USA to UK

[GreatScotts]

Hi mums!

I wasn't sure where to post this, so I hope this will work.

My family is moving from the US to the UK (Oxford--Iffley Village) this September for my husband to do research at the University. We have a 2 year old daughter and I am a SAHM. I have tons of questions but would love to hear from anyone that could offer advice on: what is worth shipping from one household to another, what are the best methods to ship household items internationally, flight tips for toddlers, how to deal with the time change for our toddler, registering for healthcare (we might be pregnant at that time!). Also, if anyone is from Oxford or Iffley Village and would like to chime in on their experiences there (especially for family life) that would be great too!!

Thanks in advance for any & all information!

GreatScotts i think Oxford is one of the nicest places to be in England. Its so beautiful and so specia,l being the oldest (I think) Universities in England.

You will be a good catchment area for nice mums and kids. There is always a play group in any english village, and then at 3-4 yrs they can move on to the local pre school normally attached to the main primary (elementary) school. Go along asap to your local toddler group and meet some Mums. A serious necessity when you move somewhere new. Also when you get there , if you advertise in Oxford or on line you will meet new mums a lot quicker. Infact if you keep posting on here in all areas to meet people you may get a response from mums around Oxford.
We moved to the US years and years ago so cant remember the details of shipping house hold stuff... but a good removal firm and packing is a must i would imagine.
Flight tips. . . .patience patience and lots of books, comics, puzzles and healthy snacks are top of the list.
The time change: little one is going to sleep in late i imagine the first few days and stay up a bit later. But as the week progresses you will find your daughter will gradually slot (as you will ) in to the further ahead time zone.
Sleep patters and naps will be all over the place for about a week, so just go with the flow.
Wishing you a happy and stress free transfer and good luck. Hoping you enjoy your time in England. You are very lucky to be moving to Oxford.
I live in Salisbury, Wiltshire which has the tallest Cathedral Spire in England. A quaint old Cathedral city !!

I'm an American living in the U.K. at the moment. We moved to the U.K. last summer with my then 2.5 year old son.

We've had a fairly seamless move. We moved for a uni position and they helped a lot with the moving details but we still had to do a fair share in terms of house hunting. We spent about 6 weeks in a furnished, short-term let while we looked for a more permanent rental which was a great for our sanity. I couldn't imagine being able to adequately house-hunt from abroad.

In terms of meeting people, I suppose toddler groups are the best way, but I personally have never had good luck with them. (Maybe it's just my area, but the toddler groups around here are large and rather cliquey...I expected to walk into them and have some sort of organized way of meeting people, but others just carried on with their friends and their tea and never gave a newbie like me a second glance)

As far as the flight goes, you do what you have to do to survive. DS was sick on the flight over so he was inconsolable, but we survived. Even if it is the worst trip ever, remember you'll never see the other passengers on the plane ever again. My son mostly enjoyed playing with his stickerbooks and watching videos on my iPod.

Good luck!

Skifit: Thank you so much for all of the good information & well wishes. I was happy to find mumsnet & will stay on it to try to reach other moms as you suggested. We take a few mommy & me classes here in our city, so I have been looking for ones in Oxford to join. Seems that Donnington Doorstep & The Florence Park Family Centre might be a good place to startsince they are both close to Iffley Village and offer similar classes to what we attend now. Good advice on the time change too-going with the flow with all of this will probably be the best way to deal with the temporary unpleasant parts! Thanks!

Halbanoo: Yes house hunting abroad has had it's downsides, but I'm hopeful what we've chosen will work for our temporary stay. From my research, Iffley Village seems lovely, is close by to mommy & me activities, near the towpath and not far from grocery stores and public transport (since we won't have a car). I am sorry to hear about your experience in the toddler groups--I have been warned about this. Any luck at playgrounds or other venues? Ugh, sick on international flight!? That would be our luck as well. haha! Like you said, no one will ever see us again, so we will cope the best we can. My girl loves stickers too, so the plane might be covered in them! Are you still in Oxford? We will be there in September! Thanks again for your comments!

Greatscott I live in Oxford and have 2 dcs and am at the university. I will be back at work by the time you get here though!

Are you 100% committed to Iffley Village? It is just lovely, but I have to say it could be slightly tricky without a car, it's not that close to the shops and other things to do (probably about 25-30 minutes walk to a decent grocery store). But it is right by the river, has a proper village feel, and quite close in to the university. If you're not locked in to the lease I can suggest some other places, but if you are, it will certainly be OK. I'd look in to getting a really good bike seat for DD though so you can get out more easily.

I think the playgroups here are lovely and very friendly. Between the hospitals and the university there is quite a transient population so people are always moving in and out, which makes it much easier to meet people.

As for time change we always just immediately put the kids in to their usual routine, sleeping at the correct time locally (ie, morning sleep at 9 happens at 9, etc). It isn't too bad. A two year old can be given an antihistamine to help them sleep on the plane, we've found that we can do without it on the flight but it is invaluable at 3am the first night we are there! TBH most parents I know who do lots of international travel do this but not everyone is comfortable with it.

Where in the US are you coming from? I am from N Am and it is a bit of a culture shock here at first but largely lovely.Hopefully your husband will have fun colleagues around the same age.

As for pregnancy I believe you will be covered on the NHS and his employer can advise about how to register, you normally just go to your local doctor's office (which in your case will be Donnington Doorstep).

Thanks Roary-
I'm afraid we are locked into Iffley. Just sent deposit & contract. :( The house is on Church Way, which is just off Iffley Road. I have used google maps quite a bit & it seemed just a short distance from Florence Park Family Centre & Donnington Doorstep (.5 mile) and about a mile from Cowley Road (for shops)and as you said, close to University via the towpath. This is the trouble with doing house hunting online ! I did hear you can have groceries delivered, which might be a good option if getting there on foot is too difficult. I love to cook and am pretty particular about food, so getting to a good grocer (fresh, organic veg/meat) will be very important. Oh dear, hope things won't be too trickyespecially with dd in tow! I agree about the bike seat. Currently we use an Ibert & I have thought about taking/shipping it. Are used bikes & bike seats easy to come by?

We are living in Tampa, Florida right now but are from Cleveland, Ohio (that is where I went to Occupational Therapy school & dh went to medical school). Where did you live? Will you be in Oxford permanently?

Thanks again for the info!

so getting to a good grocer (fresh, organic veg/meat)

You can get organic delivered once a week from nean valley or cable and cole, they put you up a box and deliver at the same time each week - I only know as the people who live opposite me have the same vegtable van arrive every tuesday at 8am

The supermarket (grocery store) will also sell organic vegtables and meat but it may not be as good quality..?

Used bikes you can buy second hand - whether they would be to your liking though not sure - I would ship mine as a cyclist and not worry about the hassle of looking - but you can take the bikes on the airplane rather than ship them if you want to - how long does shipping take?

Oh and I hope you enjoy your time here and find the locals friendly - I live in the next county north from Oxfordshire

Greatscott I don't want to make you sad about your choice! Just thought if there was time there might be some options. We have a friend who lives very near Church Way, it is LOVELY up there - leafy and gorgeous, you'll like it. I just wanted to warn you about distances etc. I'd say it's a 25-30 minute walk to the Tesco on Cowley Road from there, and, to be blunt, it's not the greatest Tesco in the world as it caters for a student market. (Picture a lot of pot noodles). But online grocery delivery is fab, all the big supermarkets do it and there's Ocado, which is the best I think. As others have said you can get organic produce delivered, either Riverford or Abel and Cole are good. And the moms and babies stuff is great in that area, as it is everywhere in Oxford. There's a lot of babies here, and a lot of people moving in and out as I said before.

Whatever you do don't bring a decent bike to Oxford! Bike theft is rampant because of the university, so you want a stable old beatup one that no one will want to steal. You can get lots here.

If your DH is at the hospital that will be a great pool of people to meet. I have a little group of friends here now that are all docs/partners of docs.

We live up in N Oxford but my DH used to live up Iffley road so I know it well. WE are here permanently but as I said I will be back at work by September as am on mat leave now. You'll really like it!

I'd check out Monkey Music classes as well as all the stuff at Florence Park and Donnington Bridge.

By the way if you are in Tampa I presume you drive a lot now? I think car sharing is taking off in East Ox so you might be able to do that for days out etc. Oxford is really not huge though so you can get by without a car for sure.

Iffley is lovely (my PIL live in Oxford and are near to Iffley).