Just completed building a loft for my kid.

[SunsetBengal]

(06-22-2017, 08:37 PM)Westwood Bengal Wrote: That's a good point. When sketching the design, I wasn't sure if one safety rail would be enough (accounting for the body, and variable mattress height. He has a relatively small mattress now, but a pillow-topper or something similar might lead to the addition of another rail (I have a stained 2x4 in the garage ready to go when that happens). As a result of that uncertainty, I did nothing with the 4x4s. There is a chance that I take something off them at some point.   

I would just leave it like it is.  Chances are that your 8 year old will think they are cool features of the bed.

Actually, on second thought. You might add some gussets to provide some horizontal stability. I don't know how your son is, but when I was that age, I was tough on the furniture. I had bunk beds. I would climb up on the top and rock the structure back and forth, imagining that I was captain of a ship in a storm. You just never know what kids will come up with.