Bringing up kids on a wide beam

[floater]

Hi all,

 

Me and my partner have lived on a narrow boat now for 3 years and we love it! Were thinking of having kids and i'm dreading the prospect of moving back to land. Im considering getting a wide beam or dutch barge. What are your experiences of bringing up a family on a boat? Also what would be a good size to bring up two kids?

 

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

Thanks

 

Dave

[Bones]

some one near me is thinking of kids, and his gal said bigger boat or no kids... so they are in the process of getting a barge. A couple on the oxford have 2 kids on their boat and seem to cope fine. Another couple near me have a 120ft dutch barge with 2 kids. I suppose it depends on what bites your biscuit.

 

Not very helpful...hmmmm.,.....

[bottle]

Hi welcome to the forum

 

Yes a widebeam obviously would be larger but there is at least one member on this forum that is bringing up children on a narrowboat, so don't jump yet.

 

Edit: no I don't mean that the way it reads, must read posts before posting.

Edited April 30, 2007 by bottle

[floater]

I've just found this previous thread

 

http://www.canalworld.net/forums/index.php...468&hl=kids

 

Next time i'll remember to use the search option.

 

Any other comments are most welcome.

[StoneHenge]

Hi floater!

 

Thanks for the pm.

 

I waas quite worried about the kids when we decided to move onto a boat. We took ages to consider everything from where we would moor and how it would effect their schooling (we have daughter who is 8, a son who is 20 months and a step son who comes over at weekends who is 12). We wondered how this would effect their lives in general. Would they have enough space, would we have enough space, would there be sufficient room on board to have toys, and bikes, and a place for them to do homework etc.

 

However where we lived before in the house was great in that the house was nice, had a garden etc, but we had the worst neighbours you can imagine and our lives and the lives of the kids was so compromised, it was permanent stress. The idea to move onto a boat had long before been hatched so it wasn't an impulse. We took years over it talking to other boat owners, finding out if there were any families and how they copes with everything, if they had come across any problems.

 

In the end we decided to go for it. We were really worried that our youngest who wasn't the best sleeper would just end up disturbing everyone as most of the folks at our marina don't have kids, and some probably don't even like them, but our kids are well behaved, they are not let loose to go mad or bring 20 mates round to cause havoc etc. They play outside, but there is a nice green they can do that on, a park nearby, they know the dangers of water, are all good swimmers apart from the youngest.

 

We have found since moving we have needed some major refits but that was because we had to have 3 cabins on the boat so the only one we could get was an ex hire that had been privately owned for a time, which was not set up really for comfortable living, more holidaying on.

 

So we have modified (or in the process of) the kitchen and living area to make it more cosy, with a proper sofa rather than fixed seating, and the kids have somewhere to sit and do homework, an area to play and generally giving us lots of space.

 

If you don't have your kids already, then you in an ideal position to start as you can make sure you are baby ready. There is an excellent story about this in the boat handlers book by the Boat Owners association which you can pick up for next to nothing, and they have a story in there about a live aboard who has a baby and how they coped, how they managed to get everything ready, and it gives you a real view of what life is like with a wee one, especially on the move!

 

The one thing we have found is when we are out and about our cruising time is limited because whilst we are moving, both of us are generally out back or moving around from front to back to make sure we are OK at bridges, locks, turns etc, and the older kids mind the little one. Of course his patience runs out eventually and although he can come out back for a time, he wants to be running around, so not ideal. We find we can do about 5 hours max, and that's having to incorporate nap times, feeds etc.

 

With a new born, it will be easier in that you do a feed, they sleep 2-3 hours, you do a feed, sleep etc, and whilst you are not doing that they can be secured in a moses basket or car seat where they can't fall or slide around should you be on the move.

 

We have not run into any major problems anyway, and the kids at school think it's great to have a mate who has a different life style, the teachers think it's great and my kids have some normality again from what they had before. They have learnt so much about wildlife they wouldn't have, and they have freedom as well as a good mind for safety around water and boats.

 

Hope that helps, but feel free to bug me if you need more questions answering.