Bunk Bed Horrors

Hey all,

Last night I one of my children could have been seriously injured or (shudder) worse, while he slept.

So I have mentioned how hot it has been, we have had soaring temperatures all Summer which came to an abrupt end and yesterday was actually cold enough for me to go and put on my woolen cardigan.

At about 7 pm Julian and Samuel decided to watch a movie and whenever they are watching something that is not suitable for Elizabeth they go into our room and sit on the bed, well, suddenly there was a crash and Julian came out saying that the side of our wooden slat bed had collapsed.

Our bed is about 9 years old, we had a bit of gripe about having to replace the bed, Julian grabbed the drill and patched it up.

Then it came time for the boys to go to bed, as you know they sleep on bunk beds, there's Jack on the top bunk (old photo)

Samuel had got into the bottom bunk ready for the night while Jack was finishing up in the bathroom, as Jack entered the room Samuel quickly got up saying he needed a drink. Suddenly there was a massive crashing sound, the top bunk had given out and collapsed onto the bottom bunk.

Had Samuel been lying there under the weight of the very heavy mattress  slats and of course Jack's weight, no doubt he would have been seriously injured and I shudder when I type this, possibly killed. The mattress alone is so heavy I can't move it on my own.

See the raw wood, the screws had just popped out.

The other side, how the wood should look.

These beds were not cheap, they are heavy solid wood, we assumed that it has something to do with the weather, the other kids have laminate furniture and so far no problems.

I have to say, there will be no more bunk in our house, and I would strongly suggest if you have wooden bunks that you reinforce them with bolts.

Our best guess at this point, is that maybe the wood was affected with the weather change, way too much of a coincidence for it to happen twice in the same night. While our bed was old, the boys bunks are newish (around 12 months) old. If you have any other explanation please let me know.

I'm grateful that nothing happened and even though Jack fell through the bunks he was unharmed. I thank god that Samuel had decided to get up when he did. As for what next in this room, it's on hold until we sort out bedding, I'm not sure how we will fit 2 beds in there and Samuel refuses to sleep on it. No arguments here.

Sorry for the long post, but I just really want to say, if you have bunks please check them over, it could have been much, much worse.

Thanks for reading,

Mel xo