Guess I’ll reconsider bunk beds for my son. Considering they send nearly 36,000 kids a year to emergency rooms according to a study in this month’s journal Pediatrics.
Sure, most injuries aren’t serious, but who wants to go to wait in the ER in the middle of the night? Researchers at Ohio State University studied 16 years’ worth of nonfatal ER visits attributed to bunk beds. No surprise, boys had slightly more injuries than girls. Children under 6 accounted for nearly half. Risk declined among the teenagers then rose again in the 18 -21 year old-group, probably college students, probably some alcohol involved in more than a few cases.
But of course I couldn’t help but wonder a few things, especially since I’ve always wanted a bunk bed…
How many kids sleep on bunk beds? How many families own them? The number of injuries sounds alarming but I’ve no idea how boo boo-inducing beds are out there.
How many less serious injuries occur a year? Ones nursed at home with an ice pack?
Try as I might, I couldn’t find these statistics anywhere on-line.
So, if you have a bunk bed or are thinking about one, you might want to check the voluntary safety standards written up over at The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.
For those of you who love a good quick read with lots of numbers and graphs, check out the study.
I recently came across a couple of colorful designs on more bunk beds and kids bedroom furniture.