How many bathrooms does a large family need?

[plain jane]

The title says it all.  :coolgleamA:

 

Dh and I are considering moving but some of the homes that we love (usually because of the location and the size of the home) only have 2 bathrooms.   :svengo:  :banghead:    Our favorite one only has 2 and it is really holding me back: we have 5 kids who use the bathroom.  Due to the layout and certain other factors, there would be no way to add another bathroom.  :blink:    We currently have 4 so this is a huge downsize (bathrooom wise) for us.

 

My oldest, heard us talking about the house and asked us what on earth we would do if we all got a horrid stomach virus  :wacko: .  I have no answer for that.  What does one large family do in times like that?

 

Is this even doable?  Would this be the worst move ever?  Should we just keep looking?  I'm not even set on moving.  I seem to look each spring and then resign myself to upgrading some part of our current home and making myself happy here.  (I do think we will move for real this year- this on house is super ideal in all ways except the number of bathrooms.  It's huge and on lots of land and really affordable).

 

What says the Hive?

[Prairie~Phlox]

I say people had larger families with only 1bathroom a long time ago and did just fine. Our pastor & his wife have 11 kids & 2 bathrooms.

[redsquirrel]

I grew up in a family of 6 people, DH grew up in a family the same size. My best friend has 6 people in her family as well.

 

We each had 1.5 bathrooms per house and we all survived. Even with stomach bugs . :lol:

 

My mom grew up in a house with a large extended family that included several elderly relatives with colostomy bags. There was one small bathroom for everyone. Again, they all lived to tell the tale. Well, the elderly relatives aren't around any longer, but having one bathroom wasn't what did it.

[Melissa in Australia]

I grew up in a house with 8 children plus my parents fostered on and off an additional three children. making at times a total of 12 people. we had 2 bathrooms total.

I have a family of 5 children plus 2 adults. we have 2 bathrooms total. I can guarantee that the bathrooms are empty most of the day. we have had stomach virises and never ever had a problem.

 

I cannot see what the problem with 2 bathrooms is.

 I cannot imagine having to clean 4 bathrooms

or the amount of water that 4 bathrooms must use

 or the water pressure required so everyone can use a bathroom at the same time.

[Joker]

I grew up in a family of six and we had two bathrooms. Dh grew up in a family of eight and had two bathrooms. Dh's aunt has a family of six and has one bathroom. We are only four and have two bathrooms but could get by with only one if we needed.

 

 

[zoobie]

Well, we just added a bathroom, so I may not be the best person to ask. I'm pregnant with #4 and we have 4 now. Three of us got food poisoning on vacation and we had two bathrooms (thankfully two!), but even that was not enough. It was a horrifying experience. Long ago people didn't have any indoor plumbing, but that doesn't mean I would buy a house without it!

 

If you love the house otherwise, get a contractor in there to give you options.

[Annie G]

We raised four children and had two bathrooms.  My parents had four kids and we had two bathrooms. When the oldest two moved out, we moved to a smaller house and it just had one bathroom. 

 

I would rather have my kids learn to negotiate bathroom time than to have to clean more bathrooms. Two is my limit!

[Hypatia.]

We have 5 kids, 3 bathrooms, and a couple weeks ago we had a horrible stomach virus.  Absolutely no way would 2 bathrooms been enough for that!   3 bathrooms is pushing it for us sometimes, especially if someone (*cough* DH *cough* DD2) is taking a long "sabbatical" in the bathroom.   :glare:

[Amy in NH]

2 & 1/2 would be comfortable, but 2 would do okay.

[kroe1]

One for each person of the home and one for each animal.

[Myeightkiddies]

There was a time when we had just one bathroom.  For many years we had two.  During the last 10 years we've had three.  Three works well.  There is typically a bathroom free or soon to be available all the time.  Personally I would not downsize to two.  Two is doable, for sure, but if you had a choice, I wouldn't settle.  Kids grow up and need more bathroom time than they do when little.  Just my opinion.  I'd like to have another bathroom in the basement, since we use it a lot.

[busymama7]

8 kids here. Until 8 months ago we only had two. We survived ok but sure appreciate the extra 1/2 we have now. Also in the new house the upstairs full bath has a sliding door between the sink area and toilet/tub and two sinks. If we only had two just that one thing would help alot. Toilet is separate in the master bath too.

 

We also have 3/4 teen boys/girls. If we had more teen girls I might think differently ;) the small boys had to run outside at times :P

[matrips]

Are you able to add any bathrooms to the new house? Toilets and sinks are more a priority for us than showers/tubs for extras.

 

I'm sure people can make do with whatever they have. But if you are used to four, I think it would be uncomfortable going down to two. We only have three kids, and we have three bathrooms (one is the master). But dh treats the room like an office and the kids are none too quick either. I couldn't imagine living with only one! They've been known to complain, at which time I tell them of about their grandmas family growing up with lots of kids and only one bath :)

[SKL]

I grew up in a family of 8 and until the youngest was 2 months old, we had 1 bathroom.  Then we moved to a house with 1.5 bathrooms.  It was enough.  There was never any drama over vomit priorities (I guess you'd give each person a bucket just in case?).  The only problem was when someone went in there for a "looong visit" and someone little needed to wait for a turn.  When the tots were potty training, my mom would keep the potty seat in the hallway to avoid accidents.

[Heather in Neverland]

Two is fine. My mom was 1 of 12 kids with one bathroom. I grew up in a house of 6 people and 1 bathroom. Two is plenty especially if you love the house.

[cjzimmer1]

Family of 8 and while we technically have 2 bathrooms, in reality we only use 1.  There is a leak in the toilet in our downstairs bathroom.  Hubby took it apart once a couple of years ago, decided it just needs a new rubber washer and some vaseline.  Took about a year to acquire those parts.  It's been a year or two since then, he still hasn't bothered to fix it.  It hasn't been a problem.  We've had the stomach flu 3 times this winter.  Not really a problem.  Everyone usually just keeps an empty ice cream bucket nearby when they are sick.  More problematic is when GI bugs manifest themselves from the other end.  Currently dealing with that and even so it really hasn't been issue since no one needed to use the bathroom at the exact same moment.

[texasmama]

We have two family members who like to camp out in the bathroom for long visits (I am not one of them).  We have four bathrooms but only really use three of them most of the time.  Currently, we are fostering six 4 week old kittens for the Humane Society, and they are in one of our bathrooms, rendering it completely useless for humans.

 

We have very much appreciated all of these bathrooms.  Could we make it without them?  I'm sure we could.  Some unnamed people might need to shorten their bathroom visits, though.

[Ivey]

We have 3.5, and we'd have trouble downsizing. Dh and I have an ensuite, the little boys have a bathroom upstairs, the big boys have one in the basement and we have a 1/2 bath on the main floor. We've never caught a stomach bug, but we all bathe or shower every day, the boys share rooms so they often change in the bathrooms, one of my children does his about half his schoolwork sitting in the bathtub, etc. We could probably get by with 2.5, but it would be an adjustment. 

[mamajudy]

I grew up in a family of seven with only one bathroom. That was a little inconvenient at times. We have two bathrooms for our family of seven, and it' fine. For one thing, your family won't always be as large as it is now. But even now, two should be enough. It teaches people to be considerate of others. And if there is a nasty illness, you use buckets.

[momto10blessings]

11 people here with 2 1/2 bathrooms. I'm not sure we've ever used all 3 at once, even with everyone sick with vomiting/diarrhea.

[KungFuPanda]

I grew up in a house with 8 children plus my parents fostered on and off an additional three children. making at times a total of 12 people. we had 2 bathrooms total.

I have a family of 5 children plus 2 adults. we have 2 bathrooms total. I can guarantee that the bathrooms are empty most of the day. we have had stomach virises and never ever had a problem.

 

I cannot see what the problem with 2 bathrooms is.

 I cannot imagine having to clean 4 bathrooms

or the amount of water that 4 bathrooms must use

 or the water pressure required so everyone can use a bathroom at the same time.

 

 

I have 2 1/2 bathrooms. I've never had water pressure issues and I don't see how you'd use more water just because more people can shower at the same time. It's the same amount of water, you just use it simultaneously. My bathrooms are smaller than most, so cleaning another one isn't a big deal.

 

 

The title says it all.  :coolgleamA:

 

Dh and I are considering moving but some of the homes that we love (usually because of the location and the size of the home) only have 2 bathrooms.   :svengo:  :banghead:    Our favorite one only has 2 and it is really holding me back: we have 5 kids who use the bathroom.  Due to the layout and certain other factors, there would be no way to add another bathroom.  :blink:    We currently have 4 so this is a huge downsize (bathrooom wise) for us.

 

My oldest, heard us talking about the house and asked us what on earth we would do if we all got a horrid stomach virus  :wacko: .  I have no answer for that.  What does one large family do in times like that?

 

Is this even doable?  Would this be the worst move ever?  Should we just keep looking?  I'm not even set on moving.  I seem to look each spring and then resign myself to upgrading some part of our current home and making myself happy here.  (I do think we will move for real this year- this on house is super ideal in all ways except the number of bathrooms.  It's huge and on lots of land and really affordable).

 

What says the Hive?

 

 

If it was possible to build a house there HOW can it be completely impossible to build a bathroom? one more half bath could make all the difference.

 

 

One for each person of the home and one for each animal.

What?

[Melissa in Australia]

what I am reading from people's responses is that the more bathrooms you have the more people camp out in the bathroom :001_rolleyes:

[icollectkids]

We are a family of 9 and had 2 bathrooms at our previous house. It was fine. You get used to it. Besides....you know boys don't mind going out back if it comes down to it.. ;)

 

We recently moved to be near family. Now we have 3 bathrooms. I see it as 'yet another thing I have to clean..' LOL

[abacus2]

It is my opinion that households with more than 1 person need more than one toilet, but two bathrooms can work for a significantly larger number of people. I would consider all the factors of your choices, but I wouldn't let two bathrooms cross the otherwise perfect house off the list.

[Unicorn.]

You can get by with two easily, but there will be an adjustment period. After a while, it won't be a big deal. My other thought is with all that land, you could always build an outhouse! :D If you love the house, go for it!

[KungFuPanda]

what I am reading from people's responses is that the more bathrooms you have the more people camp out in the bathroom :001_rolleyes:

I don't get that either. It takes as long as it takes. Extra bathrooms don't breed selfishness. Everyone works with what they have, but you don't get bonus character points for holding it longer.

[Melissa in Australia]

 

 

I have 2 1/2 bathrooms. I've never had water pressure issues 

  

 

 

I forget that not everyone has gravity feed water pressure.

[Mandylubug]

Well, we have 4 kids and 2 baths. I'd really hate to only have 1. We shared 2 with 8 for vacation with no issues though.

 

it isn't the toilets that are missed here. We get jammed up during brushing teeth, doing hair, trying to get out of house to leave somewhere.

 

if I was house hunting now, I'd settle for 2.5 bathrooms. If I was building and designing my own home I'd have 2.5 still, but the kids main bath would have 2 sinks and the tub/shower and toilet would have a door dividing them from sinks.

[KungFuPanda]

I forget that not everyone has gravity feed water pressure.

I must have the opposite of that. My hot water heater is in the basement and my full baths are upstairs. :-)

[Guest]

I say people had larger families with only 1bathroom a long time ago and did just fine. Our pastor & his wife have 11 kids & 2 bathrooms.

 

A long time ago, people also had these:

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-2-Gallon-Red-White-Enamel-Chamber-Bucket-Pot-w-Lid-Handle-sh-/201072478567?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2ed0da8967

 

and these:

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Wash-Basin-and-Pitcher-/261453644460?pt=Antiques_Decorative_Arts&hash=item3cdfda02ac

 

and these:

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Antique-Vanity-with-Etched-Mirror-and-Marble-Top-Jewelry-Drawers-Circa-1900-/251506355715?pt=Antiques_Furniture&hash=item3a8ef26e03

 

which have fallen out of fashion and may or may not be considered embarrassing and unhygienic by you, your dh, and your older kids. It's something you might want to discuss before making your final decision.

 

[maize]

We have one full bathroom and one half bath (with room to add a shower eventually) with five kids. It is not ideal but it works.

[Freckles]

We have six bathrooms with four people. It's too much to clean.  I really liked our house that had 2.5 baths.

[Catwoman]

I would keep looking for a house with more bathrooms.

 

There is no way I would want to go from 4 bathrooms to only 2.

[twoxcell]

There are 6 of us and 1 bathroom.  :leaving:  I am dreaming of some day having 2. :lol:I honestly can not wrap my mind around having 4-6 bathrooms. I can not think of anyone in my family or that I know well who has more then 2 bathrooms.

[gardenmom5]

we only had two for a long time, even with six of us at the time (now there are seven, we've only had everyone home at once for a few weeks or a few months at a time).  then we finished the basement and added a 3/4 bath.   (now, kids are moving out.)

[swellmomma]

We are a family of 5, so 4 kids...1 bathroom.  It is a 1930s house what can I say.  We do have another sink in my office that can be used for brushing teeth etc.  But we really do survive with only 1 bathroom.  As for if everyone got a bad stomach virus, btdt, that's what ice cream buckets lined with grocery bags are for.  Generally only 1 is puking at a time and can get to the bathroom but everyone has a bucket just in case.  

[Tammi K]

Our family, when we had 8, has lived in several homes with only two bathrooms. Fortunately, we've also lived in homes with 3 or 4 bathrooms. I prefer more rather than less. But, two was manageable if you can encourage your teens to take short showers and apply make-up in bedrooms

[J-rap]

If the house is otherwise perfect, I think two is fine. We are a family of 7 with 1.5 bathrooms and it was never a problem. As someone else said, in a real pinch, you pass out buckets.

[LisaKinVA]

We survived a long time with just one...buckets during times of sickness were our friends (actually, they still are).  2-2.5 is pretty much the perfect number of bathrooms for our family of 7.  The only reason we're even thinking of a house with additional bathrooms is because of the very real probability of IL's moving in with us (I'd like them to have their own suite).  So, my house here in Italy has 3...and our next house will probably have 3 or maybe 3.5 or 4 (just depends upon the set-up).  Growing up in a family of 6, our houses usually had 3...the only time we didn't was in FL, and we had 2 (only problematic because there were 3 teens, and one year we all had to be out at the same time for school).

[BlsdMama]

When Ella was a baby we had one bathroom. That was nine people using one bathroom. Honestly? That was too few. One person is inevitably bathing and others have to go! In Oregon we had 3.5. That was a lot to clean. The house we're trying to buy right now had 3.5.

 

I think 2.5 is perfect.... One for general bathing, one for Mom and Dad, and a half for an extra potty. ;) Two weeks be doable for me but I admit one no longer would. We have ten children with another coming this summer.

[Carrie12345]

My family (5 kids) manages just fine with 2 bathrooms.  I would definitely *like* to have more (especially for guests, so I'm not worried about last minute inspections), but we have not run into any actual problems.

 

One of the things that helped when I was growing up (3 kids, all girls) was having vanities in the bedrooms.  Hair and makeup can take up a lot of bathroom time.  Leaving those to personal space areas makes a big difference.

[mom@shiloh]

 We have ten children.  They do not all live at home anymore, but we often have guests.  I have found 2 and a half to be a pretty good amount.

[welovetoread]

We have 6 kids and 2 adults and only one bathroom

[Annie G]

My family (5 kids) manages just fine with 2 bathrooms.  I would definitely *like* to have more (especially for guests, so I'm not worried about last minute inspections), but we have not run into any actual problems.

 

One of the things that helped when I was growing up (3 kids, all girls) was having vanities in the bedrooms.  Hair and makeup can take up a lot of bathroom time.  Leaving those to personal space areas makes a big difference.

 

 

We raised three girls and even though they didn't have actual vanities in their bedrooms, they did have a mirror and a dresser. They put their makeup and hair stuff on top of their dresser and did their hair and makeup there.   It eliminated morning bathroom rush hour and kept the bathroom much more clean.  

[Cera]

We have 4 kids and 2.5 bathrooms.  It works just fine because we don't have any restrictions on kids using the master bathroom (I know people who don't allow their kids in the master suite, that wouldn't work).  

 

You said there is no room to add a third bathroom but have you thought about adding a half bath?  All you would need would be a small closet that could be converted.  Another option is adding a counter/sinks somewhere so that the kids have more morning prep space as they become teens though that isn't as much of an issue when you don't need to have them all getting ready for school at the same time.

[Joyofsixreboot]

Nine of us use one so anything can work.

[umsami]

We have four kids and two bathrooms.  Right now, I think it's perfect, but when we have four teenagers, I'll probably think otherwise.  We looked at a house which had 3-1/2 bathrooms and I just dreaded the thought of cleaning them.   Yes, my kids do clean their own, but I usually have to come in after and fix things.

 

Still, if you're used to four bathrooms, I think it would be hard to cut that number in half.  I would think that probably 2-1/2 would be your minimum, but you may want 3.

 

If you can, see if you can find a home with tankless heaters.  Rather than a large water heater, each bathroom has it's own on-demand heater.  You never run out of hot water, and you're not heating a giant tank all day every day.

 

[DawnM]

Our CA home had 1.5 bathrooms.  When we moved to NC we moved in to a house with 3.5 bathrooms.  For almost 5 full years we all took showers in the ONE main bathroom.......I don't know if it was out of habit or what, but we didn't even realize we were doing it for a long time.

 

We now fully utilize all 3.5 bathrooms, but I don't think 3.5 are necessary.  We could do nicely with 2 full bathrooms.  

 

Dawn

[mom2scouts]

Two bathrooms worked fine with our family of seven.  A horrid stomach virus means those who have things coming out the least dangerous end have to use a bucket. :laugh:

[Mommyof4ks]

We have 2, but we also have 2 of te 5 kids in diapers still. We have no plans to add bathrooms.