We're Moving

We are finally moving to a bigger place. Our new house will be nearly twice as big as what we have now. I'm soooo excited!

Does anyone have any suggestions for what we can do to make the move go smoothly for the little ones?

Rachel

 

I don't have any advice, just wante to say Congrats and Hope you move goes smoothly!

 

We moved last summer when Aaron had just turned two and the twins had just turned one. I tried to keep everything as normal as possible. On the drive down, we stopped at normal eating times. Naps were out the window for that day. We also timed it so we arrived close to bedtime. We packed their bed things that morning without washing them so they'd smell like the old house. I actually gave the twins new stuffed animals about two months before the move since all they had in their cribs was a blanket. That way there was one more thing that was "normal" in their crib. Their room and their toys were brought in before anything else so it would be as familiar as possible. I stressed, but it went way better than I expected. Good luck and congrats on the bigger house!

 

Ditto for us. Our move is actually next sunday/Monday... I think my kids are at good ages to handle the transition (14 months - so adaptable and almost five) - so I don't foresee any problems. As far as the "actual move" I would recommend finding reliable friends and or family to take the kids for a day or two for the moving day(s) - I have three wonderful friends close by who the children are comfortable with keeping mine for two and a half days or so - I can't believe our move is coming up on us so quickly!

Best of luck to you with the transition and move. I too am looking forward to having double the space and a real yard

 

If possible go to the house everyday till the move. Buy stuff to decorate their rooms or take that stuff from their rooms and decorate while your their. This way they can get used to house before the move. They can explorer and check things out before its full of furniture and tou can have time to clean and start decorating their room. This is what we are doing and its working well us.

 

Your kiddos are at a great, very adaptable age so they will probably do very well. I would suggest just making sure their room/s are completely finished so they feel comfortable as soon as they get there. And having their toys/stuff in the same areas as you do now will probably help also. Just remember, I know it is beyond stressful to move (especially with 2 little ones!), but they will definitely pick up on your stress and react to that

 

We moved from San Francisco to San Jose (~1 hour away) when the boys were almost 18 months. My parents live about 5 minutes from our new house and we stayed at their house for almost a week before moving in (had the house tented for termites before we moved everything in). We painted the boys room and got all of their stuff (cribs, dressers, light, etc) into their room before we started sleeping at our new house. I was surprised when we were packing things and moving them out (moved some stuff to my parents house before the big moved happened) how much the boys recognized that their things were leaving and what was going on (one of the boys got very attached to the light from their room when we moved it out).

I would suggest trying to get their room set-up if possible before you sleep at the house for the first time and have someone watch the kids while you unpack the major stuff.

Good luck and congratulations on the house.

 

Thank you all for your words of advice.

 

We moved in November when they were about 20mos. I did what many of the others did. I brought them to the house several times before the move and each time we brought a couple of toys that we left here. I had my Mom keep them for the 2 nights of actually moving. We made sure that their room resembled their old room as far as set up as closely as possible (cribs in the same positions, bedding, etc. We also had their toy room completely unpacked and set up. That was very exciting for them. Our 1st priority was getting everything so they would be comfortable (beds, highchairs, toys, child-proofing), then we unpacked our stuff as much as possible. My DH had to go out of town 2 days after the move so that made it a little difficult on them but my Mom came out to help unpack and play with them during that time so they were comfortable. It went really well and I attribute that to getting them familiar with the new house and having things as normal as possible for them when they returned.

Good luck and congratulations! It will be fine.

 

We moved when our boys were 13 months old. We didn't pack up their cribs or toys until the very end. I don't know if that help them or not, but we thought that would be a good thing to do. They had a difficult time transitioning to their new room the first night. They cried a lot and didn't go to sleep until almost midnight. So, just prepare yourself for a long night, but hopefully, it will go smoother for you.

 

We moved when the twins were right at 2 & I agree with manyof the comments from above. We did have to move twice, because we were building & our old home sold really fast. We went to the build almost wbery day to check on things, so we talked about the move lots. I also shopped for their new rooms etc & we talked about that transition quite a bit as well. I had my sitter take them on the day of the move & we made sure to get the bedrooms set up first. Taht way they saw their old stuff & the new all at once. They settled in with it all really well. I think kids are much better at change than we give them credit for !!

 

My boys were only 4 months old when we moved so I don't have much advice in that area, but wanted to say congrats and good luck!