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| |    The Potential Risks of Bunk Beds by Laura Jana, M.D., F.A.A.P. reviewed by Robert Needlman, M.D., F.A.A.P. The diagrams and accompanying information below have been provided by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. We've all seen the gleam in our children's eyes at the prospect of getting a bunk bed. The top bunk's allure of gained height (Ah, to be as big as Mommy and Daddy!) and the bottom bunk's fort-like appeal are hard for youngsters to resist. And for those families who have little room to spare, this type of children's furniture saves a lot of precious space. But before you rush out and buy a bunk bed, you should familiarize yourself with the safety issues surrounding their use. The fact is, thousands of children under the age of 15 are treated each year in emergency departments across the country for injuries involving bunk beds. And although many of these are minor and result from falls from the bed, some can be deadly: An average of 10 children die every year from suffocation, strangulation, or entrapment in a bunk bed. 1. Guardrail spacing--On some beds, the space between the guardrail and mattress or the bed frame and mattress is large enough to allow a young child to slip through. Deaths have occurred when children became suspended by the head in these spaces and strangled. Guardrails that are attached to the bed by hooks and remain in place by their own weight can dislodge, allowing a child to become entrapped under the guardrail or fall. For an illustration, click here. 2. Use of the bed without rails on both sides--Most bunk beds are used with one side located against a wall and are sold with only one guardrail for the upper bunk to prevent falls from the side away from the wall. Deaths have occurred when very young children rolled off the bed and became entrapped between the wall and the side of the bed not having a guardrail. This hazard is not unique to bunk beds. Regular beds can present the same hazard. 3. Dislodgement of mattress foundation--The mattress foundation on some bunk beds merely rests on small ledges attached to the bed frame. They can dislodge, particularly if a child underneath the bunk pushes or kicks upwards on the mattress. Suffocation deaths have occurred when mattress foundations fell on children playing on the floor or occupying the lower bunk. For an illustration, click here. 4. Wrong size mattress-- Bunk bed structures and mattresses come in two lengths--regular and extra long. Extra long is 5 inches (127 mm) longer than regular. Therefore, if a regular length mattress is purchased for an extra long bed, there can be a 5-inch (127 mm) opening between the mattress and headboard or footboard. Strangulation deaths have occurred when children fell through openings created between the mattress and headboard or footboard when a regular length mattress was used in an extra long bed frame.
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