As I’m sure you’re aware, bathrooms can be the biggest challenge for young children, especially when they’re just coming to terms with how everything works. This guide aims to hopefully give you an insight into how you can ensure your bathroom is child-friendly yet also keeping it in sync with the whole house design wise.
1. Firstly, lets tackle the biggest issue when it comes to children and bathrooms. The bathroom suite, this is always the most daunting thing for a child, mainly because the items are large and often they need help when using them. There are a few simple ways to go around this, you can start by ensuring that the bath is equipped with a shower bar, this will help the child support themselves whilst getting in and out of the bath. Next thing, a flexi showerhead, this is much more useful than you’d think, not only can it be used freely around the bathtub but you can also use it to wash the bath down once finished, especially if bath bombs were involved! Other little things such as a standard height toilet and sink, just add a small footstool for whilst the child is small, then once they grow you don’t need to change a thing! A great place to get your items would be from a plumbers merchants, this way you get a large selection of choice as well as good prices.
2. Anti-scald devices. These are an absolute must when it comes to children, especially once they’re old enough to start using the shower head or sink themselves. The aim of the device is really all in the name, it prevents scalding. The device controls the water temperature by limiting the amount of water than can flow at any one time. Genius!
3. Now as we all know, children grow very quickly. As a result of this, it’s important to remember when purchasing new cabinets or storage items not to purchase anything too low. It’s all well and good having a small cabinet for the child to store toys in etc., however once they grow they won’t be able to use it and this will result in you needing to replace the cupboard. Instead, purchase a regular sized cabinet for all personal items, and then go and find a nice basket that attaches to the side of the bath for toy storage. Not only will this help keep the children occupied but it will also allow the toys to drain into the bath instead of wet toys going into the cupboard.
4. This next tip is really down to personal preference. Depending how your bathroom is designed, some people use granite for their surfaces, with gorgeous eye appeal but not the best wearing qualities. There are however products on the market that offer as an alternative to granite, anti-scratch and stain resistant which in my mind is always a bonus!
5. Finally, my favourite part of a child friendly bathroom. The design! The world really is your oyster when it comes to designing a bathroom which will appeal to most children. Think bright colours, bold imagery, recognizable characters like they do here and then of course toys and items to play with. Once you’ve added some colour to the walls and some imagery you’ll notice bath time becoming a lot smoother, with the young one entertained by the surroundings and toys you can get on with washing that hair (hopefully) without any tears! The great thing about this kind of feature is that if you go for colour or imagery, you can purchase designs printed onto vinyl. This then sticks to the wall, and peels straight back off again (when you want it too), so once those little ones have grown up and have new interests your bathroom can return back to its original state and you won’t have to spend a penny!
Do you have any other tips on child safety in the house? Let me know your tips in the comments below.
Laurie Rose
