Is having a double ended bath with click clack waste a pain with young kids?

[SunnyUpNorth]

We are replacing our bathroom and I have been looking mostly at single ended baths as they tend to have more internal length and I quite wanted to have a standard plug on a chain.

I have two young dcs and they like to put their goggles on and 'swim' in the bath!

My mum has a double ended bath the a click clack waste and the kids have said it is annoying as they often sit on it accidentally and the waste pops open.

But we have a width of around 1750mm for the bath and most are around 1700 or 1800. Plumber has said he can make 1700 work but 1750 would be perfect. There are hardly any available but I have found one but it is a double ended one with the waste in the middle.

I don't think a plug and chain would work in the middle as wouldn't the kids catch it constantly when 'swimming'?!

Any thoughts? I'm sure I'm over-thinking this as usual :)

I'm rather drawn to the wastes with a wart to pull the captive plug up and down. You can screw the wart down tightly with a spanner to prevent anyone unscrewing and losing (or stealing) it

www.screwfix.com/p/retained-basin-waste/57005

though I have never tried sitting on one.

I've gone off the traditional plug and chain. Recently got a very fine Bristan one, the plug is solid brass, very heavy, I fear it will cause chips or scratches.

The tilting ones are neat, but I presume they will not seal reliably.

Please don't get a pop-up waste, because it will leak.

btw Carron make baths in a surprisingly wide range of sizes. At extra cost they can be made with Carronite white makes them thicker and stronger.

I really don't understand how you'd open a click clack waste by sitting on it?
Maybe I don't understand properly what it is. Ours is a dial you turn between the taps that opens and closes the plug hole cover. If you sit on it you'd just push it closed.

that's a pop-up. It has a rod linkage that penetrates into the body of the waste through a hole, to lever the plug up and down.

Take off the bath panel, and 50p says you'll find it's been leaking through the rod hole.

I would say make life simple and use a plug and chain . cheap to replace when it wears out.

And how long before the kids are too big to swim about?

We have a double ended with a push down/pop up plug. To be honest the kids are fine with it (unless they are being cheeky!) but personally it is right under my bottom when I wet my hair...I've developed a knack of holding it down then doing a quick immediate push down with my bottom once I'm upright again . I've had one of the dial ones PJohn mentioned and yes, it never worked properly and never felt tight enough. The only other issue I had was my dad trying to unscrew it to let the water out when we first moved in. He knows now though . I would imagine a chain would get tangled up in toes etc being in the middle.

In my new bathroom I have a Kaldewei Saniform Plus steel bath that is 1700 by 750. I wanted a roomy and sturdy bath for showering in. I had a bath the other day and felt that I was floating in it! Very odd sensation and not that comfortable. I had tried it out in the showroom but it's a different experience with water in it.

Don't you think a wider 1700 would work for you OP?

Must say though that a lot of new baths are made with conserving water in mind so are not very deep. So check the litre capacity.

Forgot to say that you can have any type of waste with the Kaldewei.

Thanks all, lots of valid opinions. I think I'm going to go for a single ended bath with a standard chain.

I know they won't be little and swimming in the bath for long, but we definitely have another few years of that ahead. I have tried not to base the design of the new bathroom around them being little but at the same time don't want to be cursing certain aspects of it for the next few years.

I'm not a bath person so once they've moved on to baths on their own, or showers it will hardly be used.

We have a double ended bath with normal chain plug in the middle. Doesn't seem to cause my two any problems when they're swimming because the chain is practically flush against he side of the bath. If you end up with a single ended bath then you're still in the situation of one of them being by the plug (I'm assuming they bath together!)