The transition from cot bed to a bed without enclosed sides is one of the many developmental milestones your child will achieve. At this stage which occurs somewhere towards the age of 18 months, your toddler is likely to be attempting to climb over the cot sides, making this type of bed no longer a safe option.
Whilst a standard bed is the next step, there remains a risk of falling from a height, particularly during sleep should your child roll and wriggle towards the edge. A bedguard is a popular solution to prevent your sleeping tot going bump in the night, whilst giving them the freedom to get out of bed unassisted. The design provides a barrier along the exposed edge of the mattress with gaps at either end so that the child can safely get in and out of bed independently. Should the bed be positioned away from walls and have two exposed sides, a second bed guard may be safely secured to the other side. In addition, a bed rail retains the safe familiarity of cot sides which will help many children adapt to the change and supports restful sleep.
Providing your curious toddler with the freedom to leave their bed when adults may be sleeping requires some safety planning. Many families decide that a safety gate across the bedroom door will provide an early warning system that their child is awake and ready to start their day, giving tired parents and carers an extra couple of minutes to wake up themselves! More importantly, the stair gate will restrict exploration to their bedroom, keeping inquisitive tots away from toiletries in bathrooms or hazards in other rooms such as older siblings’ toys or small items which could be a choking hazard or similar.
Child specific bedrails are recommended up to age 5 as they are designed and tested to support a certain maximum weight. Your child is likely to have learnt the art of sleeping away from the edge by this age, but also may be capable of undoing any bedrail fixing and becoming heavier than the tested weight, thereby creating a potential hazard greater than falling onto the floor.
Important Information
Children’s bedguards are designed and tested for domestic use only, being suitable for children aged between 18 months and 5 years. They are not designed for use with the elderly or infirm adults.
The type of mattress and bedframe the bedrail will be attached to is as important as the bedrail itself from a safety perspective. Any gap between the rail and attaching surface could become an entrapment hazard. For this reason, select a quality mattress for your child which does not easily compress at the edges when a child equivalent weight is applied. Always select a mattress which fits the bedframe i.e. one that leaves no gaps a small child could roll into between the base and material. Consider the thickness of the mattress in relation to the bedrail options - mattress depth will affect the height of the bed rail above the sleeping surface and any potential for your child to roll over the top of it and onto the floor. For this reason, include any mattress topper in the mattress depth measurement. The length of mattress will vary according to bedframe with king/super king mattresses being longer than others. The size of gap at either end of the bed has potential to be large enough for a sleeping child to roll through if an ill-fitting guard is chosen. Reassuringly, there are bedguards to suit the above scenarios in the Safetots’ range. The extra wide extra tall bedguards will complement the longer and deeper mattresses. All Safetots’ bedrails provide the maximum mattress depths and lengths in the product spec information to make it easier for our customers to select one that is compatible with their child’s bed. A minimum mattress length is also supplied to make certain that there is at least a 25cm gap either end of the bed as recommended by the British Standards Institution (a measurement deemed wide enough for the child to safely leave the bed without being tempted to climb over the rail). Inflatable mattresses are to be avoided in conjunction with a bedguard as these can easily be punctured and deflate.
Bedguards are not suitable for waterbeds for obvious reasons or camping beds where there is only a canvas sleeping surface attached to a metal frame. Nor is it safe to use them on the upper level of a bunk bed as a fall from this height is life threatening. Safetots also recommend against using bedguards on the lower bunk bed level. Many children find bunk beds the indoor equivalent of a climbing frame and a serious accident may occur should a child use the rail as a foothold or spring board when climbing on and off the top bunk. Play of this nature may also compromise the stability of the fixings or fatigue the components making it unsafe for its purpose. As tempting as it may be to tie teddies and similar to the bedrail to create a sleepy environment, these pose strangulation and entrapment dangers, and nothing should ever be attached to the bedguard that is not part of the fittings.
All Safetots’ bedguards have been tested and comply with the British Standard 7972:2001+A1:2009 when fitted in accordance with the instructions.
Safety Testing
When buying a product to help keep your child out of harm’s way, Safetots believe it is worth investing in one that has been tested to a professionally approved level of safety using rigorous testing methods.
For this reason and where applicable, our products are tested to a British Standards Institution (BSI) standard and/or equivalent international standard. Each standard that our products complies with has been drawn up by a group of experts in the field. Not only do they have extensive knowledge about their product and credibility in the child safety product industry, they are also fully aware of the potential hazards posed by poor quality items being used in the home where children are involved.
The British Standard for bedguards is BS 7972:2001+A1:2009. You can be reassured that all Safetots’ bedguards designed for use with toddlers (18 months+) and children up to age 5 comply with this standard, and are retested whenever design upgrades are made, components changed or the standard is superseded. The standard also requires that certain important safety information be available to consumers before purchase and you will find this on all product pages. The title of the British Standard, BS 7972:2001+A1:2009, will be marked on your purchased rail next to Safetots’ contact details
What types of tests are carried out and why?
The tests carried out are designed to mimic the actions of a small child before they fall asleep, natural movements during sleep and once awake, how they may explore their bed and surroundings. For example, bedtime hijinks almost always include bouncing on the mattress and attempting to escape the bed itself by any means available, including climbing over, around or under a bed rail. Your little night owl may also wish to show their objection to bedtime by trying to pull everything off the bed including the rail – an overtired tot is a strong one! During sleep, many children will wriggle around, even turning 360 and sleeping at the foot of the bed. In this manner they will at times unknowingly move to the edge where the mattress and bedguard meet.
The standard includes tests to check for parts of the bedrail which could trap, pinch or cut skin and that the size of parts used do not pose a risk of inhalation or ingestion. The resilience of the locking mechanism that fits the guard securely onto the mattress or bed frame is examined for durability. A priority is ensuring there are no entrapment hazards, and this is achieved by measuring the gap between the bedguard and any touchpoint when fitted correctly. A test dummy is used to imitate a child rolling into the rail repeatedly to assist with this test. In short, every effort has been made to ensure that a bedrail complying with BS 7972:2001+A1:2009 will be a hazard free product to purchase when safety proofing your home.
