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Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

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Original poster

WWYD? Move while pregnant or with a newborn?

20 replies

Thandeka · 14/08/2009 20:25

We have to move but potentially could stay in flat for first 6months after baby's birth (but lots of very steep stairs and scared of dropping baby!). Lease up in Nov. Baby due in Feb.

So do we move in Nov or after Feb?

(either way I am hoping to wrangle it so DH and removal people do most of the work!)

Hmmm.

Both options seem stressful! (and dont even get me started on the where to move dilemma!)

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leggymambo · 14/08/2009 20:29

Move before you have the baby if you can, but if you don't manage it then moving with a 6 month old would be manageable!

We moved when dd was 1, i found it stressful and was worse than useless on the day (we had the removal company do the packing which was well worth it) but we got through it and are now happily settled.

melll · 14/08/2009 20:35

i'd move before. that way you can get the nursery looking welcoming, do the garden up, make everything childfriendly etc before the little one takes all your time and attention and puts their little hands on things (don't even try and do flatpack furniture with a little one around!).

if you don't manage/don't decide to move before, how about getting a sling? that way you keep your hands free and certainly won't drop the little one.

discojen · 14/08/2009 23:20

Defo before if possible hun. We moved when DD was 4 months and it totally disrupted her (she didn't sleep through the night anymore, wouldn't eat, etc, etc.)

LovingtheSilverFox · 14/08/2009 23:32

Before, please before! Am in the middle of a move, and DTs are eight months, pulling themselves up and trying to walk, with out DD1 trying to "help" me pack!

We weren't in a position to move earlier, but REALLY wish we had!

lowrib · 14/08/2009 23:38

Another vote for before, I'd definitely prefer moving while pregnant (and even as massive as I was, and with SPD).

AngelDog · 15/08/2009 08:38

I don't speak from personal experience, but some friends of ours had to move house when their daughter was 5 weeks old. The next couple of times we saw them, they told us repeatedly "never ever try to move house with a new baby". (And the next time we saw them too... it must have made quite an impression on them!) Mind you, I guess moving with a little one 5 weeks old would be a lot worse than with one who is 2 months old, which would be your situation.

Original poster

Thandeka · 15/08/2009 13:04

Oh blimey I think that's the consensus in for before. I agree. Nargh headless chicken declutter panic!

Trouble is this brings a new dilemma- my hospital is awesome and one of very few decent ones in north london with decent maternity services. If we move best place would be somewhere miles away putting me near some shocking hospitals (although one may not be too bad). Other option is to move nearer the good hospital (which seems silly just for a birth) but is an expensive area and we could be looking at an extra £400 a month and that money we could probably do with me on maternity leave.

Man life is tricky tricky!

Nargh

OP posts:

lowrib · 16/08/2009 08:26

It's not impossible though!

My friends moved with a baby a few weeks old, and they all survived to tell the tale!

Would you be so far away that you couldn't go to the old, decent hospital anyway?

juuule · 16/08/2009 08:42

We moved when we had 8 children aged 9m-16y. It was okay. Mil looked after dc while dh and I moved everything in a hired van. 16yo helped. Hard work and would probably go for removal firm next time but we managed it okay.
So, if you are having a removal firm do most of the work with your dh, I should think it doesn't really matter whether you move before or after the baby is born.

As regards being afraid of dropping the baby, might be worth getting a sling so that the baby is secured against you. I'm sure you wouldn't drop the baby anyway

juuule · 16/08/2009 08:48

Ooops sorry the eldest child was 13y.
Forgetting how old my children are now.

Original poster

Thandeka · 16/08/2009 15:10

Would potentially be much further to hospital- not impossible but a very expensive taxi ride and not sure I want to do that in labour especially as the north circular is so tempermental.

Juule am very impressed- moving without the pros and 8 kids wow!

Am viewing 5houses tommorrow- fingers crossed!

OP posts:

TinyPawz · 16/08/2009 20:38

I have done both, moved at 8mnths pregnant and then again when baby was 4 months old.

I recommend the former! Not so much pressure to get unpacked immediately. I was able to unpck a ew boxes a day.

With the second move, I tried to make the new place 'homely' as soon as I moved. I was exhausted for weeks afterwards.

Original poster

Thandeka · 16/08/2009 20:45

I guess also 8month pregnant woman can't help move stuff but a mum can give baby to someone else to look after and may be required to pitch in! my inherent laziness means the former is quite appealing!

OP posts:

maxbear · 16/08/2009 21:48

I moved when ds was 10 months, it was ok with a lot of help (my sister had him all day on the day we actually moved). He wasn't mobile at that point though and I remember thinking thank goodness we did it before he was crawling and pulling himself up on things, would have been a nightmare to be in a disorganised, unchildproofed house with such a young baby.

So either do it before, if you can be sure of it not falling through until the week you give birth, or when baby is 4 - 7 months old ideally, Unless you have a slow moover like mine then you can wait a bit longer!

TinyPawz · 17/08/2009 23:19

Thandeka, I wasn;t actually able to 'move' things myself apart from the odd cushion, but brother helped and bless them, 1 came down everyday to move boxes into certain rooms for me t unpack and then take the empty boxes away with them

bevlin · 20/08/2009 14:29

Haven't read any answers so sorry if it's a repeat. I moved house 2 weeks ago, im 5 months PG with toddler was very worried.
Got removals co to do the packing and removal and it was stress free. Im a bit of a control freak in some ways and anal so I dreaded it> Within an hour of them being there I realised they were totally brilliant and went to starbucks leaving them to it instead!
Highly recommend.
I would just say, over the few weeks before, have a good rake through wardrobes and cupboards to put stuff to charity or in the bin, you don't want to be unpacking tons of 'where the hell will I put this' at the other end.

LackingNicknameInspiration · 21/08/2009 08:09

Hello

Going to go against the consensus and say after - but only based on my personal experience and with the caveat that my DD wasn't newborn but 8 months old (and was an appalling sleeper, so no sleep pattern to disturb!). It also depends how long term your move will be, but the reason I say after is that we nearly bought a house before DD was born - didn't get it, so ended up looking afterwards and now live in a house which is TOTALLY different to what I thought we needed but much better suited to us - but I would have instantly discounted it beforehand on the grounds of being far too practical/not pretty to live in, whereas now I just love the fact it's very easy to live in. So, basically, I was much more aware of what would work in a family house after DD came along than before - even just practicals like bedrooms being on one level rather than one in the loft.

Having said that, it was a bit of a pain packing up and sorting everything - but helped by the fact that she wasn't quite crawling. We packed ourselves but got removals men to shift everything which worked pretty well.

I'd go with your gut feeling - and if you do decide to go after, quite agree that it's worth mucking out/packing as much as possible before baby turns up.

Good luck!

hf128219 · 21/08/2009 08:27

Babies are very adaptable! My dd had 3 house moves before she was 1!!!

london0hull4 · 21/08/2009 08:38

We moved house when DS was 2 weeks old. The moving wasn't the worst bit - dealing with estate agents and solicitors whilst 9 months pregnant was far more stressful! We finally exchanged contracts on the day I gave birth and I remember yelling at the solicitor down the phone in between contractions.

The timing wasn't our choice. We moved into a new build house which fell behind schedule so we had no control over the dates.

If you can, I would say move sooner rather than later. You'll have a lot less stuff to move before you get all the baby's bits and you'll only have to decorate one nursery.

Good luck!

PacificDogwood · 21/08/2009 09:52

Before!

Babies are soooo much easier to look after whilst still inside you !

If it is an option get the pros to move you, then settle in lovely new house and do all the nesting you need to do. Then sit back, wait for baby's arrival and enjoy her/him whenever they arrive.

We have done both (moved 6 months pregnant with DS1 and then with 6 months old DS2) and it is both doable. However, after the 2nd move I did not know where anything was for months on end because I had been so focused on DS2 during the move and unpacking that I did not have a clue!

Good luck whatever you end up doing!

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