moving from one home to another

Does anyone have any tips to make the transition of a move easier on the little ones. We are moving in the same town (5 blocks north).The nanny will be the same, the parks, music class, etc, but the apt will be different (bigger,yay!). We'll of course keep the routines the same to try to make the babies more comfortable, but I was wondering if anyone had any advice on what else we could do to make it an easier transition.

Also, what should I expect.. how upset will they be by this. Anyone move recently? How did it go?

Thanks,
Stacy

 

Does anyone have any tips to make the transition of a move easier on the little ones. We are moving in the same town (5 blocks north).The nanny will be the same, the parks, music class, etc, but the apt will be different (bigger,yay!). We'll of course keep the routines the same to try to make the babies more comfortable, but I was wondering if anyone had any advice on what else we could do to make it an easier transition.

Also, what should I expect.. how upset will they be by this. Anyone move recently? How did it go?

Thanks,
Stacy

 

We did it when the boys were 2 yrs+ 2 mos.
It was not as bad as I thought it would be! I made SURE their rooms were done first, and I mean like before bedtime the very first night.
Their beds were the same, toys, everything htey 'knew' was in place.
Also, we visited a few times prior to moving in and talked to them about it.
Honestly, I was FAR more anxious about it than I needed to be.

 

We moved a few weeks before the boys turned one. Like Amanda, we made sure their rooms were done first. We didn't have any problems at all. We moved from a very small house to a house about 3X the size, so I think they were excited with all the extra room to explore.

 

We moved up the street when the kids were about 17 months old. Like Amanda, we set their room up first. I don't think they noticed much of a change. They did enjoy the extra space we now have.

 

All I can say is DITTO. We just moved, well, in May, and I made sure I didn't pack up some of their most important items (blankies, loveys, etc..) so I could put them in their new rooms that first day. Actually, my oldest who is 6 had the most trouble. Everyone else did fine!

 

Thanks.. That is very helpful and reassuring. I hope they are ok with the change. My son just started sleeping through the night (my daughter doesn't), so I hope this doesn't mess with that too much.


Stacy

 

Due to job issues, we have moved 3 times with our girls. The first move, they were 6 months old and barely noticed the change. The second move, they were a year old, and transitioned pretty easily. I think we had trouble sleeping for about a week or less then things were fine. The last move was a month ago at 19 months, and they surprisingly have adjusted well to this move as well.

So, here is my advice: If possible, do not include your DCs in the packing. Keep their things as normal as possible at the old house and get them back into place as quickly as possible at the new place. Maintain your same routines as much as possible as soon as you move. Talk to them about the move and tell them how exciting it will be to move to the new house. Take them to the new place as much as possible before the move so they know it and hopefully like it. Take them back to the old house once it is empty to show them that everything is gone and help them say goodbye to the old house. I thought this was really silly, but it worked well for us. We were at our new house and the girls things were all unpacked. They seemed happy there, but Grace kept saying bye-bye and pointing outside like she wanted to go somewhere. We finally thought maybe she wanted to go to the old house. So, we took her over there. She ran all through the house (with her sister following her). She ran into our old bedroom and looked in the closet and said "gone." Then she ran into her bedroom, looked around, opened the closet doors and again said "gone." Then she ran out the front door and never looked back.

Overall, my girls have dealt well with the moves. I would expect some upset of their sleep, but they should start to feel comfortable within a few days.

Best of luck! Sandy

 

We moved when the kiddos were 13 months... We painted their room the same color as the old house, and braced for the worst. They were fine, seemed to not even notice!

 

We moved when they were eight months old. Like the PP's, they didn't even notice. We spent two nights at my parents' house while the house was being set up (long distance move). Then brought them over to the new house, and they were fine. The new house is also bigger than the old, and at the time Bea was just starting to crawl and she loved having more room to roam. I would just make sure their room and play areas are set up first. Good luck!

 

We moved twice last year. Our house sold really fast and the build wasn't complete, so we moved into a rent house for 2 months. It all centered around their 2nd birthday.
It really wasn't as bad as I anticipated. The rent house was the biggest problem, only because they could manage everything. The house wasn't up to code.... they could manage every door knob & my DS could reach the garage door opener. Also it had the lever style door handles which are difficult to child-proof.
Once we moved into the new build, it was a breeze.
We even made 2 other transitions at the same time
1) Big beds
2) separate bed rooms

Similar to yours, the move was very close, so all other aspects of our routine remained the same.

 

We moved when the twins were 22 months old from Japan to Germany. They actually did so much better than I ever expected and that is with the 3 days worth of traveling to get here, they didn't even get jetlag bad at all.

Meredith