7 Tips To Make A Kid-Friendly Bathroom
There eventually comes a time when our little kids have to gain gradually their independence. One of the major signs of independence is when they learn to use the bathroom by themselves. Here are 7 tips you could follow that will update your bathroom in order to facilitate your kids independent access to the bathroom and its components.
1- Step-stool
A step-stool is very important in that it will allow the kid to reach elements in the bathroom he/she wouldn’t normally be able to. It shouldn’t be heavy so that the child can easily move it from a place to another. If there isn’t enough space, a folding step-stool might constitute a smart choice. Also, if you’re the DIYer type, you could try building a step-stool that can slide in and out under the cabinet, it would be useful for the kid as well as a nice decor.
2- Kid-Friendly Faucet
After the step-stool, the next difficulty a kid might come into is turning on and off the faucet. You’ll have to adapt your faucet for kids’ use. There are a few options available to you: You could add a faucet extender set, or an easy-lift single/double handle faucet. Another good solution is a hands free motion-sensing faucet.
3- Built-in Potty Seat
Potty training is one of the first steps for helping kids achieving more independence. There are toilet seats that, in addition with a regular full-sized seat, include also a built-in smaller one specifically designed for little kids. That will make them without a doubt more comfortable and thus more apt to take care of it by themselves.
4- Soap Dispenser
Kids tend to really make a mess with a hand soap. A foaming soap dispenser with a standard pump style or a motion-activated dispenser will limit the mess. There are models that can be mounted into the wall, you can even use such a dispenser in the shower for kids to use soap or shampoo.
5- Reachable Toilet Paper
Bathroom necessities should always be reachable for the kids. You can in that effect make sure the wall-mounted roll is low enough for them to handle. If not, try to change its emplacement, or use instead a free-standing toilet paper holder. There is even the possibility that you attach toilet paper to the toilet tank.
6- Hand Towel
The towel rings and rods in your bathroom might be too high for little children, they may have difficulty reaching it or placing it back to its place. What you could do then is use a tray, or a hand towel with a loop that you can hang to the knob of the cabinet. Other options include a low towel hook, a free-standing towel holder, or a floor-standing one.
7- Lighting
Another thing kids experience problems reaching is the light switch. A light switch extender will solve that problem. Kids also very often forget to turn off the light when they go out from a room; an automatic light that brightens up thanks to a motion-sensing technology will prevent such needless energy waste (not to mention the energy saved by eliminating the usual scolding when they forget to switch off the light…).