The Right Bed Size

General

The Right Bed Size

“What to look out for”

The right bed size is an important factor for healthy sleep and high sleeping comfort. A bed that is too large only disturbs very few people.

On the other hand, if the bed is too small, it is impossible to find a comfortable and healthy sleeping position. In the medium to long term, the wrong bed size also has a noticeable effect on health.

We present the different standards and give tips on what to consider when choosing the right bed size.

Beds in every size: from baby beds to king-size double beds
Tall people know the problem from painful experience.

Even if they have bought a made-to-measure bed for their home – at the latest on a trip or when spending the night away from home – tall adults often notice painfully that the usual bed size is adapted to a body size of 1.85 to a maximum of 1.90.

Although there is no official standard that defines the bed size exactly, an unofficial standard accepted by almost all manufacturers has been established over time.

This unofficial standard divides the size of a regular children’s bed into five different categories, and beds for adults even into eight different categories.

None of the individual designations for a bed size is legally protected and can be used freely by manufacturers. For reasons of comparability between different products or offers, manufacturers take the unofficial standard into account. Among the frequently used terms and standard categories are:


Baby cot

In most cases these are either 60 x 120 cm or 70 x 140 cm in size and – depending on the stage of development and individual size – are suitable for an age of up to six years.


Crib

Cribs are models that are designed for school children up to the onset of puberty. Usually the size is between 70 to 120 cm wide and 160 to 190 cm long.


Youth bed

The youth bed is already similar to the adult bed, but has a smaller width. The length is 190 or 200 cm, the width in exceptional cases up to 120 cm.


Single bed

The classic single bed for adults is 200 cm long and 90 cm wide. There are slight variations like 80 x 200 cm or 100 x 200 cm.


Double bed

A double bed is a bed for the night from a size of 120 x 200 cm. Some manufacturers also use descriptions such as 1.5 berths to identify the smaller versions.


Queen and King Size

Both terms come from the Anglo-American language area and denote double beds of above-average size. However, there are differences between Great Britain and the USA.

An English King Size bed has, as the US-American Queen Size, approximately 150 x 200 cm, while an US-American King Size offers approximately 190 x 200 cm sleeping space. These are almost always the typical box spring beds for these regions.


The right bed size for a successful room design

The space conditions of the bedroom are not only decisive for the size of the bed frame, they also determine the possibilities for room design.

In small rooms, for example, it makes sense to place the bed against a wall – in large rooms, however, central positioning is a possible alternative. For practical and aesthetic reasons, it is not advisable to limit a large bed to more than one side.

Room layout and room character must therefore be taken into account when choosing the right bed size. However, the most important aspect remains personal sleeping comfort – it must not suffer from the room design.


The influence of sleeping position and activity

Back and belly sleepers have less space requirements due to their preferred sleeping position, at least that’s what you would think. But all people move around in their sleep and often change from one position to another.

Two-thirds of all people sleep in the lateral position, which allows numerous posture options – from a rolled up embryo position to a clamp position with arms and legs stretched out.

For an averagely tall person, the relatively small dimensions of a single bed can quickly be felt as a limitation due to the nightly change of sleeping position.

The same applies to people with very restless sleep. In both cases, buying a bed that is too small can be a crucial mistake. In case of doubt, read laweekly review on this as the right bed size tends to be somewhat wider or longer.

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