Having a Bidet at Home
This post contains references to products from one or more of our advertisers. We may receive compensation when you click on links to those products. Terms apply to the offers listed on this page. For an explanation of our Advertising Policy, visit this page.
There are some things that are uncommon in the United States, and a bidet is certainly one of those items. I've never been in a home that has one, outside of my own. Keep reading for why a bidet is something every family should own.
There is going to be plenty of potty talk in this article - it’s a good thing you have kids and are used to it.
If you’ve never used a bidet before, it may seem like a little bit of an odd thing to do. Water shooting at your bottom while sitting on the toilet sure sounds weird. Let me assure you, it is not. In fact, after you’ve used a bidet a couple of times, you’re going to be wishing that you had one everywhere that you use the restroom.
I was first introduced to bidets when I was in Japan about 10 years ago with my wife. While I knew what they were, I didn’t really understand much beyond that. After spending many days having my bottom pampered after each restroom visit, I knew this was something we needed at home. My wife quickly agreed. At the time, we didn’t have any kids, so we didn’t give much thought about the bidet from that perspective - we just wanted something nice. The below analysis includes which bidets are best for kids.
Start with something simple
If you’ve never used a bidet before, get something simple. Heated seats, hot water, air noises, and other such features can be really nice, but if you’ve never used a bidet before, and if you’re not sure if you’re going to use it, start with something simple. The downside is you may find your experience lacking, especially in colder winter months.
The other reason to start simple is that I’ve found that these are best for the bathroom that my kids most regularly use. The extra features don’t really add much for them, and I’ve found that they use the bidet pretty uncommonly before about the age of 8.
Teach your kids what the bidet is
My youngest son has gotten a few showers from the bidet - that’s part of the downside to the cheaper bidets. Turning the knob with the water on it has probably scarred my son for the past few years. You need to teach your child what the bidet is, and not assume they know. We’ve since helped him to understand what it is and how to use it, but we should have done that to start. It’s still funny thinking about the face full of water he’s taken though.
Get a nicer bidet if you can’t stand the cold water
This is the primary reason for moving up in the bidet world. Depending on the climate you live in, and how the water runs in your home, this may not be necessary. Where we live, having near freezing water shooting at our bottoms is not enjoyable. I’d just rather use toilet paper in that case. The water in our home can get close to freezing temperatures in the winter. Brr.
As such, we have all but one of the bidets in our home that has warm water in it. The only one without is the bathroom that neither my wife or I use very often. All of the others shoot warm water at my bottom which makes me never want to leave the house.
Get the top of the line bidet to pamper your family
Be careful about getting to this level of bidet. Once you have one, you’ll never want to go back to a lower model. My second favorite feature after warm water is the heated seat. On those cold winter mornings, getting up and sitting on a heated seat is such a delight.
The other great feature about this bidet is that it won’t turn on unless you’re actually sitting on it. My kids can’t get a face full of water on this without some real creativity - we’ll see if they figure it out when they’re older. My wife assures me that the enema feature is excellent - I’ve used it, but can’t say it’s really helped me much, but she swears by it. The air dryer doesn’t really do much, but I turn it on while I pat my bottom dry.
A few other bidet thoughts
You’re going to save a ton of money on toilet paper with a bidet in the house. We very rarely buy toilet paper in a household of 4 - perhaps a big pack from Costco once a year. Other than that, you get clean with the water - much cleaner at that.
Assuming you don’t need an outlet, or you have one close by, you should be able to install a bidet yourself. There are lots of videos on how to do this, and the instructions are pretty straight forward that come with the bidet. However, if you have a bidet that heats water, you’re going to need an outlet. When we built our home, we made sure that we had outlets close by to each toilet. Unfortunately, that’s not the case with most bathrooms. Consult a local electrician for getting an outlet close enough to your toilet.
Conclusion
Once you get started with a bidet, you’ll never want to go back. Pamper your bottom, and make it happy each and every day.
