Moving with a toddler - tips?

[spiralqueen]

We will be moving to a new area 150 miles away early in the new year. DD will just be two and is pretty happy go lucky but this is going to mean a change of nursery as well as a new house.

Any tips on:

How to prepare her for it (good books for her particularly)?

Is cutting back her hours at current nursery a good idea to wean her off it?

Best to leave her with grandparents for the packing + unpacking?

How best to settle her in to new surroundings?

Thanks!

First of all - good luck with your move

Regards books, I typed 'childrens books moving house' into amazon and it came up with a list of relevant books, so check that out

Also, could you visit your new house and take some photographs of the different rooms? A fun idea might be to also take photographs of some items of your furniture which will be going with you, and cut and stick them into the 'new' house to make a scrapbook

When it comes to moving I would ensure that you pack her bedroom stuff and favourite books and toys, etc in suitcases or boxes which go with your in your car - these should be the very first things into your new house and be unpacked into her new room as soon as possible: try (as much as is resonable!) to recreate her bedroom and playspace to make it feel as familiar as possible.

When moving the furniture, boxes, etc - staying with grandparents is probably a good idea for practical reasons, but I think that helping to pack and unpack - and making a game out of it - can help a child to settle in their new environment.

Good luck for your new home!

I meant to add - I would try and fit in as many visits to your new area as possible before then and spend them in places you'll be likely to frequent such as local parks, library, etc. so that some of her new environment is familiar.

we moved with 4 children, the youngest is 2. we prioritised what we needed re:safety such as a gate to stop her wandering into the road etc and by getting this done in the first 24-48 hours it meant we were able to concentrate on the other parts of moving with slightly less stress!

I only moved 15 miles so visiting the local park/nursery etc was easy prior to the big move, I would say don't reduce her//his ours pre-move as it might be more disruptive but thats just my opinion based on how my dd would be. it also means you have time to pack plan etc without lo needing attention and distraction (I don't mean that to sound horrible!)

our 4 were at school and nursery during the actual move but were very involved in packing and then after 4pm when they arrived at their new home they 'helped' (!) unpack.

good luck!

Thanks for all the advice and good luck wishes.

We will be having the house packed for us (work organising it) so I suspect the removal people won't be too impressed with having anyone around who's not capable of making them tea+biscuits.

We're going to look at houses and nurseries in October so will have her with us for the visits but I suspect she's going to be totally bemused by the whole thing.

I thought having her stay at the grandparents would give us the opportunity to ensure that all her stuff is unpacked and waiting for her in her new room but the ideas of getting her to unpack and find homes for her stuff sound good too.

Will look at the Amazon suggestions.

Not done it yet but are about to in the next few months with 2 3year olds. DS is so laid back that tbh I don't think he'll even notice the move has happened so long as there is food on the table!

DD hates any sort of change. Even changing the day that shes in nursery upsets her. We have involved her right from the beginning (as we have ds). She's helped tidy the house for viewers, she's been to view every house we've seen and she's been encouraged to tell us what she thinks of each house which has been quite interesting.

We are getting lots of questions from her that show how worried she is about it. Most breakfasts now are "are we taking x,y,z to the new house?" and she gets upset if the answer is no (like it was about the shed!).

She's told me what she wants in her new bedroom and I have to admit, I'm trying my hardest to give that to her. She's planned a fairy bedroom with fairy lights and fairy wallpaper etc. Most days we get out her fairy bedroom things to look at and she talks about the move and things that are worrying her. The latest one was that Daddy wouldn't be able to find his way home from work to the new house and she'd never see him again.

On the day of packing (removal company will do it) and on the day of the move they will both be in nursery. Then I hope that grandparents who are coming to stay will be able to entertain for a couple days whilst we unpack. I do intend to do her fairy bedroom as best I can without the pot of paint and wallpaper on the day of the move. I'll put the lights up and put all the bits we've got for it out for her to give her the bedroom she's asked for in the new house.

I still expect all this hardwork not to be enough to stop all the unsettledness that can be expected but I hope it will be worth it a bit.

Don't forget to explain that your possessions and your pets move with you when you move house!

DH and I were shown round a one house we looked at by a little girl (that's what it felt like!) who showed us her dolls house, her mum's shoe collection, her dog... and told us that they would all be ours if we moved in. Oddly enough, she seemed quite pleased by the idea.

lurking because we are about to do the same....the one useful piece of advice we were given by a friend who is (gasp) an estate agent was that underfives usually adapt pretty quickly to a move - so long as mummy/daddy/their toys go with them they are pretty quick to accept a new house and dont get attached to bricks and mortar, it's apparently much harder when they're around five as they are more likely to be worried about it. she also said as grendelsmum says to explain that everything you own is coming with you (older children often think the new family will be getting their toys, apparently)