by Jane Regan

Special effects for a young woman’s bathroom — a Venus de Milo Mirror! Photo courtesy of HB Designs.

When designing bathrooms for children, safety is the most important consideration. So how do you make the bathroom safe?

A 12-inch grab bar mounted on the wall about 5 inches above the tub — or if you have room, right on the tub deck — helps with getting in and out safely. Avoid having steps for getting in and out of the tub. And be sure to use non-slip decals or a non-slip mat on the tub floor.

For sinks, using a sturdy stair step that lets the child get up to sink level makes a lot more sense than building in a set of sinks that are too low for adults to use. Some manufacturers of cabinetry offer a slide-out step for under the vanity that can be quite handy.

With children in the house, if your shower still has an old-fashioned faucet with separate handles for hot and cold, it’s time for an upgrade. A pressure balance valve will prevent scalding, and is required in all new construction. If possible, get a thermostatic valve and keep the temperature set low so your child will never have to deal with water that’s too hot. Either valve will significantly help with saving water, too.

Jaclo shower head which also comes in elephant and walrus version.

You’ll want faucet handles that are easy for your child to grip. Several companies make great single-handle faucets, and others make very cute connectors for your hand shower, making it easily adaptable to little fingers and hands. For the sink, cross handles are the easiest for children to grip.

The best way to make the room special for your children is to add a theme to the bath with towels and a matching shower curtain, and framed pictures. As soon as you can, get your children involved in picking colors and ideas for their bathrooms. It will help them buy into keeping the room picked up and neat if they helped with the decorating. When we moved into our own new home on the Coastside, one of our daughters selected new plumbing that had the words Hot and Cold on her cross-handle faucets; she was at the right age to appreciate the reinforcement.

But don’t undersize anything thinking that you’ll change it “someday.” It’s best to build to the adult size your children will  soon-enough need, and adapt up as you go. It will save you money and headaches in the long run.

Jane Regan is the owner of HB Building + Design. You can reach her at 650-728-5878 or visit her Web site at www.hbbuildinganddesign.com.

Dornbracht Meta single-handle faucet for kid