Bathrooms – general

Bathrooms need not be institutional. Aim to create a home-like setting. Ideas include using:

• warm colours
• attractively framed mirrors above the sink(s)
• framed children's artwork displayed sparingly (without 'over doing' visual stimulation)
• posters and signs (used thoughtfully).

Toilet doors

PF20 Toilet and handwashing facilities

PF22 Toilet privacy

• When designing your bathroom area, talk to your local territorial authority and regional health authority about requirements. For example, the Building Code requires privacy in toilets and licensing criterion PF22 requires at least 1 toilet for use by children is designed to provide them with some sense of privacy. There are multiple ways that this can be achieved.
• Some communities prefer to have toilet doors, while others would rather not.
• Children's need for privacy needs to be balanced with adequate supervision and hygiene. Everyone is likely to have a different view about how this is best achieved. It is a good idea to think about your community's values, the age range of the children attending and safety issues.
• If you decide not to have toilet doors, and the service is used by other groups (for example, an after-school care group) when your service is not operating, consider having 1 toilet with a full door (that can be latched back during the ECE session).
• If you decide not to have toilet doors, the toilets can be arranged with partitions, so children feel some sense of privacy. For example, children will feel more exposed if the toilets face the entrance door, than if they are arranged 'side on' to the entrance door.
• Half doors and walls are another option. They provide privacy and yet still allow visibility into toilets. Solid surfaces are easier to clean.
• Half doors at entrances to bathrooms can also be problematic if they are too high. Toilets and handwashing facilities are designed and located to allow children capable of independent toileting to access them safely without adult help.

Toilets

Toilet and handwashing facilities

• Child-sized toilets are preferable, but adult toilets are acceptable if a step is provided.
• Wall hung toilets can make cleaning the floor underneath much easier because there is no join between the toilet and the floor surface.
• Adequate supervision is important. Depending on the layout of the service, an adult-high viewing window into the bathroom area will ensure privacy and also allows for discreet supervision.
• A 1.2 metre wall divider between children's toilets gives some privacy, as does positioning toilets side on from the main door.
• A disabled person's toilet may 'double' as the adult toilet. Adult toilets must have walls that provide complete privacy. Disabled access toilets must meet certain specifications in terms of size and facilities.

Hand basins

Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008, regulation 46 – New Zealand Legislation

HS13 Hot water taps

• Water that children access can’t be hotter than 40°C. However, if water is stored in a hot water cylinder, the cylinder's thermostat must be set to at least 60°C, to prevent legionella bacteria from growing in the pipes. An anti-scald, or tempering, valve must be used unless infinity gas is available. An anti-scald valve is a thermostatically controlled device to maintain the required temperature, regardless of incoming hot and cold-water temperatures. Once it has been adjusted to a warm temperature, it can be locked to prevent accidental or unauthorised re-adjustment.
• Long stainless-steel troughs that have 3 or 4 warm water taps can be easier for 3 or 4 children to use, easier to clean and easier to manage than 3 or 4 individual sinks.
• If the height of hand basins/troughs is between 550 and 600 mm from the floor for older children, and 450 to 500 mm from the floor for young children, they are likely to be easily reached. (If children need to use steps, the bathroom area will have unnecessary clutter and hazards.) Consider the age range of the children who will attend. It is a good idea to check the height you plan to put your sinks at with some 'real' children!
• There are taps available that turn themselves off, with a lever that is easy for children to operate. Taps of this type prevent water from being left on and are available from most plumbing outlets.
• If you prefer that children use taps that 'turn', it's a good idea to ask the plumber to limit the amount of 'turn' to 180 degrees. This will ensure that children don't keep turning a tap the wrong way in an effort to turn it off – eventually giving up!
• Liquid soap is recommended because it reduces the spread of infection. It should be easily accessible for each child using handwash facilities.
• Although not required by the regulations, it can be very helpful to have extra handwash facilities in main play areas. If children can easily wash hands after messy play, supervision is eased and congestion in the bathroom reduced. It can also be very handy to reduce congestion in the bathroom area before mealtimes. Whether this is a good idea will depend on the service's overall layout, arrangement of groups and children's age ranges.
• Warm water encourages children to wash their hands – just think of how you feel on a cold winter’s day!

Hand drying

PF21 Hand drying facilities

• Ask your local health authority for information about recent research and new products. Knowledge in this area is always evolving.
• For drying hands, paper hand towels reduce the spread of infection. This is because they are individual and disposable. You can purchase child-sized towels to limit wastage.
• Some services choose to use individual cloth flannels for hand drying. These should only be used once before washing.

Note: Some companies provide the paper hand towel and liquid soap dispensers free of charge if you use their products.

Nappy changing area

PF25 Nappy change facilities

• Nappy change facilities must be provided to ensure the services is inclusive of older children who still require nappies. Parents who visit with their child will feel more welcome if there are adequate facilities for the child.
• Many folding nappy changing tables are designed for domestic use. They can be very unstable and are not suitable for use in ECE services environments. The nappy changing table needs to have a non-porous, easily cleaned surface.
• A solid unit can be made soft on top by using a small mattress that is covered in a non-porous material (for example, a nappy change pad).
• You may wish to purchase a unit that has steps, a non-porous, soft surface on top, and storage below. Steps allow children to climb up to the table independently and help to prevent adult back injuries. This is an important occupational safety and health (OSH) consideration.
• Adequate supervision is important. Depending on the layout of the service, a viewing window into the nappy change area may ensure children, and adults who are changing nappies etc can be easily seen. This safeguards children and staff from child abuse or accusations of abuse.
• Some commercially available nappy disposal systems contain the smell of used nappies very effectively.
• Alternatively, positioning a small 'door' (for example, 0.5 x 0.5 metres) in the wall by the changing table can provide a good way to dispose of nappies, if the area immediately outside is not used by children. A 'chute' can be created between the 'door' and an outdoor rubbish bin.
• Shelving in the nappy change area should allow staff to easily reach children's nappies etc. Small individual baskets that can be placed on, or near, the changing table work well if they are stored in 'cubbies' or open shelves. Any cleaning products (for example, bleach solutions) must be inaccessible to children.

Body wash facilities

PF26 Body wash facilities

• See the hand basins section above for comments about water temperature.
• Consider issues of access when deciding where to place a shub or sink. When washing a very soiled child, easy access to both the shub and water is vital.
• The Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 (regulation 45, criterion PF26) require services to have facilities suitable for washing soiled children. Children may be very dirty from play or may have been sick or have diarrhea. A shub with a handheld shower hose or a bath suitable for the washing of soiled children provide good facilities.
• If a service only caters for infants or toddlers, a shub at bench height (approximately 800 mm from the floor) is a good idea. This works well if it is incorporated into a large nappy changing bench (see above section).
• Washing facilities at floor level can work well for older children, for example, a floor-mounted shub with a shower hose. An alternative is to have a sloping, textured, floor with a drain – similar to that used in disabled shower areas.
• A shub, or very large sink that is set into a large nappy changing bench, is good for washing infants and toddlers who have had diarrhea or been vomiting. It allows easy movement between the bench and shub and makes it easy for adults to be close to the child.
• A pull-out spray sink mixer (like the kitchen vegetable cleaning type) has flexibility that makes it easy to clean around a sink or shub, or to wash a baby. It is on an expanding hose which slides back into a sleeve when not in use. This is a clean arrangement because the hose doesn't lie unused in the bottom of the sink. This facility can double as the areas for adults to wash their hands in after nappy changing.
• Any shower similar to a domestic shower may be difficult for staff to help children without getting wet themselves. A handheld shower attachment may help with this.
• A bath may not be as safe for very young children because adults cannot hold infants securely unless they get in with them. Trying to hold babies in residential type bathtubs can also create back problems for adults.