Ready for slumberland

Like in any other bedroom, the bed is a prominent piece of furniture for the children’s room also. While planning the furniture for kids’ rooms, a lot of aspects have to be kept in mind, such as the colour scheme, the theme, and most importantly, the safety aspect — taking care that the furniture does not have any sharp edges and is child-friendly.

When we talk about selecting the bed for kids’ room, parents can start off by keeping a cradle or bassinet for the newborn in their own bedrooms. These are mostly movable so they can be easily shifted to any other room or a nursery in the daytime, as the need be.

But these can be used for a very short period of time, maybe only for a few months, as babies will outgrow them within a very short time. So one can straight away go in for a crib. It is a small bed for babies or infants with high railings for safety and can be used till the child is two or three years old, or till the child is old enough to be moved to a toddler bed in an independent room.

Safety first

One can be spoilt for choice when it comes to selecting toddler beds. These beds come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, like sports cars, spaceships, trains, jeeps or trucks, castles, or cartoon characters, to make it more exciting for children. So, one can select a bed most suited for the decor and theme of the kids’ room.

Toddler beds come in bright and attractive colours and are not very high so that it is easy for the child to climb in and out of the bed and at the same time, ensure safety in case of a fall.

Some toddler beds may also have detachable side railings to keep the child from falling or rolling out, as many children have a habit of tossing and turning while sleeping. Care should be taken to ensure that the bed has smooth and rounded edges and no protruding or sharp corners, nails or screws.

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Bunk beds are also a great option for kids’ rooms, especially if two children are sharing the room. Kids find it really exciting and thrilling to sleep in a bunk bed. There is also a wide variety of bunk beds which one can choose from or one can get a custom-made bed according to the space and decor of the room. There are standard type of bunk beds where two beds of the same size are stacked one above the other, thus providing space for two kids to sleep.

Alternatively, one can change this concept and make beds at different positions, with the bed on top slightly overlapping the bed below, while having storage space, below the bed which is on top.

In this type of an arrangement, the children sleeping on both the levels will have a feeling of openness and also the added advantage of having lots of storage space. Another option for bunk beds could be to have a futon or a sofa-cum-bed below and a bunk bed on top. This futon or sofa cum bed can be used as a sitting space for the kids during the day and can be pulled out at night and converted into a bed.

All yours

Another way of making optimum use of space in a room is by making a loft bed. In this concept, the basic idea of a bunk bed is followed, with a bed on top and the place below is used for making either a study desk , a playarea or storage cabinets, thus saving on the space, which would otherwise be used to place a separate bed. But this concept can only be used only  when a single child is using the room.

Accommodating more

But what if there are more than two children sharing a room? In such a case, one can opt for having a trundle bed. A trundle bed has two beds, one stacked on top of the other and in addition to that, there is also another secondary bed below the main bed.

This secondary bed is mostly fixed with wheels or casters so that it can be easily removed when needed for sleeping and tucked away and hidden during  the day time. In this way, a trundle bed can comfortably provide space for three children to sleep.

‘L’-shaped and double bunk beds can also be made for three or four children, wherein two standard bunk beds can be made in a ‘L’ shape.