Kids: A Second Bathroom for a Swing

There’s probably no other room children have such conflicting feelings about as the bathroom. Sure, splashing around in the water is fun – as long as you don’t have to have your hair washed! Whilst some children sit proudly on the potty or even the proper loo, others spend years fighting with all their might to avoid turning a trip to the toilet into a relaxed everyday activity. Internet forums are full of posts from desperate parents looking for ways to eliminate their offspring’s anxieties when it comes to doing a “number two”.Not to mention the tedious task of brushing their teeth...

On the other hand, the bathroom is a place full of wonders.Important things happen here: daddy shaves, mummy gets all dressed up, and anyone in possession of an old-fashioned “shelf toilet” of the kind still occasionally seen in Germany will be painfully aware of the fascination going to the toilet holds for children. But having a bath or shower is the best thing of all: it involves pirate battles, dolphin-like frolicking, bathing dolls and very special encounters with the body – experiences that are a combination of adventure and initiation.

But does that mean children actually need a bathroom of their own? No, not really. But it’s definitely a good idea to give children their own space in the bathroom and offer them safe, attractive aids that allow them to be part of things even in areas they aren’t big enough to reach yet: a sturdy step, a box for utensils, their own hooks, mirrors they can see into, a bath that they can have fun in without flooding the entire room and a toilet that isn’t too high up and is geared towards making them feel comfortable – perhaps with an integrated seat reducer and a stool or step with a bit of extra space for pencils or toys.

On the other hand, a second bathroom for children is definitely more than a by-product of the master bathrooms that are so much en vogue right now, those “en suite” additions to the parents’ bedroom that are meant to enhance the attractiveness of many a modern new build.If for instance the parents move into the “studio” on the top floor of a new terraced house with a monopitch roof, they’re not the only ones who get to enjoy their peace and quiet in the bathroom: the kids on the mezzanine level benefit as well.In this kind of situation, why not pay more attention to children’s needs than you can in a bathroom that has to serve the entire family? There is already a wide range of low-height products geared towards children’s size and safety needs on the market. As the years go by, they can either be replaced with bigger models or mounted higher up – these days, that needn’t mean a major renovation project.And who isn’t glad they can leave the house on time in the mornings while their adolescent daughter occupies the second bathroom for hours on end? Be that as it may: most people see waiting in line for the only bathroom as the main cause of early-morning stress.

A second bathroom for children isn’t so much a fashionable luxury as a sensible addition for (ever-scarcer) big families. And not just because it takes the stress out of rush hour: it provides scope for creative freedom as well. For parents as well as children.With a little bit of courage, it can turn into something really special.

So how about putting a swing up in the bathroom?