Living in an apartment with four kids.....?

[twosquared]

Any tips for surviving long term apartment living with (four) kids?

If you could live in a fab location (everything at your fingertips - no need to drive), would you do it - even if it meant having no outside space at all?

The trend is to move further out, I would love to hear survival tips from those who stay!

[leobear]

are you talking about central London by any chance?

[Hashtagwhatever]

We manage. There are a few good parks locally

[valbona]

Marking my place ... We've just decided to stay put in zone one London. Nice school close by, plenty of playgrounds and parks, little roof terrace, but no garden.

[tacal]

DS and I live happily in an apartment but we do have a small garden at the front and a large communal garden at the back. I prefer being in a busy location with everything close by. It is so much better than having to drive everywhere.

[cleverbit]

We still live centrally; although we had planned to move out we haven't done it yet. A 30 min walking commute for both me (when not on mat leave) and dh make it worth it. Our neighborhood has tons of little playgrounds around which we can visit. I'd say the most important coping mechanism we employ at the moment (2 young dc) is to get out just about every day. Rain, cold, snow, wind, hardly any weather keeps us at home all day. I also find shopping online to be a real life saver as we have no car and I'm not sure if I could lug home weekly shopping without a car. Also dh short commute means he can be home to help with bathtime which he couldn't do if we were further out - another life saver for me.

[Kiwiinkits]

We do central apartment living very well with two kids (1.5, almost 3) but I think four would drive me nuts! So I don't think I would do it, tbh.
The thing that would put me off is that as the kids get older I want them to be able to walk themselves to school and go out on their own, to the park and so on. That's far easier in a suburb than in a big city.

Agree with cleverbit, it works because we go out EVERY DAY, rain or shine. We have so much nearby, parks, museums, supermarket, a beach.

[Mummysaysno]

Really depends on the kids and apartment layout...we were in an apartment (not in UK) with 3, but when expecting number 4 we were able to move to house with stairs and outdoor space...for us my kids are very very loud, and having rooms on different floors helps with them also getting space from each other.

However, I can see how it would work with older children, or calmer children!

Also, we had moved from a house in the UK so the kids were used to running wild...

[twosquared]

Thanks all! I actually live in an apartment right now, but with garden so moving to a place with no garden is a bit of a mind stretch. BUT the apartment i'm considering is bigger.
Getting out every day would have to be it!