everyone seems to sleep like a log on ships! There should be a rail of some sort.

[Carnival_Brides]

My four year old niece was in a top bunk this weekend on the Pride. She personally loved it and the fact that it had a light she could switch on and off. There was a guardrail on the side to protect her from falling and the ladder obviously detaches so it can be removed during the day. The only problem you may have is that someone may need to help your tot down at night to go to the bathroom to avoid bumps and bruises. If the pull down option was a bed, she would totally use it for the next cruise.

[crusinmama06]

I'll be the dissenting opinion ;) There have been two broken legs on this board alone from a child falling from an upper. I didn't allow my girls to sleep "up top" until they were older.

 

And truth be told - my 8 year old was suppose to sleep up there in August. She spent one night - then when she got injured in the kids club I had enough of injuries for that cruise and switched her beds for the rest of the cruise :D

[angelndscz]

I worried about my 9 year old on the top bunk. I took a pillow and shoved it in one of the rails near her head. She has fell out the bed at home before. Her bother, 10, doesn't roll as much as she does As you can see she did get close to the edge. I don't understand these rails as they are not preventing little ones from falling. This was on the Carnival Sensation. They could have been much better rails. I didn't ask if they had anything additional. For a 4 year old, I would not trust these at all.

 

First picture I took before she woke up, so she was not posing she was really asleep and this is how I found her in the morning. The second is so you can see she is not a "little kid". Skinny yes, but average size for a 9 year old.

[crusinmama06]

I worried about my 9 year old on the top bunk. I took a pillow and shoved it in one of the rails near her head. She has fell out the bed at home before. Her bother, 10, doesn't roll as much as she does As you can see she did get close to the edge. I don't understand these rails as they are not preventing little ones from falling. This was on the Carnival Sensation. They could have been much better rails. I didn't ask if they had anything additional. For a 4 year old, I would not trust these at all.

 

First picture I took before she woke up, so she was not posing she was really asleep and this is how I found her in the morning. The second is so you can see she is not a "little kid". Skinny yes, but average size for a 9 year old.

 

Yep - I totally agree.

 

One actually fell out because he became disoriented in the middle of the night and got out of bed to go to the bathroom and forgot he was up in the air - missed the ladder. You just never know with little ones. :(

 

I have slept "up top" twice because I didn't want my child up there. On other cruises we have pulled the mattresses off and put them on the floor (when she was really little). And on others - we just booked a higher suite to guarantee that we wouldn't have an upper.

[sherryf]

I'll be the dissenting opinion ;) There have been two broken legs on this board alone from a child falling from an upper. I didn't allow my girls to sleep "up top" until they were older.

 

Since you said it first, I'll chime in. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommendation is at least 6 years old. I'd be even more conservative with a child who is a restless sleeper, gets up frequently during the night, gets disoriented in unfamiliar places, etc. I'd hate to have a vacation ruined by a child falling out of the bunk and getting hurt.

[martikus]

Pre-cruise I would have probably let my child as he sleeps in bunk beds at home.

 

Post-cruise - no way. 1) The rail isn't very long which was shown in a pic someone posted a few threads ago. 2) My 6 year DS fell out of bed while on the cruise. He has NEVER fallen out of bed. I don't know why it happened, but it would have been instant injury if he was in a top bunk. The bar is just not long enough for my comfort.

[jonathansburden]

Not a chance, it just seems like an unnecessary risk. Our boys just sleep head to feet on the couch and they're perfectly happy!

[Onessa]

. . . I'd be even more conservative with a child who is a restless sleeper, gets up frequently during the night, gets disoriented in unfamiliar places, etc. I'd hate to have a vacation ruined by a child falling out of the bunk and getting hurt.

Yup, my DD -- no problem. She is like me and rarely moves in her sleep and on the rare occassions when she needs to get up, is about 98% alert immediately (my DH long ago realized if he wants a "lazy" weekend morning, he needs to keep me asleep, because the minute I am up in the morning as far as I am concerned the day has started! :))

 

My DD's cousin who is nearly identical in age on the otherhand even now at 17YO I would not let her sleep in the top berth. When we are up at the cabin, she sleeps on a mattress on the floor since the beds are too high for her safety. At somepoint during the night she has used every square inch of the mattress -- hanging off, rolling around, etc. It also takes a small war to wake her (two alarms, bright lights, multiple reminders) and then she is like a zombie for the first hour or so. When she first started living with us on-and-off years and years ago, her mother warned us and we thought she was joking, but she was not.

[Alex71]

Our two kids, 5 and 7, sleep in the top bunks, but the lower beds were always pushed together so that worst case they would have just fallen onto the lower beds.

 

In a situation like the one in the picture above, I would have either asked the steward to push the lower beds together or we would have let the kids sleep in the lower beds.

[wiensie]

If I remember correctly there is also the added issue of the weight of the child. With regular bunks at home we go by age for the most part, but on the boat they don't recommend kids under 60 pounds because of the potential movement of the bed if they aren't heavy enough. Now, they seemed pretty solid to me, but if you hit any rough waters it could be even more risky for a little one.

[huneymoonerz]

That depends entirely on your boat, comfort level and your child.

 

I was very unhappy with the safety rails on the Disney Wonder. I stopped my 4 year old from falling out once. I thought their rails were horrible for a boat that caters to families.

 

That said, I let her sleep in the upper berth on Carnival Paradise when she had just turned 3. That bunk's railing went almost the entire length of the bed.

 

We have a bunk bed at home now. My son (2) will not get the top bunk until he is much, much older (if ever, ha ha). He is a klutz who falls out of his toddler bed every night.

 

Our next cruise has 1 upper and 1 trundle. If the upper's rails look paltry then I won't let DD sleep there.

[poppetts]

We just put the matress on the floor for the nights, just a little bit more to step on and over, but saves worry and injuries

[angelndscz]

Our two kids, 5 and 7, sleep in the top bunks, but the lower beds were always pushed together so that worst case they would have just fallen onto the lower beds.

 

In a situation like the one in the picture above, I would have either asked the steward to push the lower beds together or we would have let the kids sleep in the lower beds.

 

We actually had the steward separate the beds. My 18 year old, 200 pound son didn't want to "share" a double bed with his mother or sleep in a top bunk! LOL. My husband wasn't on this cruise, it was me and three kids.

 

Plus, there is more space in the cabin with the beds apart. I had my three kids (18, 10, 9) and my friends two kids (18 and 14) in my cabin when they were just hanging out and there was plenty of rooms with the top bunks down and two twin beds for everyone to find a comfy spot to relax. With the two lower beds pushed together, you would not have been able to get to the balcony with the top bunk down without climbing over the bed.

[palaeologus]

My DD sailed for the first time on Carnival Fantasy as a four-year-old and had no problem with an upper berth (although she had a tented bunk bed at home at the time, so the change wasn't that dramatic); she has since slept in an upper on two subsequent cruises as well. Some younger kids who aren't used to bunk beds may balk at sleeping a few feet above the floor, and it helps to anticipate that possibility and have an alternate plan in place. But if your child is intrepid, I say go with it! You can bring along a travel bed rail as a supplemental brace if you would like some extra piece of mind, but the Carnival rails worked fine for us; I would also endorse, as others here have endorsed, placement of the beds underneath to catch any "rolling sleepers" in an emergency.

[mikesteg]

First picture I took before she woke up, so she was not posing she was really asleep and this is how I found her in the morning. The second is so you can see she is not a "little kid". Skinny yes, but average size for a 9 year old.

 

We were just on the Splendor and the rails were not as good as those pictured on Sensation. I'd say they were less than 3 feet long, and they were at the head of the bed. There was nothing for the bottom 3+ feet of the bedside and nothing at the foot to keep the occupant in.

 

Sorry OP, I didn't think to take a picture. We put them right back up and had the kids sleep on the floor... or tried to. :rolleyes: Ironically, they kept 'falling' off the mattress, rolling under the bed and trying to sleep there. :eek:

[AgVball]

I'm not endorsing either position - but this is a great discussion.

I'm just throwing this out there - would the use of pool noodles under the sheet help where the rail doesn't seem sufficient? I know that is an alternative at home just in regular beds, but for restless kiddos - would that help? I'm guessing it still doesn't help the kid who is dazed and confused in the middle of the night.

[twinmommy08]

Have any of you had any experiences with a 4 year old in the top bunks?

We are looking at the Carnival Splendor.

 

 

Our (then) three year olds slept on the top bunks during our March 2012 cruise. They did just fine. We brought inflatable bumpers sold on One Step Ahead dot Com.

 

The beds are regular twin sized and very comfortable. No complaints or fear from us!

[Huxley'sCruisers]

My 3yo (@40" but only 30lbs), slept on the bunk on NCL Gem last week. She LOVED it, the rail was about the same length as the one on her twin bed at home (and had slats), and she slept very soundly. I had brought a kids sleeping bag for her in case, either to use on the floor or in the bed to keep her more "secure", but I never used it.