As a residential contractor, I spent years of my life helping clients decide on all the right materials and products to modernize their bathrooms & showers, and to create spa-like experiences so many of them wanted. I took into consideration using designs & products that would make the bathrooms easier and more convenient to use throughout daily life, especially for the elderly and handicapped.
But it wasn’t until having a child of our own, that I realized how challenging it can be to make our bathrooms safe and easy to use for our babies and young children! Unless you have a large budget, it’s not practical to totally remodel a bathroom specifically for children.
Thankfully, there are many products available that will help make the bathroom easier to use for small children.
I’ve discovered some of them personally through our own parenting, and below, I’ll share the best of them with you, along with some tips on things you can do to make your bathroom more kid-friendly!
Kid-Friendly Bathroom Design Ideas
If you are going to do a bit of remodeling or making improvements to your bathroom, here are some ideas to get started with…
- Double vanity sinks: if you have multiple kids sharing one bathroom, you know chaos will occur – especially while everyone is trying to get ready at the same time in the morning. While it won’t make it totally calm and peaceful, two sinks can help alleviate some of the bottleneck.
- Extra towel hooks: if you have multiple towel hooks on a wall, there will be no more excuses for all those towels left laying on the floor.
- Additional niches in the tub/shower area: lower than your traditional soap and shampoo shelves or niches, making it easy for your kids to reach and put away some of their favorite bath toys.
- Don’t go overboard: While child-sized toilets and sinks might seem handy, or bath fixtures all in frog green may seem cute, remember they’ll all only be used for a few years, while your children are young. They will soon outgrow it all, so it’s wise to think long-term. Using neutral colors for cabinets, tile, and wall colors will prevent more remodeling work when your kids have outgrown a child-themed bathroom. You can add fun and excitement to the bathroom through colorful accessories, towels, and after-market items to make the bathroom more kid-friendly.
- Use scratch-resistant counters: While beautiful, granite countertops can stain or scratch easily, and those things are bound to happen with children in the home! To not have to worry about stains or scratches, use a more scratch & stain resistant countertop material such as quartz.
- Lots of storage: A bathroom used by children will be full of bath toys and personal items. A great kid-friendly bathroom design would have plenty of storage, including drawers or baskets down low where they’re easily accessible for your children.
If you’re not going as far as making big improvements to your bathroom, here are some small changes that can help make the bathroom more fun for the kids…
- Fun and unique lighting
- A pop of color: you don’t have to go overboard with painting walls to provide color in the bathroom. You can add a nice “pop of color” with bath fixtures (toilet, tub, & vanity countertop), or in the selection of towels you use.
Safety Tips To Make A Bathroom Kid Friendly
And, of course, it’s good to take into consideration some of these safety tips to make your house & bathroom safer for your little ones:
- Even if you have scald protection features in your sink faucet or bath, it’s a good idea to make sure the temperature setting on your water heater is set to 120° F or lower to prevent accidental scalding.
- Store all medicines, cleaners, and cosmetics high out of reach or in a locked cabinet.
- Child-proof cabinet doors…there are endless locks to choose from on Amazon depending on the type of cabinet doors, drawers, or knobs/levers you have.
- Store small electric appliances like hair dryers and straighteners, and sharp objects like razors in a high out of reach or locked cabinet when not in use.
For The Bath Tub…
Bath time is so much fun for kids…playing with soap bubbles, water, and fun floating toys never gets old for them! And there are so many great items available to make the bath time not only more fun for your little ones, but also safer for them, and more enjoyable, comfortable, and easy on you giving them their baths!
Moby Bath Spout Cover
A simple & cute little thing like this rubber whale-shaped tub spout cover can go a long way in helping make bath time for your baby safer and more fun! This spout cover by Skip Hop is BPA, Phthalate, and PVC free. It simply slides over your tub spout and is held on by an adjustable rubber strap below. Make your baby’s bath time bump-free and fun with Moby the whale!
Floating Bath Thermometer
This cute little rubber ducky doubles as a thermometer, so you can ensure the water temperature is just right for your child as it floats along the surface of the water, and your little one plays with it.
Flo Water Deflector & Bubble Bath Dispenser
Meet Flo, the answer to making your tub spout safe and giving you drama-free rinsing. This nice little contraption serves several functions: 1) it deflects the water into a gentle waterfall and projects the water outward away from the spout, 2) it covers the spout, protecting your child from injury from hitting the tub spout, and 3) it also dispenses bubble bath soap!
It’s made without BPA, Phthalate, and PVC. It quickly & easily attaches to most tub spouts, and allows for you to still easily pull up on the shower diverter knob while it’s on the tub spout.
4Moms Spout Cover & Thermometer
Another option for the tub spigot, this built-in thermometer with a color-coded display helps you keep the water temperature just right for your little one, and the foam cover prevents bumps and bruises! It has a mildew-resistant design so it stays fresh & clean.
Kids’ Bath Toy Storage
Bath time for our children always includes playing with lots of toys. But what to do with all of them after baths so the bathroom doesn’t look like a hot mess?! Mesh hanging storage caddies like these are great to hang on bath tub walls with their suction cups, and fill with the freshly used wet toys, where they can air dry right above the bath tub.
Slip-Resistant Bath Mats
Keep your babies from slipping, falling, and hitting their heads on the bath tub walls or tub spout with colorful, cute slip-resistant mats like these. And they help make bath time look even more fun…
Bath Kneeling Pads
While this one is technically for you – the parent – not your child, kneeling pads like these for your knees and elbows sure help you have a more enjoyable & comfortable experience while bathing your little one!
For The Toilet…
Potty training can be quite a taxing endeavor for parents, as children learn a completely new habit. Thankfully, there are a ton of great products on the market to help guide your children, make it easier for them to use the toilet, and move the process of potty-training along more quickly.
Potty Training Seats & Step Stools
A travel-friendly potty training seat with suction cups and folds down into compact size to slip inside a travel bag.
A step stool like this will help your child get onto the toilet easily while they’re little.
…or a combo kit like this fun dog-themed one, comes with both a seat and a step stool, and the “hat” of the dog can be removed when your child no longer needs the additional step.
For The Sink…
A Step Stool
This should be your first move in making the sink more accessible for your little one. Instead of spending a lot of money on a new, lower vanity – which you don’t want to do anyway if the bathroom is also the one guest and other adults in the house will be using as well – you can buy a step stool. If you don’t have much room to store it out of the way when not being used, go for a sleeker, more minimal design, or a collapsible model. Or, if you want to liven up the room and make it fun for your kids, go with something colorful and toylike.
Aqueduck Faucet Extender
Even with a step stool, it can still be difficult for your child to reach the faucet handle or get their hands under the spout. Aqueduck has made something handy to fix that issue: their handle and faucet extender set will make it easy for your child to turn the cold water on and off by themself and be able to get their hands under the flow of water to wash their hands…and it will make the process more fun with the duck design and bright yellow colors!
Philips Sonicare for Kids Bluetooth Connected Sonic Electric Toothbrush
It can be a chore to get your kids to brush their teeth. This bluetooth kids’ brush connects to Sonicare’s free app on your smart device, educating and guiding your child through proper brushing techniques, rewarding them for each successful brushing, and allowing you as a parent to track their progress.
The “kidpacer” musically alerts your child when to move to the next quadrant of their mouth, and the “kidtimer” gradually increases to the dental professional recommended 2 minutes of brushing time.
Toothpaste Tube Roller
Waste not! Make sure your kids get the most toothpaste out of the tube as possible with a tube roller like this!
I know that was a lot to take in, and a lot of helpful products to consider adding to your bathroom to make it as kid-friendly as possible. But just take it a little bit at a time and you’ll get there!
If you’re updating and modifying your existing bathroom, remember to take into consideration some of the tips laid out, don’t go overboard customizing your bathroom specifically for children, as they will outgrow it sooner than you realize.
By buying after market products and accessories, you’ll be able to resell some of them later on in a yard sale, consignment sale, or handing down to someone you know with children, putting them to further use, and leaving your bathroom ready for the next stage of your children’s life in their teenage years, and later as adults.
