To relocate or not?! Need to decide this week

[CountingSheep27]

I am faced with a decision and I am so on the fence I cannot see clearly! Please any advice welcome. we have two options:
option 1:
stay where we are. Big house and big garden which we are settled in, been here 2.5 years. In laws 5 minutes away. We have a good relationship, not perfect but it is good and we enjoy visiting them. They help with ad hoc child care but not a regular slot. Oldest child is 4.5 years old, starts school in Sept. Pregnant with Second child due date end May. We have No friends here. Tried to make friends but struggled. Bit colder here but amazing landscape and not over populated. But flip side is it’s quiet with less to do. Schools here are good. husband has to commute three days a week 300 miles to work, so for three evenings a week gets home 9pm or later and one night is a stay over away. My job is wfh. Could likely get a school place here due to low birth rate.
option 2:
move 300 miles away to where we lived before. Will need to rent first for one year and then find something to buy. House will be smaller due to property there more expensive. No family nearby. We have friends there already established who we like seeing and visit occasionally from current location. Bit warmer but busier as more populated. Flip side is there loads to do! Schools here are also good. Husband commute would be shorter, 1 hour and a quarter each way. For 3 evenings a week would get home around 6:30 or 7pm. No stay overs. My office is here so I could go into office sometimes if I wanted to after mat leave. We already have a school place here.

Thank you I didn’t read it properly, obviously 😬

In a year you’ll be embedded in the school network and will make friends via the school gates and parties. That might help with some of the downsides of option #1.

That said, your DH’s commute will feel even worse when you’re juggling long school holidays with your own job. But alone..

This is a tough one. Without the in-laws I’d say move back now but they make it trickier.

Me too. Option 2 brings DH back into family life. That’s worth giving up a larger garden.

I moved to a quieter location with a baby and toddler years ago and never really broke into the social side. People had families close by, friends from school etc and didn’t really need me. After two years we moved to a busier area populated by lots of incomers and I never looked back as we were all in the same boat.

I’m confused. You have a school place for your child stating in September in option 2, so 300 miles away? Is that because you were planning on moving back but your DH now wants to stay put?

you will make friends when on Mat leave and when your eldest starts school. We moved somewhere we didn’t know anyone and it was only once our kids were at school or doing clubs that we started to properly get to know people. Now we have a proper local network. Give it time.