Moving house - advice on settling in my toddler

5 replies

CharlieFarnsBarns · 01/06/2011 15:46

Hi - I may be being over anxious here but has anyone moved house with a toddler? How did you get them settled and used to a new bedroom? Our bedroom is right next door to my sons at the moment but the new bedroom will be at the other end of a hallway - what can I do to make the transition as smooth as possible?

OP posts:

dolceebanana · 01/06/2011 16:10

Hi Charlie...we moved house when we had one 2 year old and one 1 year old. I ensured that their rooms were sorted and looking inviting, with lamps, toys, beds made up etc. so they could go to sleep in a 'familiar' environment. With normal routine. Do a similar thing when we go away to holiday home.

plupervert · 03/06/2011 15:10

We did this last year. I'm not sure how well he took it, actually (even months later, he would suddenly start moaning that he wanted to go back to his old house), but we tried, with carrying over the same decorative features from his old room (bad time to redecorate!) and making sure he was asleep before we left him at night.

On a side issue, though to do with settling, how old is your DS and is he potty trained? Potty training is not advised for any child about to experience an upheaval (e.g. moving house or having a new baby brother/sister). I delayed DS's training for several months after our move, as we were having other problems (a "phase" which would have happened anyway, or moving anxiety? difficult to tell).

Lovethesea · 04/06/2011 22:05

Another tip I used was to use a scent in their old bedroom for some weeks before moving and in the new room too - lavender for example. Smell is a powerful sense so a familiar one could help calm over a house that doesn't smell 'right'.

Otherwise it was drawing crayon pictures of what the move entailed (old house, van with ALL toys and us, new house etc). Emphasize that ALL the toys, ALL their books, ALL the teddies will be going with them. Get their room set up first.

There is a sticker book on moving house too ... www.amazon.co.uk/Moving-House-Usborne-First-Experiences/dp/0746099118/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1307221472&sr=1-2

Checkmate · 04/06/2011 22:26

Most important thing is to pack a backpack with their cuddly toy, blankie, cup for bedtime milk, favourite story.... Whatever they usually have at bedtime basically. You can be full of good intentions to unpack their room first to find all that stuff, but actually things can arise on he day, or get lost, and its safer just to have it with you.

If you are positive about the move then he will be too - my children have never had a problem moving house which we've done several times. Probably seems a bigger deal to is than it does to them I think.

Mandy21 · 05/06/2011 19:03

I also agree that they are so much more versatile / pragmatic than you give them credit for. WE've moved house 3 times in 3 years with toddlers - 1st time we had twins that were just 3 and I thought they'd be really thrown by it. The last move we had a 9month old and were a little worried that she'd be unsettled by it.

But its just a question of making sure the things that are important to them are constant - you, your family and their things. We made the twins' new bedroom identical (as far as we were able) to their old bedroom, same bedding, same layout, night lights etc. We also go a Bernstein Bear book about moving house which we read with them, and were really upbeat about it. The first house we moved to had an ensuite so we made a big deal of the fact that the main family bedroom was THEIR bathroom and how exciting it would be to have their own bathroom. Its just making sure they know its a good thing, everyone is happy about it and that nothing "important" will change.

HTH
Mandy

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