Hope this helps. We changed from an old 5 berth this year to the Bailey Ranger 540/6 this year. We loved the layout - we were never fans of the traditional side dinette 6 berth layout- we also liked the price and the weight. We have 4 kids, 13, 10, 2 and 8 months.
They love the bunks. They all like having their own little window and light. (Luckily the novelty of opening and closing the blinds has worn off....!!)
We put the 2 year old on the middle . He sleeps on a blow up 'Thomas first bed' which squashes in with the head at the ladder end. The sides of the Thomas bed are curved and quite high, and he hasn't managed to roll out yet. There is a wooden rail to attach to the middle bunk, but we haven't used it as yet - no space with the blow up bed on there.We chose the middle for him as we didn't dare put him on the top, and it's less back breaking for goodnight kisses than the bottom! He loves climbing up and down - it's like having a climbing frame at the back of the van!
The older two have tried out the other bunks.
Our oldest prefers the bottom bunk - she feels she has more headroom.
The 10 year old is on the top. He's happy there.
We tried the baby on the bottom, but manoevering him in and out was really awkward - we were worried about bumping his head. - not much space between ladder and side of seat, so we put him on the made up bed in a travel cot.
The front double is huge - when our baby was in a carrycot he slept next to the front window by our feet and we were all comfortable. We also had one of the kids friends with us too, so our oldest used the made up bed at the back and was quite comfortable. She missed having a reading light though.
Plenty of storage at the back for clothes, toys etc. We don't always have the older two, so use top and bottom bunks for storage at these times - great for toy boxes, the fold up high chair and the travel cot etc
It's great being able to shut the door at bedtime and have a bit of privacy. We had a 5 berth before this one - 2 doubles and a bunk, with just a curtain around the bed. It was great when we only had the older two, but once number 3 arrived not enough space.
I think the back of the van can get a bit cold when on chilly nights - strangely there is no blown heating outlet there - there is one under the front double - right next to the heater and one in the bathroom but not one at the back. We bought a little thermostatic fan heater so that we wouldn't have to leave the door open.
Talking of the door, the 2 year old is a pain at times opening and closing it and has pulled it off it's runners a few times, but it seems to just click back in ok.
The little table at the back is great for them to play and do jigsaws etc, and there is plenty of room for 3 to sit for a meal if necessary - 4 kids at a push.
We added an extra plug socket in the kids bedroom for essential kids stuff - MP3, PSP etc, and are hoping to get a portable dvd player so they can lay in bed and watch tv to wind down and we don't have to watch hours of kids tv too!
We love this van - if you check out my other posts you'll see I have loads to say on the subject!
Hope you find a van that suits your family.
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Topic: Practicalities of 3 fixed bunks
