Cabin bed

swizzlebabe

My son nearly 6 has decided that he has out grown his junior bed, and I would agree with him.

He says he would like a cabin bed, he is in the smallest room, and not many will fit, but was looking at argos ohio cabin bed 663/7178 but at £200 it`s not cheap.

Are they a good idea?

He never wakes in the night, unless he has wet it!!

He likes this one as he is saving for a computer of his own.

Or would a frame one, bed on legs be better?

His bed room is small as I said and a max of 198 cm wide, don`t really want to get a shorty one, want it to last, although I have a 3 year old who could benefit.

Pooky

Personally I dont like cabin beds - my eldest daughter had one up until recently, she was 6 when we got it thinking it was a great idea having the draws and wardrobe underneath but in reality it took up far too much room. We got rid of it a few weeks ago - after much sawing and banging and swearing from hubby (so heavy to try and move - and trying to make it in a small room wasn't fun either) the main reason for getting rid tho was that she'd outgrown the wardrobe, being a lanky 9 year old now all her dresses and bits were far to long to hang nicely and she had too much stuff to fit in the draws.

We've replaced it with a metal framed high sleeper, she's got her computer underneath and I've fashioned a hanging area for her clothes at one end and made some curtains to go round them. Her room looks much bigger for it too.

In my opinion although we'd managed to pick it up cheap in a sale somewhere (around £79) it was a waste of time and effort.

loracan1

You say the room is 198cm wide? Are you intending the bed to lie alongside this wall because there'd be little room to manouvre it when you were building it. Also need to bear in mind how far the ladder comes out.

I got a wooden framed one with a straight ladder for my eldest boy, has a wardrobe underneath it but also his brothers bed which is at right angles. He loves it but its a pain for me when I'm changing his sheets .

Mumstheword

I've got the shorty beds from Argos.
9yr old has the highest one, 4yr old medium height with tent and 2yr old normal divan.

They are FAB for smaller rooms, and I would be comfortable spending a night in one. (but I'm only 5' high!)

9yr old now has to bend slightly to get underneath, but his high backed computer chair fits under, no problem. We have a reading chair and his book shelves under there, which provides a great extra space for him.

Porblems: The rungs on the ladders aren't very comfy...but they don't spend long on them!!
Changing the bed....you've got to climb up there!
Bedding...fitted sheets can be found, but not from everywhere. I've got both sizes, and just tuck the bigger ones in.

Can't think of anything else. These are cheap, and BRILL! I wouldn't change back to full sized beds for kids now, unless 9yr old got uncomfortable. By the time that happens, he'll prob be about 14, and ready for a change anyway!

Mumx

Midget_Karen

Hi,
I had a cabin bed when i was younger, and I loved it. Mine was built by my Dad to exactly fit in the room, so I was quite lucky there!

The one you show looks nice, but there seems to be a lot of wasted space. (behind the desk, where there is a panel) A more space-saving option might be a frame one, like these at ikea:

http://www.ikea.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?catalogId=10101&storeId=7&categoryId=10144&langId=-20&parentCats=10103*10144&chapterId=10146&cattype=sub

Sadly, Ikea ones will all be too large for you, as they use 200cm long Scandinavian mattresses, but somewhere else is bound to have something similar. Argos may have, but at the moment their web page isn't working for me.

EDIT:
here we are from argos
http://www.argos.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10001&langId=-1&catalogId=3151&productId=117604&clickfrom=name

http://www.argos.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10001&langId=-1&catalogId=3151&productId=127007&clickfrom=name

198 cm looks really tight - you might have to be prepared to take off some of the skirting board to make it fit!

jellyhead

my son had a low one, but he was only 4 when we bought it and it was cheap. it had a cupboard underneath and some drawers, we didn't think about a wardrobe at the time but he needed one for his school uniform so we ended up with a wardrobe opposite the bed. because the ladder didn't stick out (it was part of the bed, just slats to climb up) there was plenty of room for a wardrobe, desk and bookcase opposite the bed. there was a pull out desk bit which was good for homework but best of all was the wasted space behind the drawer part - children love to hide there and it's useful storage for the sleeping bags and tents. because it was low i could change the sheets etc. no problem. the bed did say it would last for a child up to age ten and it would have done but at 8 we have just bought a metal high sleeper because it has a pull out futon and he wants friends to stay overnight. the difference is the ladder - high beds need a ladder that sticks out into the room. we re-arranged his furniture so that the bookcase is opposite the ladder, the bookcase isn't very deep. this high sleeper has a computer desk underneath so we got rid of his desk and bought a corner wardrobe for the eare where the chimney breast takes up part of the room - it's fantastic, he can fit loads in there, it has shelves and we got a shoerack for under the hanging rail and bought 6 plastic storage boxes for holding other clothes - this is fine for a boy because the clothges don't hang down very far - trousers and folded over a hanger etc. so there's plenty of room underneath the clothes for the shoe rack.

what shape is your room? it all depends on what you need. if we hadn't wanted a futon we could have had other stuff under the high sleeper - drawers and a wardrobe. the bed you are looking at is the same as the cabin bed i had as a child and it suited me fine (until i went to uni lol!) but i did need more drawer space so i also had a chest of drawers in my room.

Js_Other_Half

We babysat for my husbands sisters kids last year - the eldest slept in a high cabin bed. However, he is a regular bedwetter with an alarm system, and I was the one who had to try and manoevre an asleep 10 year old out of bed, and down a ladder to use the toilet. Needless to say that wasn't fun, and I then had to change the bed before he went back to sleep (whilst husband got his nephew washed and changed).

If your child still bedwets I have to say I would probably stick with a lower bed system.

jellyhead

mine wasn't a regular bedwetter but it did happen sometimes when he was ill, if he'd had calpol. there was a plastic sheet on the bed (we all have asthma, etc. so all the beds are sheeted anyhow). because it was a low bed i could change the sheets without having to climb the ladder, the bed only came to just above my waist. while not as much space underneath as a high sleeper it was still better than an ordinary bed because it had the cupboard and the drawers underneath and the pull out desk on wheels.

swizzlebabe

thanks for all that, the room is oblong, with only 1 wall suitable to put the bedagainst, other is under window or against opening.

He bed wets maybe once a week, need one with a ladder flat, ie part of it as not much room.

Also don`t want one too high as I don`t want his nose against the ceiling, plus I`m only little and need to be able to change it.

jellyhead

as soon as we got spud his high sleeper (he's nearly 9 though, older than your son) i was too pregnant to climb up there. he can do his own sheets and pillows though and chucks the duvet down for me to do, and he doesn't wet the bed. i know there are some 8/9 year olds who do though, or some who get up to go to the toilet a lot in the night, i know a girl taking water tablets who gets out of bed a lot and she's started sleeping on the futon because she falls out of bed when getting out of the top bunk in the dark. i like the mid sleepers but we only used ours for four and a half years. if you have another child to pass it on to it's ideal though - it gives you the extra storage space underneath that you wouldn't get with a bed and it's still short enough for you to change the bedclothes.

not sure if you have to have one with a wardrobe or not, these beds are the size i was talking about (but mine was 79.99 without mattress in an MFI sale). i like the last one. http://www.grattan.co.uk/Web/main/results.asp?pub=2807&attribute=1746,603,901&productid=65T959
http://www.grattan.co.uk/Web/main/results.asp?pub=2807&attribute=1746,603,901&productid=96C805
http://www.grattan.co.uk/Web/main/results.asp?pub=2807&attribute=1746,603,901&productid=75S972
http://www.grattan.co.uk/Web/main/results.asp?pub=2807&attribute=1746,603,901&productid=75W978

we also had a small wardrobe like this http://www.grattan.co.uk/Web/main/results.asp?pub=2807&attribute=1746,603,901&productid=98J277

it looks expensive when you consider it's only a few years before they want a bigger bed, but younger children are better off in a bed that doesn't have their nose touching the ceiling i think, and it's easier for you to change she sheets.

gravitytolls

We've had various bunks and cabins over th years. The best so far is from Ikea.

I have bought beds from Argos, and can't complain, but Ikea is much much better quality. If you can get one second hand from the freeads so mcuh the better.

The reason I say this, is because the Ikea bed goes up, comes down, goes up comes down without the screw holes wearing thin and becoming wobbly. Whereas teh argos version didn't cope so well with moving.

So I reckon for longevity Ikea are better.

Mind you, as othe rposters have said, changing the hseets are a nightmare.

Focus do a lower cabin bed for about £80 with a tent, useful for hiding from mum or for hiding toy boxes, and it's probably low enough for a taller person than myself to change without the use of a ladder hoist and safety net.

We bought 'cabin' beds from argos for our girls earlier this year. They wrre under £100, but weren't raised above the ground, but they had a shelf and cupboards beneath, and w're relly pleased with them.