Moving house experiences with pets & small children

[Evecob]

We are hopefully going to be exchanging at the end of this month, everything is done apart from a few outstanding enquiries on vendors side, and we are thinking about the best way of navigating the move with 2 small children and 2 cats!

We are a family of 4 with a 10 month old and a 2 year old. We got some removal quotes but have family willing to help us with the move, husband is keen to go down the rent a van and have family help route, and have me take our 2 kids away from the house for the day.

What are your experiences with young DC and/or pets? Wldid it work well being away from the house until all moved in? Or did it work to have a reliable grandparent look after the kids and help out yourself with the move?

Im concerned about not being there to help out myself with the cleaning etc after moving furniture, and the cats will probably be panicking and wont take well to being moved and might be better to have me around. Wondering if we should take the cats to the new house last to help them settle better once all furniture moved?

Is there anyone who can share their experience? anything you wished you did differently to make the move easier with kids and pets?

Thanks in advance!

My dh suggested family help with removals and I flat out refused. Paying a company for the service means they are expected to deliver the service in a timely and efficient manner. Imagine friends and family just not turning up or when they do, being more of a hindrance? Plus you typically have to be out by noon and firms are used to moving fast.

We had two cats and two DC when we moved (aged 3 and 5).

We dropped the dc at my folks at 7am, and borrowed a large cage for the cats which we put in the bathroom (open cage, shut bathroom door) with their food and litter tray.

Removals then were instructed to not go into the bathroom (we had already moved bathroom packing to another room). We also kept the vacuum and a mop in the bathroom.

Dh then went with the van to the new house, I vacuumed and mopped through, packed the cleaning stuff and the cat cage in the car and drove to the new house.

We then got the DC dropped off at about 5

Oh! And when we arrived at the new house we put the cat cage in the smallest bedroom with food and water and instructed delivery drivers not to go in that room.

It the cats are used to a cattery, I'd put them in there for a couple of nights.
If not, they need to be shut in one room with familiar beds and toys, food and water and a litter tray or two - probably easier to take them first to the the new house while all the rooms are empty. Put a note on the door to remind everyone not to open it in case they bolt and don't put any furniture into that room until the front door is firmly closed and removal men are gone. They won't love it but it won't kill them. You could plug in a Feliaway maybe - though I'm not sure how effective they really are.

I've never moved with babies of that age but would have thought it would be far better and easier for everyone if they were completely away for the day with a trusted grandparent, if possible.

Good luck OP, I was in your position 18 years ago, a just over 2 yo, 7mths old baby, one dog & 3 cats.

On the morning of the move we kept the cats in an empty room so they didn’t disappear.

DH took toddler and drove to our new home after the removal van had left.

I did the final hoover around, checked everything was clean, baby the dog and cats came with me in the car, MIL also who was helping us on the morning of our move.

We had completed on on house the fortnight before as we wanted to do some work before we moved in. The only thing that I would say, toddler was very upset for the first couple of days, saying he wanted to go back to his old house etc. But he sound settled down. The house we had moved too was much bigger and I think it overwhelmed him. So just be prepared for that.

It will be fine OP, enjoy your new home.

We just moved last Friday with a dog, 3 year old and me at 39 weeks pregnant (🤦🏻‍♀️) We only moved 5 miles down the road and my DH was originally all for us renting a van like we did when we moved in 7 years ago, then he progressed to paying for removals but still packing ourselves. When our move was delayed and I realised we'd be cutting it close baby-wise I put my foot down and we can both honestly say paying for them to pack for you is a godsend and worth every penny. Our son was ok on moving day as DH organised the removal guys whilst I entertained him (with some toys that we kept in a separate box to avoid them being packed), our dog took a long time to settle at the other end though. Definitely pay for packing and accept any help that you can is my advice! Good luck with the move 😁

I'm hopefully moving later this year and I fully intend to put the cat in a cattery for a couple of nights, send the baby off to nursery for the day, and pay for both packing and removals. Absolutely no bloody way am I leaving any of those tasks to anyone other than professionals. Any friends or family seized with a desire to help out will be deployed on cleaning things duties at either end.

We left cats at a friends. Outdoor cat so he’d already been locked in all night.

Packers, amazing, worth a quote as not nearly as much as I thought it would be.

Thanks for everyones input so far, its a lot to think about. My DH is definitely more in favor of using a van and family/friends to help, and asking for 2 days to move, but im not sure how that will be received...

One of our cats is very intelligent and has anxiety already, they are ragdolls and mainly indoor cats, they have never been to a cattery, so i think putting them in a room might be best but not sure what room, we were planning on using our box room for packing/storage between now and moving day! We only have a loinge and kitchen diner with a loo downstairs and no garage 🙈

One great piece of advice I had was to get the children’s rooms unpacked first, so they have somewhere familiar and secure to be. When they arrived at the end of the day I could show them their room, with a couple of new toys and books in, and they didn’t really notice the rest of the chaos!

I would jump at your Dh idea! Lick the cars in one room until the last minute so they dont go wondering.

Lock the cats

@BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz

My dh suggested family help with removals and I flat out refused. Paying a company for the service means they are expected to deliver the service in a timely and efficient manner. Imagine friends and family just not turning up or when they do, being more of a hindrance? Plus you typically have to be out by noon and firms are used to moving fast.

We had two cats and two DC when we moved (aged 3 and 5).

We dropped the dc at my folks at 7am, and borrowed a large cage for the cats which we put in the bathroom (open cage, shut bathroom door) with their food and litter tray.

Removals then were instructed to not go into the bathroom (we had already moved bathroom packing to another room). We also kept the vacuum and a mop in the bathroom.

Dh then went with the van to the new house, I vacuumed and mopped through, packed the cleaning stuff and the cat cage in the car and drove to the new house.

We then got the DC dropped off at about 5

Putting the cats in separate bathrooms might be best for us, we have a family bathroom and an ensuite but i think both are too small for both, but dont have any other rooms suitable to keep the cats in, so thanks for this!

@Elisheva

One great piece of advice I had was to get the children’s rooms unpacked first, so they have somewhere familiar and secure to be. When they arrived at the end of the day I could show them their room, with a couple of new toys and books in, and they didn’t really notice the rest of the chaos!

Good idea for our almost 3 year old, i think this would help her.

Are you buying and selling?
With selling, you have to be out the house and keys handed over usually for completion, you only own one house at a time. Your buyers will likely hate you if they can't get in as you are still trying to get out.

Also how much stuff do you have? We did a premove from rental to owned while awaiting proper removals (through DHs work) and it took us a couple of hours to load a transit van... And it only fitted a sofa, couple of beds, chest of drawers and some other stuff, not even a quarter of belongings (admittedly from a 4 bed house).

We usually send the children to GPs overnight.

Premove I take them to chose a few new room accessories (like wall stickers) to make the space their own and more grown up.

@Aroundtheworldin80moves

Are you buying and selling? With selling, you have to be out the house and keys handed over usually for completion, you only own one house at a time. Your buyers will likely hate you if they can't get in as you are still trying to get out.

Also how much stuff do you have? We did a premove from rental to owned while awaiting proper removals (through DHs work) and it took us a couple of hours to load a transit van... And it only fitted a sofa, couple of beds, chest of drawers and some other stuff, not even a quarter of belongings (admittedly from a 4 bed house).

We are buying and selling yes, our buyers are BTL, partly why my husband is hoping they will allow us a bit longer but we have no idea if thats allowed!

I moved with dc and 2 cats. I put the cats in a Cattery for 2/3 days so they were out of the way. I paid for the house to be packed. They did it the day before I moved cost about 300 but worth every penny as it there were 3 packers and it would have taken me days. They also loaded one van the day before the move so only the essentials were left and it was less frantic the day of the move.

I picked the cats up the day after we moved so that the main bits of unpacking had been done.

My dc went to relatives for the day. I was only moving a few miles but it was the least stressful move I’ve done (of 4).

Could you use felliway or similar in the new house? Plug it in and getting it going before cats arrive.

Ref the two days to move. I think that is a non starter. Your buyer will have paid for the house and won't want to have to move in with all your stuff around even if it's all in one room/ in the garage. Vacant possession and all that.

I think you should have professionals in to do the move. I used to use removers a lot for moving offices and the amount of stuff they can get into a van, like Jenga, and the speed they work at are fab. They don't want to stop every 10 minutes because they are out of breath or have pulled a muscle lifting a box.

Children away with grand parents, some sort of childcare. Other family members can assist with cleaning old/new home, assembling furniture, getting kids bedrooms sorted , making tea, nipping to the shop for light bulbs etc.

I sent dc to nursery as usual and shut three cats in the bathroom with food/water and litter tray with a large sign on the door saying do not open and warned the removal company.
Then when I got to the new house I did the same, cats in bathroom and sign on door. They were a bit annoyed (cats not removals) but got over it quick enough.

I would 100% pay for removals, it is the best money spent imo and when you are spending hundreds of thousands on a house, another £1500 or so really isn’t that bad. We moved ourselves last time as we were going from rented to bought and had an overlap so could to and fro for a couple of days, and it was 12 years ago ore kids so we had very little in the way of clutter. This time we were buying and selling so had to be out by 1pm for our buyers. There is no way we would have managed this on our own.

Also, if you are selling and buying simultaneously then you won’t be able to get into the new house to drop stuff off and go back to the old one, you only own one house at a time!

We bought and sold. We didn't use a removal company, hired a luton driven by SIL, and had friends help - BIL with a large transit, DH with his van (but full of his tools) DS drove our car (I don't drive) and another friend. No children at home so just me and DH and one very nervous anxious cat. We kept the cat in the spare room which was completely empty at this point with her food and litter tray. When everything was loaded we eventually got the cat into her carrier and she came in the car with me and DS. We were moving about 45 minute drive away. She was crying all the way and about 3/4 of the way there she did a really smelly poo in the carrier - all windows opened. A few minutes later she vomited in the carrier as well. We couldn't get into the property for about 2 1/2 hours (solicitor went to lunch). As soon as we got the keys we put her in the spare room and opened the carrier with everyone told not to go in that room. She was so stressed, she would not have been happy in a cattery but i would advise anyone to speak to the vet beforehand to see if they can give any advice especially if your cats are anxious.

I don't have children however I've moved with cats.

They went into kennels two days before moving day then came out 3-4 days after that when things were a little less chaotic.
I set up up their feed bowls & litter trays in the same places as our old home & the unwashed cat blankets for the sofas & beds were in place so they smelled the same.
I kept them in for almost a month so they got used to the house then went outside with them into the garden to investigate for the first few times. I kept the back door open so they could run back inside if scared then started to use the cat flap again.
I hope I made the move as easy as I could for them. Certainly not having them around made it one less thing to worry about.

As mentioned, I don't have children but if there were trusted grandparents they could go to for a few days, it might make things less hassle for the adults & less disturbing for the children.

Your buyers would be strongly advised not to allow you any additional time in the property following completion. It's a risky position for them.

Property is sold with 'vacant possession' - they should not allow you any extra time to vacate, as someone else said, it leaves them in a vulnerable position

Oh and definitely pay people to do it for you. When my sister moved at 8 months pregnant BIL said he had a group of mates who would do the move for them. In the week before one by one they dropped out so it ended up with our Dad (in his 60s), BILs dad (in his 70s), and me, helping them move from a 4 storey townhouse with no off street parking, and a small van. It was a nightmare, took til 6pm and their buyers were outside hassling them from noon.

We paid for a full removal service including packing. So we were left with kids and pets. Kids were at school or with a friend and we hired a separate van for animals 😂 like fish tank etc. So was all done in one trip.

We did have lots of extra help, several people didn't turn up though but everyone who did was helpful. Some cleaned the new house and directed boxes there. Some cleaner the old house and checked cupboards etc for anything left.

I'd say all the help you can get including paying a company.