Living on site while building a house

[Amillionquestions]

Me and my DH are planning on buying a polt of land and living on site in a caravan during the build. He is an architect and plans on doing most of the work himself alongside his job. We are planning on starting to try for a baby at this time too so I just want to know if anyone has any experience of raising a baby in these circumstances? Our relationship is very strong and we have lived in a deralict property together for sometime without too much stress so I feel like we would be ok but am worried a baby throws a whole new light on a near nomadic lifestyle!

No, but lived through major refurbishment with 2yo and 4mo. It was fine but it only took c. 5 months. Living in cramped, claustrophic conditions without a proper bathroom/kitchen etc would test me to my limits after that. I also wonder how much time your husband will be able to devote to the build if he is also a new dad (or conversely, how much time he can devote to the baby).

Thank you for the reply lalalonglegs! Glad you got through your renovations ok, it must have been hard juggling a toddler and a baby with the dust etc

Limited time with the baby does sound like quite a sad reality and I think being a practical hands on person and because me an DH are so strong at the mo, I have been thinking mostly of the logistics.

Babies don't take up too much space, at least for the first few months. And Grand Designs teaches us that if you aren't already pregnant, moving into a caravan on a building site is a sure fire way of becoming so.

We're on our fourth project, the first one with DCs and I have to say that the pressures of a building site plus the pressures of a new baby make things very difficult. Caravans tend to be small, damp and cold, none of which is ideal for a baby or for practicalities like one person getting some sleep while the other looks after the baby. Building projects also run late and you'd need to consider how you would live next to a building site with a toddler.

The only way we have managed this without killing each other is because we have a small cottage next to the site and we renovated that before we begun.

Hahaha CheeseBadger, your comment is just too funny! I wonder what it is about caravans? Will have to keep it in the garden if we pull off our house building plans!

Hi Booboostwo, Thank you so much for sharing your story! I am facinated to hear why you have lived in so many rennovations? Are you or your OH in the trade? Our first house has been a rennovation and I think my OH plans on doing one after the other for some time (we live in Surrey and house prices are astronomical). Did you ever feel disheartened moving out of a house you had worked hard to build? Did you have big gaps in moving? I want to at least enjoy 5years in our next finished house but we will have to wait and see how it all goes. (Don't feel obliged to answer these questions as my username suggests I always ask too many questions)!

I would build the house and then have a baby . We rebuilt a house while i was pregnant and it was very hard ,we could not live in it at the time.

We've done so many projects partly through luck and partly through choice. Twice we moved because I got offered a new job and once we moved country. We chose a renovation each time partly out of interest and partly to make more money on it.

We've generally sold as soon as the project was finished which was not disheartening because of the money from the sale! The middle of the next build when it's all going wrong is very disheartening though!