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House move & new baby-any tips?

3 replies

Mirage · 23/03/2005 06:50

Hi,
DD is 18 months old & will be 21 months when her brother/sister is due to be born.We aren't too worried about her reaction to a new baby,as she points to my tummy,looks at pictures of babies,plays with her baby dolls ect & seems to be fascinated by them.I do fully expect there to be some problems when she realises that the baby is getting attention ect,but we have another disruption added to the equation now.

We are moving house-I know its terrible planning,but it happened out of the blue & in less than 3 wks,we'd found our dream house,had an offer accepted,had the survey done & had an offer on ours.We are now just waiting for our buyers to sell & from the type of house they are selling,it could be very quick.

Either one of these things is disruptive enough for a toddler,but new baby & new house combined could really upset dd.We are in limbo at the minute,but it is quite likely that the birth & move could be within days of each other.Is there anything anyone can suggest to make all these changes easier on poor dd? She has seen our new house,as it is empty at the minute & the vendor is happy for us to have access whenever we want.Would decorating her room similar to her old room,so it is ready for her help do you think?

She is quite an unflappable child,but we realise that it is a lot to deal with & want to make it as easy as possible.I do feel quite guilty about it all.

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kid · 23/03/2005 07:15

As she is still quite young, its hard to know how she will react and how much of it she understands. I think the best thing for you to do, is be extra organised. Hopefully it will all go smoothly.

We moved when DS was 27 months and it had no effect on him at all.

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kid · 23/03/2005 07:15

forgot to add 'good luck'

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Prufrock · 23/03/2005 17:35

MIrage don't expect the worst. When dd was 23 months we moved house, took her out of the full time nursery she'd been at since 4 months and put her into a new one 2 days a week. Oh, and we put her into a bed in the new house as well. And she had to get used to having me as a SAHM whilst I was in the foulest possible pregnancy mood. 4 weeks later dh and I practically disappeared for a week and came home with a new baby. And she coped brilliantly. The only problem we had was with going back to nursery after ds was born -she'd settled in fine originally, but seemed to not want to leave ds alone at home with me.

Things that helped:
Haing lots of people on moving day. DH's uncle and aunt were there to help dh follow my supervisory orders, removal men did heavy stuff and MIL amused dd. Dh's aunt was brillinat and brought lost of little presents for dd taht were brought out throughout the day -colouring book, bubbles etc. Even though bedtime ended up being late (and in a new bed), we kept to the same routine, bath, bed, stories, milk, cuddles in bed until asleep. And dd's room was one of teh first to be unpacked so she could play with toys.

We actually packed a lot of her toys days befroe the move, so when she got them out again it was like finding them. And we made sure that "special" things - bunny, dummy, dog - were kept with her.

Post move, when the new baby arrives give her lots of attention, and make sure other people do as well. And get her as involved as possible.

I do know how you are feeling right now, but I hope it reassures you to know that for us it turned out to be a lot easier than I had feared

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