Have you considered water based finishes? With the right product you can get a few coats on in one day depending on weather conditions. Be careful...although it may appear it hasn't been finished there still could be something that may very well interact with any new finishes. Best to refinish and apply...or call in a profesional.

Well, even with water based finishes every instruction says to wait 24 hours before you step into your house and 3 days before you get your furniture back. Which doesn't sound practical to me.

We didn't move out. Sanded the living room with a rented machine and put down the poly varathane coat before lunch. A second coat was put on late that afternoon. It was dry the next day. We kept the front door open and closed the interior doors (because of the odor). A couple of days later we slept in the living room while we did the bedrooms.

If I were you, I would figure out a way of finishing the floor rather than look for a way to care for an unfinished floor. A dust mop to clean a finished floor versus sweeping an unfinished one has such a difference in time and labor that it behooves you to find a solution without moving out of the house.

An unfinished floor will get damgaed really fast from spills,moving things,sand from your feet,dings,mars,spills are an open invitation.
Then to re-do it is a major pain,because you will need to resurface it.
Just a thought.

The guy who wrote the instructions didn't have two babies to contend with but five attorneys who are covering their liability.

I have done a number of houses in the last thirty years and rarely has anyone had to move out of the house. You may have to do one room at a time. If access to bedrooms or other rooms is a problem you can leave a two foot "sidewalk" to walk on following the cracks in the boards.

Personally I would use an oil based Polyurethane and get lots of air movement to speed up the drying time.

As far as moving back in on finished floors I would't worry so much about that because you are looking for sealing the floor to make it easier to maintain.

I would suggest maybe planning a day trip and leave just after coating the floor so the little ones aren't exposed to the fumes.

Franklyn
http://WoodFloorist.com