To think toddlers/young kids are not thought of

[Doncarlos]

It’s one of those things you don’t have to consider until you’re a parent, but I feel like in certain situations toddlers are totally disregarded.

Two examples;

1. we have a big Sainsbury’s nearby that has a large baby changing room. Inside there’s a set up for a baby change station then a cubicle within that room with an adult toilet, so it’s great you can take a baby in and go for a wee yourself. But there’s nowhere for a small child to use the toilet. The adult toilet is difficult for them to use and when they do manage that, you have to lift them up to the sink (normal height and set back into the changing unit worktop), but the single push down tap releases water that feels uncomfortably hot for my hands, you couldn’t possibly allow a child to use it.

2. visited one of the new parks that have been installed locally. The only thing suitable for young child is a slide but it’s quite high so you have to be confident they won’t drop off the climb up. That’s it, everything else is designed for older kids. The climbing equipment is all open sided so too many points for them to accidentally fall off. I’ve been to so many parks in other countries where smaller kids can play happily on more than just a swing without you fearing they’ll fly off a 6ft drop.

Does anyone else find this a very annoying part of life with a small child?

Agree, I'm so disgusted by public toilets but don't want to give my child a hang up, or discourage them from wanting to use the toilet. Probably more disgusting things in the grass from dogs.

Agree with the sinks - different height sinks in many shopping centres and airports in various countries I’ve been to, here only seen them in M&S in the UK. It’s hard on your back when you have to lift them and they often get the front of their clothes soaked rom where water has been splashed round the sink.
Play equipment - wait til your children are 9/10+. You will find virtually no play equipment for them after that age. Everything is designed for very young children imo

The place that annoys me is the massive soft play near me that doesn't have any facilities for the thousands of toddlers that frequent the place but it used to be a nightclub and they just repainted the toilet so I suppose cost wins over convenience even in places aimed at children!

I'm not in the UK but have noticed in my local area recently that there are a few places that have a child sized toilet and they are brilliant! My DC feels independent and it's more comfortable. There's even a shopping centre near me that has a kids toilet cubicle within a baby changing / breastfeeding room and in the cubicle is a full sized toilet and sink alongside a toddler sized version, so I can have a wee at the same time as DC 🤣
Not saying it's something I expect as standard but it is thoughtful and appreciated!

For the toilet situation - one of these https://amzn.eu/d/5od3w7z and a bottle of hand sanitiser are potty training essentials imo

With the swing parks it swings and roundabouts (badum tss) some parks cater more to small children and have nothing for little kids and some have loads for the big kids but nothing for the tinies. I find when they’re littler though they’re better at finding alternative ways to have fun with the play equipment at least.

Play provision in rhe UK is absolutely lowest common denominator plastic crap in most places
The majority of play areas are for younger children sadly op.

I have a 10 year old who would love to go to playgrounds still but there is zilch for her age

Millions of crap toddler stuff which they grow out of quickly

When your toddler is a teen, you’ll likely notice that young children are catered for more frequently than older kids. It’s just your current bias speaking.

I went back home about 5 years ago and the ‘family facilities’ at several places in my hometown included a changing station for the baby, regular toilet and sink for mum, little toilet with matching sink for toddlers in the same room. Nearby the most beautiful breastfeeding room with an armchair for mum and seating area for husband / other children. And this is in a country that doesn’t have the best reputation and it wasn’t even the capital city. And immaculate. It can be done.

“It’s not too much of an ask…” - except now it’s twice the plumbing, twice the sanitaryware, twice the maintenance, and they still wouldn’t get it right because what about a toddler sized urinal too…

You are in a minority having a toddler - the majority of the population is not currently parenting a small child. I guarantee in twenty years time that, like most people, you won’t give a monkeys about provision for toddlers in supermarket toilets, you’ll just expect parents to cope with trivial and fleeting annoyances.

Besides, expecting absolutely ideal facilities for every person in a supermarket toilet is unrealistic. I assure you my elderly Grandma doesn’t find my local Tesco accommodate her need for a raised seat and thinks the grab bar is in the wrong place, my disabled child finds hand dryers distressing and can’t use facilities by themselves (but gets glared at or questioned for using disabled facilities when with their opposite sex parent) and hygienically changing the nappy of a disabled older child is impossible - we used to use the boot of our car. You really aren’t uniquely hard done by as parent to a toddler.

Of course it can, with money 😀

It’s not really easier because if the toilet is too high then there can be spillages and of course the small bit pressing right k to the toilet, where you know spillages have occurred. It’s a recurrent cycle of grossness.

The problem is worse with accessible toilets. Most standard toilets cannot be comfortably used with a small child (or 2), so I tend to use the disabled/accessible cubicles so I can keep my child safe. These toilets are even higher. A foot stall would be ideal, especially as accessible toilets are often used for baby change as well and are the natural habitat of a mum with a small child or few and possibly a buggy they don’t want stolen.

having travelled extensively in the Nordic countries and Germany/Austria/Italy I have to say they are much better at tailoring their facilities across all ages, especially at those places targeting families. It can be done, the UK just chooses not to.

These threads actually make me question why we are still in the UK so many mean, spiteful, angry people. Getting mean and angry and spiteful at people for daring to suggest something that is the norm in so many other countries. The UK is the outlier here.

Playground equipment broadly splits out into suitable for babies/infants/toddlers, pre-school children and then school age children. There's not many things that are suitable for all ages, and it's likely that even where they are like a slide or a basket swing, the expectation is that a baby or toddler is going to have to be pretty closely supervised by an adult to use them.

If equipment is fully safe for a 2yo to use by themselves then it's likely to be excessively safe for older children, and would restrict how much an older child can play and interact with it.

You're currently in The Zone of being a parent of a 2yo and you see everything through that lens. Why aren't more things designed for 2yo to play with? Why aren't there more facilities for 2yo? Why are bigger noiser rougher children intruding on where my 2yo is playing. Why aren't there more classes and activities suitable for my 2yo. When you're the parent of a 5yo that mindset will shift and you'll find new things that work for you and your child, and equally you'll probably start forgetting what it is like to have a 2yo!

My local big supermarket constantly has one ladies loo out of action , they have a baby changing area in the disabled loo, but that’s it.
Considering the profits these big companies make you’d think they would be more family friendly, but it’s all about the money ( and it took them weeks to fix one of the toilets )
It wasn’t much different in the 90s though tbf ( when mine were young )

Most playgrounds in UK cities are catered for toddlers - that combined with no youth clubs is why older kids tend to roam the streets ‘for fun’ during the holidays. I personally think we need more playgrounds aimed at older kids

You think there are many, spiteful and angry posts on here? Wow, it's just a healthy debate! Bit over-sensitive perhaps?

In a world of finite resources, this really shouldn't be a priority. Unless yoi want to pay significantly more tax to fund such initiatives?

Agree speaking as someone who this doesn't affect, but I've always noticed a gap for young teens