Toddler in the dark? Help them reach the moon..

My 2 year old has been potty trained for a while now. Yet, she refuses to use it by herself because she is afraid of the dark bathroom & she is too short to turn on and off the bathroom light. She has a stool that she uses to climb on the potty, so we thought perhaps she could use that to turn on the light. However, that takes TOO much time. She has to move the stool to the switch, turn on the light & then move the stool back to the potty. By the time she has done all of this it is too late & an accident had occurred. 

So I set out to find an alternative way of her turning on the light unassisted. After checking some parent sites & googling the topic I stumbled upon the "KidSwitch". It's a glow in the dark light switch extender that allows your toddler to turn on and off the light by themselves. The description said, "KidSwitch can be installed and used on any single, double, triple,or more toggle or decora style switch plate. (For decora switches, the adapter is required).​

"KidSwitch"  extends down 12" from the switch, allowing toddlers to safely reach and operate room lights.​"

I was SO excited that I had found something that would allow her to use the potty w/ out having to wait for help from someone else. However, that excitement soon fizzled out when I received the package in the mail, opened it & headed right to the bathroom to install it. 

The "KidSwitch" is designed to go on a light switch which flips on and off vertically. However, the switch in our bathroom turns on and off horizontally. Sigh.. Imagine my disappointment.. Here I thought I found the answer only to be denied a solution. 

Now what? I began to look for a place in the house where the "KidSwitch"  would function properly and that my 2 yo would need to turn on/off the light. It had never crossed my mind this wouldn't work for what I needed it for. Since we have an older house, many of the switches in the house while flipping vertically on/off, are difficult to turn operate due to their age. After combing the house for just the right switch, which fit all the above criteria, we decided upon a bedroom light switch. 

Following the simple instructions I installed the "KidSwitch"  on the light switch cover and over the toggle switch. I removed the existing switch plate screws, and replace them with the "KidSwitch"  screw sets.​ The whole installation only required a screwdriver. To operate it simply push the moon handle up or down. 

I was worried that maybe because the original switch was so high off the ground that she wouldn't be able to reach it, but that was not a problem. It was easy for her to use and she was quick to figure it out. 

While it didn't work for my initial intention, I think it's a great solution to avoid dangerous climbing by toddlers. If the switch in our bathroom would have be a vertical one it certainly would have solved our bathroom issue.. Now I have a new problem.. my 2 yo can't decide if the light should be on or off.. :)

To learn more about or purchase the KidSwitch visit @ their website:  http://www.buykidswitch.com/