Moving house: how do you acheive a smooth move when you have two toddlers and a baby on the way??

[Soutine]

We're currently in the process of trying to move house. We have two toddlers and, great timing, have discovered we will be having another next year. Have you had to cope with something similar? Did you switch hospitals halfway through your pregnancy? Is it just easier to postpone moving until the new baby arrives?

Well, we started trying to move house (not involving a hospital change though) when 8 months pregnant with DS2 and moved in when he was 10 months old. I was showing people round our house with a week old baby in my arms at one point!!

I'd say go for it now as you don't know how long it will take. Have someone come in to pack EVERYTHING and palm the children off onto someone for a large chunk of moving day. I speak from bitter experience here (DH and I still don't talk about moving day!)

I've only done it at 8 months pregnant and although it should have involved a hospital change the midwives allowed me to travel to them until the baby was born. Post natal care was with the new hospital/region etc. Its a little disconcerting to have completely new faces turn up after you may have built up a rapour with previous midwives and the new ones don't know your history.

As for the two toddlers I have no experience of this but Good homes recently did a full review of how to reduce the impact. Unfortunately I can't find a website for them but to sum up they suggest.

1. Pack toddler's rooms last
2. Ensure toddler's rooms are unpacked first.
3. Ensure toddlers have items they can relate to all the time.

Soutine, I don't know what stage of house hunting you're at, but bear in mind that everything always runs late, so be prepared for the stress! A friend of mine (who already had 2 sprogs under 5) found a house etc early in her 3rd pregnancy, but finally because of delays in the chain etc moved 10 days before the babe put in an appearance. We were all making jokes towards the end about her delivering in the removal van (she was planning a homebirth), but it did get a bit close...

I have moved with a nine week old baby. Also with an 18 month old and 3 months pregnant. Also with a 3 1/2 and a 1 1/2 year old. Not easy but possible. Remember hospitals deal with people moving half way through pregnancy all the time. It is a pain but not insurmountable.

We've moved loads of times, when I've been pg, with littlies, all combinations, I reckon! Delegate as much as poss, definitely pay someone to pack for you - the extra cost is very small, I was amazed to find. You can ask for quotes with and without packing. Moving hosps is just one of those things in life, you get on and do it, along with everything else. Your dr's notes should follow you around to your new abode.

If you can afford it (about gbp200-300) and are moving to a 'pre-owned' house, getting a cleaning company to clean it before you move in is fantastic. You can use the loo, put things into cupboards and let toddlers crawl on carpets without having to worry about cleaning them first. Good luck!

Getting cleaners is a brilliant idea. I've always clean the house as I move out (paranoid about others thinking I'm unclean etc) thus I'm always absoultely too shattered by the time I reach the next house.

We moved to a new house suedonim and it could still have done with a good clean! Plaster dust, black marks off boots on laminate flooring, bits of artex and grout etc all very much in evidence. Was particularly peeved as they took a £500 bond of us on condition we left our house clean (part-exchanged) and so pregnant me was messing about cleaning on top of the cupboards and hoovering in the cupboard under the stairs etc only to have to do it all over again at the new house.

Thanks so much for your hot tips for a smooth move. Wish I was still a student and only had a frying pan and a pack of lentils to shift elsewhere...

Soutine, I was nervous enough about moving house with a one year old in tow so you have my deepest sympathy. I endorse all the other tips here and would just add one of my own.

Be very sweet to your removal men, however hard it may be. I gave mine endless drinks, biscuits, even made them lunch on both days and also, when possible, helped with the packing. I think it paid off because when we got to the new house, they were fantastic. We had agreed to buy some of the existing furniture but it wasn't in the rooms we wanted it in and they moved lots of things about for us, they were very very quick, put everything in the right place, moved things when we changed our minds and were just generally helpful. We were lucky enough to have our ds staying at his grandma's for a few days so that helped but honestly, it wasn't stressful at all, just hard work!

Sorry haven't read all of the threads. I moved with a 2 1/2 year old, whilst preggers and changed hospitals. It is not a drama - unless you let it be. Be sensible, don't try to do too much when you are pregnant, get cleaners in to help you - like Busy Beavers, get removal guys to pack. You take toddler out for the day, when new house sorted - do their room first. Treat it like an adventure.

Don't worry about hospital change, they deal with this all the time. Just keep your notes in your handbag so you can get them if you need to.

Be calm, there really is nothing to worry about. Don't forget to tell us when you have moved and I will tell you a funny story of what happened to me after we moved - because I didn't stay calm - which is why I can tell you you MUST stay calm!!

Good Luck - moving house with one toddler has been tough enough for me amd I am not pregnant! Saying that, I found a lot of my concerns turned out to be foundless. She settled in remarkably easily and has shown no prblems adjusting at all. Sorry to sound boring and to repeat a lot of other posts but the secret is all in the organisation - eg. as soon as you know it is fairly likely to go ahead, organise postal redirection - not expensive and can be organised as close as one week beforehand (3 or 6 months). Saves a lot of time switching before and can then do the boring job of sorting it out later.
Hospital and doctors are easy - once moved, ask around for recommendations, take your NHS card to the local doctors and let them do all of it for you - a 2 min job (honest!)
As for cleaning - rope in family or friends on the day and sounds a good idea to hire a cleaner to keep it all organised for the viewing time and the build up to your move.
I survived using lists galore, packing much of our things up a fortnight before, and planning a day by day list of jobs for the last two weeks so that I knew everything would get down and at a pace I could manage. Eg. - plan to run down the feezer well in advance and have it cleaned out a good few days before - obvious but handy. My sister left it to the night of the move and I found her in tears as she was packing and scraping ice with a wet kitchen floor at gone midnight...not fun. If you have accessible family or friends - how about bundling the two toddlers off for the day before and the actual moving date - that way you can sort out their room and pack toys with no dramas - even earlier if you can bear to be without them... All obvious stuff I am afraid and sorry if I am repeating previous posts - have only time to skim read!
You can do it and it won?t be as bad as you imagine if you are organised, delegate as much as possible and pace yourself. It is stressful so it would be worth keeping an eye on your blood pressure for your unborn childs sake - your midwive will be prob. do this for you anyway.Good Luck.