Having children in house without a bath?

[MeredithGrey1]

Me and OH don’t currently have children but we are TTC. We are also in the process of selling our flat and buying a house. Quite a few of the houses within our price range seem to have showers, rather than baths. This doesn’t bother us as we don’t have baths, but I’m wondering whether I’ll really regret buying somewhere without a bath once we have children? I’m sure for a baby its fine as they can go in a baby bath, but I’m thinking of slightly older children, too big for a baby bath and too young to wash their own hair etc. Maybe this is a non-issue but as I don’t have kids yet I’m not sure. Is this something worth factoring in, or does it not matter?

I wouldn't have fancied getting through the early years without a bath

We have a bath in our house, but choose to wash the baby in the shower. It's less crippling on your back!

You can use a large rubber trug as a portable bath for up to about a 5 year old at which point they can shower.

Use a small baby bath and just fill it up with the shower head. If it fits inside the shower floor great. If not use the bathroom floor and put some towels down.

I found a bath invaluable when the DC were little. Not only did they have loads of fun splashing around but my youngest suffered with excema and oilatum baths really eased her skin.

It’s probably not ideal but perfectly doable. My 2 year old usually chooses a shower over a bath - we sit him in the tray with a car or two to play with and use the shower head to wash him and his hair. Much quicker than a bath. For smaller babies you can get a baby bath or use an angelcare bath support in the shower tray.

I'd get one put in.
the kids loved splashing and playing with boats etc , it was one of the easiest ways to entertain them for a while each day as well as settle them for bed.

We moved from a house with a bath to one without with two young DC. I thought I would miss it a lot but haven't at all. I would prioritize space and a kitchen that isn't open plan with the dining room over a bath any day.

We moved to a house with only a shower when DC were 3 and 1. We bought a folding bath from Amazon and used that in the floor of the shower and then they just moved on to showers. My DC were both quite petit so to start with they could both fit in it at the same time. We did consider having a bath put in earlier this year when we had work done in the bathroom but they were 10 and 8 at the time and as they get older will want quick showers more and more frequently. The only tricky bit was them getting the hang of them washing their own hair fairly early but it's not insurmountable.

I couldn't imagine not having a bath in a house with small DC, but as long as there is room you can put one in. I wouldn't buy a house though if it only had tiny shower rooms with no space for a bath. It's all very well bathing a baby in a tub, but once they get bigger they like to play with their toys in the bath and IMO it's an important part of the day. Mine didn't like showers either, until they were much older. My 7-year-old still doesn't, in fact.

I think you get used to what you've got.

My two are 5 & 6 and still like a good splash about of an evening but at one point we didn't have one and coped with a really big basin. Now, they're not really able to wash their own hair efficiently (DD1's is really long) but it's much easier to do that in the shower so I lean in and do it - I've got very good at doing it without getting myself, or the bathroom flooded.

It wouldn't stop me buying a house if the area/ everything else was right.

Ok thanks, seems like its definitely something to factor in, but not a total deal breaker. Thanks for the help, I just didn't want to end up discovering in a few years that its very difficult without one, and kicking myself for not considering it!

My friend puts a padding pool in the shower for her 2 year old.