Children, Home, Tips and Tricks

Children: Is Bunk Bed Suitable For My Kid?

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Now that your home is completely renovated and all of the rooms are spacious and clean, it’s time to start thinking about the style for your children’s bedrooms. One of the possible options for the rooms is a bunk bed. Is this the bedding option for you and your family?

Multiple Children

Presumably, most bunk beds are going to be more expensive than a single bed as they are designed to sleep two people. If you have only one child, then half of this piece of furniture is going to go to waste. If you already have the children to fill a bunk bed then it would be an efficient way to utilise limited bedroom space to give them more room to play. The philosophy extends if you have three children, with triple bunk beds a popular option. This could also be a good purchase if you’ve got two kids but planning on having a third, this will let the older children adjust to the fact they’ll share the bedroom with another sibling soon.

The Children’s Age

Bunk beds are generally not appropriate for toddlers or even youngsters who are still in the early primary grades. The main concern is the height of the top of the bed. When children do not yet quite have enough control over themselves in their sleep, they could fall from the bed and be seriously injured. If you absolutely must have bunk beds for your children, then consider putting a rail on the top bunk bed so this issue is resolved.

sleeping matters, tips + tricks, mum's thoughts

The Height

As previously mentioned, the height of the top bunk is a major concern when you are selecting bunk beds for your children. When children have a fear of heights, a bunk bed is really not the best way to help them get over it. One suggestion is to put the frightened child on the bottom bunk, pending that the other child has no issue with heights. Another consideration is whether the child on the top bunk has sufficient climbing skills. It is usually a ladder that leads up to the top bunk; stairs are generally not part of such an arrangement.

The Cost

Another point that was briefly mentioned earlier involves the price of the bunk bed. In the majority of cases, they will be more expensive than a single bed; however, they could likely cost less than the price of two separate beds. Review the budget to figure out the type of bed that is most cost effective for you. Of course, it is so important to choose beds that are made out of high quality materials. You do not want the bed to have dangerous lead paint in it. Furthermore, the bed absolutely must be sturdy if your precious little ones are going to be climbing in and out of it.

No one answer exists as to whether or not a bunk bed is appropriate for your child or children. When space needs to be saved, yes, a bunk bed is a logical option. However, children also need to meet all of the other criteria to ensure that the bed is a safe and sound place for them to sleep.

image from www.freedigitalphotos.net

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School Furniture – More Important Than You Think

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Many people can remember the austere furniture of their school days. Creaky wooden desks and hard chairs often made the classroom an uncomfortable learning environment. Fortunately, in recent years much has been done to improve the design of school desks and chairs to ensure that children are comfortable in the classroom. Ergonomically designed chairs help to promote effective learning and can also have beneficial effects on spinal health.

Well-designed chairs and tables may help to improve children’s performance in class. Chairs of the correct size and shape will ensure that children sit up straight, keeping comfortable and also more alert. Youngsters may become fractious if they are sitting in an uncomfortable seat and are more likely to suffer from lack of concentration and difficulties with behaviour.

It is important that chairs and tables are designed to suit the age and size of the pupils. While using smaller chairs and tables in early-years classrooms is nothing new, recent research has underlined the importance of ensuring that all school furniture is built to match the pupils as they grow during their time in school. With this in mind, school furniture suppliers have set about producing a full range of ergonomically designed chairs and tables in various sizes.

Back Support

Chairs and tables in the classroom should provide adequate support for young backs. The latest generation of specially designed chairs will ensure a better sitting posture, which will in turn also help to improve posture while standing. Children sit in classrooms for long periods of time and doing so in uncomfortable, unsupportive chairs may have detrimental effects on spinal development during childhood. Sitting in the wrong size chair, slumping over a desk, or having a chair which is too high or too low can all lead to curvature of the spine and other back problems. In ordinary sitting and standing positions, the human spine is a gentle ‘S’ shape, but a poor posture when sitting down causes the back to curve into a ‘C’ shape, resulting in problems such as excessive pressure on spinal discs and lower-back pain.

New Ways of Learning

Learning styles have changed significantly in recent decades. Children are encouraged to interact in different ways and classrooms must be easily adaptable. Of course, the traditional wooden desks of bygone days are not suitable for dynamic twenty-first century learning patterns. Nowadays, chairs and tables not only need to protect young spines, they must also be made from lightweight materials which allow them to be moved around easily for group work.

Tables and chairs are a basic necessity for all schools. Parents and teachers should be aware of the importance of finding the right ones for a particular learning environment. Well-designed school furniture considers the physical and psychological impact of comfort and posture and can help to improve academic performance. Having the right chairs and tables can benefit students’ long-term health as well as having a positive impact on their concentration and behaviour. Purpose-built school furniture also enables teachers to vary interaction patterns in the classroom, making for more dynamic and effective learning.

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