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Never had the original Switch but the improved version definitely has decent battery life for gaming in bed. If the kids may want to swap games with friends when that's eventually possible or you want to be able to resell them and make money back get at least the first party games in physical form because they have really been holding their resale value. I've gone digital only but I get that makes it harder to say no to kids asking for games if they know you can just download them in minutes, although I'd still say to get a micro SD card of a decent capacity because just having all the games right there feels easier than having a pile of carts and I feel like by waiting for eShop sales and using loyalty points you generally save money over physical.
Re: the online packages, if anyone is going to want to play Splatoon or Smash etc. or visit other islands in Animal Crossing it's essential I think, though not particularly well implemented apparently. One bonus it gets you is you can buy vouchers for game downloads that save you money on the bigger games that never go on sale in the eShop, so you pay about £80 and can download 2 games that would've cost you £100 buying individually. You also get access to the NES and SNES games they've put up. I think there is a month's free trial available when you set up the Switch, but it's ages since I did it so maybe I'm wrong.
If you're going to be playing family games you're probably gonna need at least one controller and a spare set of Joy-Cons. The Pro Controller is not essential although it is extremely comfortable and the HD rumble is a nice quality of life thing for some games (there are some moons in Mario Odyssey that require it for example) but Hori and 8bitdo are fine for controllers if everyone will want one in the end. The grip you attach to the Joy-Cons is super uncomfortable to play with for long periods; even my wife who has small hands doesn't like it, and it's just extra wear on the unfortunately delicate Joy-Con sticks and connections. I'm making the Switch sound like an absolute money sink - and it is - but it's also super fun and convenient! I went from sceptical that I'd made the wrong choice to immediately happy that I didn't get a used PS4, and my wife who was a Nintendo kid but originally thought consoles were not a suitable adult thing has made a U turn on that and loves it.
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@Pasty_Spumante
Having not held a console controller since PS1 days can someone talk me through what Nintendo Switch I want?
I get the need for the improved battery one - is that the 1.1?? - although most gaming will be family oriented with young kids (maybe Mrs Pasty and I might have a Mario Kart session of an evening) but what do I want in terms f online provision, some games are hard copies others (sometimes dearer) online codes then there's various 3 month etc online packages - arrrgh please help