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teachingmom
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| Posted: June 05 2008 at 12:16am | IP Logged
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This topic reminded me of another question about small bedrooms. Do any of you use a trundle bed for a child? I remember talking with a homeschooling mom of many years ago about this. She said that it was difficult for her dd, who regularly slept on a trundle bed, to make her bed and put it away neatly each day. I have the same concerns, and could easily see it becoming a frustration to both the child and me.
But - we have neighbors who are getting rid of an all in one loft/trundle bed that looks something like this. They will sell it to us for only $300. We now have my 5 year old and 20 month old in an extremely small bedroom. (I have a brother whose master bedroom has larger walk-in closets than this room!) Right now, my baby is in a crib and my 5 year old is in a twin bed. They fit very tightly in there. I had planned on getting them bunks at some point, but didn't know how to fit two dressers also. This bed has lots of drawer space and a desk. It is somewhat tempting to buy this bed and store it in an extra room in the basement as guest beds until my baby is old enough to be out of the crib.
But - Will the trundle be impossible to maneuver? Will the bed never get made and put out of sight? Will my dd who gets the trundle hate not having a bed to sit on during the day to read if she chooses? These are my concerns.
Anyone care to give me advice? Any personal experience with trundle beds?
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~Irene (Mom to 6 girls, ages 7-19)
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Philothea
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| Posted: June 05 2008 at 7:09am | IP Logged
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I would get it. If it doesn't work out, you could probably sell it for more than you paid for it.
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hylabrook1
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| Posted: June 05 2008 at 7:29am | IP Logged
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Irene -
That looks like a really cool and useful bed. Not only does it give both girls beds, but it eliminates the need for two dressers. It probably won't be long at all until your youngest is out of the crib and the trundle is a good *real bed* for a little; you don't have to think about her falling out of bed.
Peace,
Nancy
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SarahA
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| Posted: June 05 2008 at 8:42am | IP Logged
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Hi Irene,
Just a word of caution--
If your girls are really active and playful, you may want to allow them in the room (with the high bunk) only with supervision. There are a lot of accidents with children and bunkbeds from falling off the loft part, ladder, climbing, etc. when kids play. Our 2 oldest boys (6 yr and just turned 5yr) have a bunk set, and we have to remind them every once in a while that there is ABSOLUTELY no horseplay in/on the bed.
They actually do a fine job, but it's hard to keep the 2 smaller ones off when they're all in the same room. My kids have all been climbers, so the ladder is just too much temptation for them. My youngest (for now) is 20 mo. and is up the ladder in 5 sec. if he gets a chance. Our 3 yo daughter is usually pretty good about complying w/ the rules, but does need to be reminded.
I agree, though, that these types of beds are really cool and save a lot of space, which is why we have one, although not a trundle. Also, my husband's really big on the issue of safety (won't let the kids on a trampoline, etc. ) and he's fine with the bunk as long as they all follow the rules. I just wanted to put up a yellow flag just in case...
Blessings, Sarah
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Cay Gibson
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| Posted: June 05 2008 at 9:28am | IP Logged
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Our trundle is a white iron frame. My youngest is 6 yrs and she still sleeps on the trundle she moved into when she outgrew her crib.
In large families I think trundles are a splendid idea. Each morning the trundle is pushed back under the bed, leaving more area room.
My dh would like to get each of the younger girls (they share a bedroom) their own twin bed but I don't see how. They have a huge dollhouse that is on a raised table and that takes up one corner of their room. The dresser is in the other corner and between the closet door and the other door there is no room for another bed plus the dollhouse. And the dollhouse is not going anywhere...so says my girls. 
[ETA: regarding making-up the bed...we have a fitted sheet on the mattress and one sheet during the summer. When it's too chilly, we take a blanket out of the closet. In the morning the blanket gets folded back into the closet (most of the time  ). The sheet is just smoothed out and her pillow is thrown on top of Chelsea's.
Of course there are morning the trundle never finds its way back under the main bed. And I have more trouble finding a place to put the Webkinz animals than how to make-up the bed.  ]
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Cay Gibson
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teachingmom
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| Posted: June 05 2008 at 10:57am | IP Logged
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teachingmom wrote:
| Will the bed never get made and put out of site? |
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 Er . . . make that "sight" !
Thanks for the caution, Sarah. We actually have two other sets of bunks in the two rooms the older four girls share, and climbing has never been a problem with my little ones. It's possible that it would be more tempting if the bunk is in her own room, but my toddler has the idea that she's just not allowed up high like the big sisters who sleep up there. And I'm not ready yet for my very petite 5yo to be up that high, so now I'm thinking we may do a switch and have this set go to older sisters and have my 5yo use one of their bunks as a twin for another year or two.
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teachingmom
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| Posted: June 05 2008 at 11:05am | IP Logged
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Cay Gibson wrote:
In large families I think trundles are a splendid idea. Each morning the trundle is pushed back under the bed, leaving more area room.
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It sounds great in theory, but I am wondering about how it works in practice. Does your trundle-sleeping daughter make her bed before pushing it back under each day, Cay? Is a fully made trundle, with sheets, blanket and comforter, too difficult to push back away? If so, do you just keep a bottom sheet on it and throw top covers on each night?
These are the questions I have for any families that actually have trundle beds in use right now. Thanks!
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: June 05 2008 at 11:11am | IP Logged
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we just have a mattress that can be pulled out under the lowest bunk.. it doesn't get used much yet (the youngest boy still prefers to sleep with a brother rather than his own bed).. but yeah.. we just keep the bottom sheet on it and the pillow and blankets go on the bed above during the day.. anything else leaves blanket trailing out and getting walked on etc. And I think that makes it easy to get it pushed out of the way.. the full making it up would likely leave it out a whole lot more.
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CAgirl4God
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| Posted: June 05 2008 at 11:54am | IP Logged
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I love that bed!!!
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Jess
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| Posted: June 05 2008 at 12:08pm | IP Logged
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I would get the bed and use it for your older girls like you said Irene. I have often wondered about the trundle thing too. Dh and I have talked about getting twin bunks with a trundle but I wondered how difficult it would be to deal with the trundle. We have the full size bunk with the twin on top and wondered if we could put a trundle under it too. It has a bar in the middle that acts as a support, but the beds are made of metal so I wondered if the bar is really necessary because it would have to be removed to stick a trundle under it.
My vote would be get the bed because like Philothea said, you can always sell it for more later.
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Erin
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| Posted: June 05 2008 at 4:00pm | IP Logged
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Well we have had a trundle and frankly it was a pain my dc were little and I had to make the bed and push it under every morning, however we really didn't have any other choice (4dc in one room) and it looks like we may have to consider that option again.
Simply put when we have small houses we sometimes have to consider options that we may not really prefer but they are workable.
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mellyrose
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| Posted: June 05 2008 at 6:48pm | IP Logged
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My sister and I shared a trundle bed for many years in a small bedroom. There are 11 years between us and I don't remember it ever being an issue. Actually, I remember it being hard for me to sleep when I couldn't reach down and rest my hand on her anymore when we I left home for college. I think she was 4 or 5 when we first got it.
My mom wasn't a stickler about made beds -- as I recall she had a sheet and a blanket which were easy to smooth over before sliding the bed under. It also wasn't an issue to pull out the bed during the day.
We also shared bunk beds for a while and I preferred the trundle (especially after she puked from the top bunk a couple times. BLECK!)
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Cay Gibson
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| Posted: June 05 2008 at 10:17pm | IP Logged
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mellyrose wrote:
My mom wasn't a stickler about made beds -- as I recall she had a sheet and a blanket which were easy to smooth over before sliding the bed under. It also wasn't an issue to pull out the bed during the day.
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Exactly how it is at our house. Exactly!
Matter of fact, I usually send the girls to their room after breakfast to dress, do hair and brush teeth, and straighten their beds. Then I walk in and push the trundle under the main bed with my foot. It's that easy.
Like I wrote, the only things too bulky to stay on the trundle and go under the main bed is the pillow and Webkinz animals. They are put in a corner of the main bed.
teachingmom wrote:
It sounds great in theory, but I am wondering about how it works in practice. Does your trundle-sleeping daughter make her bed before pushing it back under each day, Cay? Is a fully made trundle, with sheets, blanket and comforter, too difficult to push back away? If so, do you just keep a bottom sheet on it and throw top covers on each night?
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Did the above answer your question, Irene?
I really like trundles, but I must say the one pictured above looks very different from ours and doesn't look like one you could just smooth the sheets out on top.
A picture of the girls' bed is here, just click and scroll to the bottom. You can't see the trundle but it's a mattress on a roller frame tucked underneath:
My girls' trundle
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Cay Gibson
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Cay Gibson
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| Posted: June 05 2008 at 10:20pm | IP Logged
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I wanted to add that all my other children went into a big size bed and I had to have a railing on it.
Annie went into this trundle and I didn't have to worry about her rolling out of bed high off the floor. I'l put a thick blanket on the side of her bed so if she rolled off she really just slid onto the blanket.
It was a safe transistion and good peace-of-mind for Mom.
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Cay Gibson
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stefoodie
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| Posted: June 06 2008 at 9:40am | IP Logged
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A few years ago we bought a bunk-trundle set. We've never used the bunk as we're waiting for the boys to be older and more responsible about not climbing/playing/jumping. (We read that a big percentage of ER trips are bunk-bed related, esp. for the under 10 set.)
We've used the trundle off and on -- it is such a blessing esp. when we have guests. We've never worried about keeping it "made". Just move the pillows and quilts or whathaveyou up top and push the trundle in. Some days, it stays unmade and un-pushed in, some days it's nice and neat.
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teachingmom
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| Posted: June 06 2008 at 11:51pm | IP Logged
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Thank you all for your responses. We have decided to go ahead and get the bunk/trundle. I did realize, however, that the small room I originally intended it for is just too narrow for the extended trundle. So my 8 and 10 yo dds will get the new bed. Their bunk set will be disassembled and saved for when my 5yo is old enough for a top bunk and my 20 month old is out of the crib. I think we'll set up half the bunk as a twin in the basement office to be used as a guest bed in the meantime.
I really love having this forum to turn to for important information like this! 
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~Irene (Mom to 6 girls, ages 7-19)
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Topic: Does anyone use a trundle bed?
