Hello

DH and I are trying to buy our first home, and have found a cosy little place we might just be able to afford. One of the downsides to the house is the bathroom is tiny, recently renovated by the current owners and has no bath - just a toilet, basin and shower. There really isn't room to put a bath in, although the shower is a little larger than the usual square number.

Obviously a tiny baby could be bathed in a plastic baby bath, but what about older babies/toddlers? Would this be a deal-breaker for us seriously considering this house, given we don't yet have children but hope to soon?

Many thanks for any opinions!

L :-)

Our first place with children had no bath. We just used the shower. We also find as the children get older we don't use the bath so much anyway. Some people use their laundry tubs if it is convenient. If you love the place and its affordable then no, it would not be a dealbreaker IMO.

Um, My kids have always been showered. Its safer (no chance of slipping and drowning etc) and I much prefer it.

We don't have a bath. William either has a shower with us, or uses his large baby bath (about 1 metre by 30cm by 30cm) in the shower recess.

You will be fine.

At first use a baby bath (laying down)

Then let them sit up in the baby bath.

After that check out the sizes of the kitchen sink and laundry tub (if they are decent size that will give you till 9-10 months).

Then you can buy a bath seat and pop it in the bottom of the shower. Either using the normal shower head or you could pop a extension thingy on (like they have at the hairdressers).

By 16 months my son was flat out refusing to sit any more in the bath anyway.

At 16 months we purchased a couple of non-slip bath mats and put them on the bottom of the shower. He has stood in the shower ever since.

Pre-children I thought baths were a necessity for kids. But as long as you have a drain and running water you will make do!

Hope this helps!

I moved into a place that didn't have a bath. The girls were about 2 at the time and I thought it would be a huge problem. No laughing at this but I bought a kids blow up pool and put it inside the shower for a bath for a couple of years. the girls are 6 now and have showers.

Wow, such quick replies, thank you all so much for reassuring me :-)

L :-)

I WISH we didn't have a bath! lol. The kids love it but I much prefer they shower. Safer.

The last house we lived in didn't have a bath. This one does. Since we moved DD (3) has refused to have a shower, baths take so much longer, and I just wish she'd shower again!

Go for it in other words!

FWIW, our last house had a tiny bathroom and I mean tiny, I thought it would be a real pain, but it turned out not to be a hassle at all.

We used a baby bath with DS and showered him sometimes. It was easy when he was small.

When he was bigger we we went away and there was no bath in a few places we stayed and I freaked as the heavier he got, the harder he was to hold when he was slippery, so DH did the majority of the showering.

When he could stand up, I showered with him and told him he had to hug mummy while I washed him. It was really nice, because of the cuddles I got!

The seats that a pp mentioned sound great. I had not thought of using them in a shower!

Good luck with buying your house! If it's the right house for you I wouldn't worry about not having a bath. You will most certainly manage with tubs and showers!

I personally can't imagine not having a bath tub with kids, but.....

Our house in Sydney has no bathtub. We didn't have kids when we were there, so it wasn't an issue, and looking at it then, we could in no way imagine ever fitting a bath in there. However, since we've lived o/s, we have seen PLENTY of smaller bathrooms that have a bathtub (shower over the bath) and so we know we can renovate if we move back there.

I guess what I'm saying is, either you end up with kids who don't have baths anyway (which is obviously fairly normal, reading the above replies!), or you could renovate at a later date and put a bath in.

Our 1st house had no bath, 2 bathrooms no room for a bath.

We bought a huge baby bath at ikea that my DS still sat in when we left (he was 2). They also showered.

Now we have a bath and DS#2 still has showers with us. If you like the rest I'd still go with it.

It would be a deal-breaker for me - I love bath time. It's a big part of my routine with both DDs because I work full time, so it's our special time together. Every night, fill the bath (really hot for maximum time in), add the lavender bubbles, wash the faces, then we all hop in and soak, read books, play tug boats, sing songs, counting, pouring... I love it. We stay in the bath for ages, while Dad cooks dinner. Hop out, dry off, rub with baby oil or lotion, jamies on...Fantastic! Not that you can't have a great night-time routine if you don't have a bath, but for me the long soaks and cuddles are priceless. I dread the day when they're too big to share the bath any more!

If you intend reselling them I wouldn't. It's obviously a bit of a worry for you to post here. I wouldn't buy a house without a bath.

Harley only has showers now. When Ollie is here, he goes in the bath but I just don't have the patience. Also, Harley practices his swimming in the bath which is not safe..and makes a BIG mess.

He loves showers too.

I also love baths...but the house we are in now doesnt have a bath YET...

BUT we make a bath for our 2 bigger ones 2 and 4...by putting a folded up flannel over the drain, add bubbles They dance in the shower then play in the bath Its smaller and enclosed so they still get their bath

We also have a newborn who has had a total of 3 baths...we just hold her in the shower and she LOVES it

Once we have renovated we will have a nice big corner spa....but for now its really not a problem I would buy the house and perhaps add one later if you love it

hugs
Kaylene

We bought our house just before getting pregnant - so far DS is still in his plastic bath, but DSS showers and thinks it's great fun. It's also MUCH quicker than a bath!

We do plan to put in a bathtub hopefully soonish, but it's certainly doable not to have one. The worst part for me was being pregnant and not having a bath to relax in

So if you love the house, go for it!!

we have a bath but never use it... you can have ours!

We did the no bath thing with 3 kids, they adapted to showers very easily. When they wanted a bath we put a small blow up pool in the bottom. I wouldnt let you stop it you from buying a house When we resold our house it only took 2 weeks to seel so I wouldnt say they are a disadvantage either.
here is a pic for you

I miss having a big bath. We have a small one that is good for dd but we can't get into it. I miss having long soaks and I would love to get into the bath with dd. She loves her bath so we wouldn't be without one.

LJ, I didn't grow up with a bath-tub. Mum used to shower us. Now, with DD, we've been showering with her since she could sit properly which was about 5mths. DH baths her in the tub maybe once/month for fun. We don't need our bath tub.