Tonight my daughter said she wants to loft her bed in her freshman dorm. I told her ONLY if she gets rails! I’ll call the school tomorrow to see if they provide them.
When D first inquired about rails when she put in a work-order for lofting her bed, she was told that there was limited availability. But when she informed reslife that her bed was to be lofted to highest level and she has a history of sleepwalking, they agreed that rails would be installed at the same time the maintenance staff lofts the bed. I’m happy for her, but I wish that was something that would be automatically installed when lofting a bed.
D just rolled her eyes when I asked her if her bed would have a rail when she lofted it. She said she was fine without a rail last year. I hadn’t noticed. This year I will notice.
Thank you RunSwimYoga for your help in spreading the word! If you would like, I could mail you a couple of posters and flyers to put around campus…
@RADRailMom That would be great! I will PM you!
That is shameful, both because of the lack of knowledge about bedrails AND the mold issue!
Thanks for posting this. I watched the new video and it was well done.
I told my normally very sensible and cautious kid about it and her first reaction was “I’m not going to roll out of bed”. Yes, I’m sure all the kids on those lofted beds with no rails also believed that they wouldn’t roll out of bed.
Second reaction “I bet they were all drunk, I don’t drink”. That’s actually true, but she does take stuff like Benadryl and I know she’s a very active sleeper.
And then, “The chance of this happening is so small, it’s not worth worrying about. We can’t worry about every awful thing that might happen”.
I feel like this issue is where seatbelts were some decades ago. It’s a small inconvenience to guard against an unlikely but catastrophic injury, and most people would rather just not deal with it.
My D rolled her eyes when I told her that I want her to have a rail on her lofted bed. “But I didn’t have one last year and I was fine.” And, like @mathyone’s kid, “I don’t drink.” “You take Nyquil.”
She said she would look into getting a rail. “You WILL get one.” “Yes, Mom.”
I mentioned it to H. He agrees and was surprised that schools let anyone loft beds without a rail. Neither of us noticed there was no rail last year.
Mathyone, my son was not drinking either. He never, ever rolled out of a bed until that night.
Nancy, I will send your package tomorrow! Thanks again for your help. Grassroots activists make a WORLD of difference!
I think getting it in front of HS college counselor would be big. You got to get the young to get to the tradition. You send me information I will present it to my HS
@Corinthian @RADRailMom try doing a search on the words:
fell bunk
Or
fell loft
It’s shocking how many are legitimately about someone falling out of the top bunk. Some are about falling on the way up/down, which is more difficult to prevent. People are even injuring themselves with half loft, so I’m starting to think I want to avoid that as well.
This thread has been incredibly illuminating!
I think it deserves to be stickied at the top of the Cafe or here.
Thanks you, Consolation! I am SO passionate about getting some real change implemented in this area. Too many kids are getting hurt, and some really badly like my son. Time to get busy! Thanks for your support.
Choirsandstages, you are correct to follow your gut on this one. Not worth the risk.
You can also tell your kids that they have never gotten in an accident and never drink while driving but they still wear a seat belt.
RADRailMom, I’m a long-time poster who doesn’t post very often anymore, but I wanted to share with you how you have had an impact. I was lurking last week and came across your post and information in advance of my son’s move into college last weekend. My son is a very chill person and I try not to be confrontational in front of him. We arrived at his small dorm and very working to get his things organized and trying to be accommodating of his new roommate to set a good tone. The roommate arrived with an insane amount of stock for his online business and a full-sized water cooler in addition to the usual stuff like fridges/microwaves/printers/tvs that they all agreed upon. This being a small room, the stuff was not going to fit well, so the father asked that both boys loft their beds to make space for this nonsense (no rails). My son had a major head injury in early childhood, so I am particularly sensitive to the issue, but would never have thought about lofted beds as being dangerous until reading your posts completely by accident last week. That being the case, I stomped my size 5 foot on the floor and told the other father “no, no and HELL NO” in the voice of the demon in The Exorcist . So, thanks, because in the interest of going along to get along, I might have said ok if I hadn’t read your information. Best to you and your son!
I think I gained some traction with my college kid when I mentioned this to my normally “don’t worry” husband, and he said, “Oh yes, I fell out of a dorm bed once.” Fortunately that bed was not lofted.
I’m now wondering about the many summer programs for younger kids that are housed in dorms. If the program is a flight away, parents probably won’t be there at move in to see if their kids are being put in lofted beds with no rails. I know I was not thinking about it this summer, my kid went off on her own and I still have no idea whether she was or not.
RADRaiMom
I am glad someone is doing something about this. I thought i was the only one thinking about this. That’s strange
because my D moved in on Thu. Sept 1 and I saw that bed. I had a premonition that something bad would happen
and i would get a phone call. I spoke with my D about it but you know teenagers. She didn’t hear about lower it or
put a rail because her roommate has it high and she does want to be thought as weird. So, I finally convinced her
that I should put a rail. When her roommate was out for the day on Saturday(this past) she ask me to come and fix
a rail. So, I brought something from home and managed to install something for now. Then I have some peace of
mind.
I did it on my own. I didn’t ask the university; but if it doesnt last long i’m going to address it. My dear friend was
helping us on moving day and she thinks I am paranoid. And my daughter thinks that guardrails for babies. But
she doesn’t understand. I know she tosses a lot while sleeping. So it would be a matter of time before something
happens and I don’t want to receive that phone call.
Do you think i did the right thing?
Thank you,
HOFSTRAMOM
I am so sorry about your son. That’s why I am so concerned for my D. She just moved in this weekend. Her
roommate likes the highrise bed. So, she feels embarrassed to lower hers or put a rail.