Flooring real wood or laminate?

[GingerPCatt]

We want to put new floors in and are undecided. I think laminate will be cheaper and easier to clean but DH prefers real wood. We have 3 cats and a toddler and hope to have more children eventually. My requirements are that it can put up with the punishment of an active toddler (is there any other kind?), is easy to clean, doesn't show every crumb and looks nice after a few things have been spilt on it. Recommendations?

I don't like laminate but couldn't afford real wood so we went for the inbetween option - engineered oak. Love it, it's been down a year and looks fab.

We have solid oak flooring in a room which is basically a corridor to another room, so lots of traffic. It was laid 7 years ago and has survived two toddlers, 2 cats and a dog. We haven't needed to re-sand or re-wax yet. There is only one noticeable mark from when we had to move the piano, but because it is oiled/waxed it will be easier to correct than a varnished floor .

We got it for an unbelievably good price in a sale from a wholesaler, around £28 per sq metre, so shop around. It's thick too!

Otherwise I'd go for engineered, also excellent. I'd avoid laminate.