How to Make Moving Home With Young Kids Easier
When you’re moving, you have so many things to consider! How to move all of your furniture, set up all of your new utilities and get your family settled in your new home quickly. Let’s face it, when moving day comes around it’s bound to be a little stressful, especially if you have children to think about.
But with a little bit of preparation and organisation, you can make the process much smoother for them – and for yourself.
Sound good? If so, read on for our top tips
Talk to your kids about the move
This is probably the most important thing you can do to prepare them for what’s ahead. Talk to them about why you’re moving, where you’re going and what the new house will be like, especially their new room!
If you can, take them with you when you are looking for a new home. Point out rooms that might be their bedroom, talk about what play equipment might go in the garden for them or show them what’s in the local area.
Your estate agent should always be willing to arrange a second viewing, so if you couldn’t take them the first time, it’s worth setting up a second visit.
Get them involved in the process as much as possible, so they feel like they’re a part of it, a great way to do this is to get them to draw out how their new bedroom might be set up or decorated.
Make sure they have a little job on moving day
This will help them to feel like they’re playing a part in the move and not just sitting around watching everyone else do all the work!
If they’re old enough, get them to help with packing up their own room, or helping with labelling boxes, you could even pick up a cheap labelling machine, which they are sure to love creating with.
For younger ones get them to pack up a small suitcase with a few favourite items, this way they feel there are helping and you also have things on hand if they need to be occupied (see tip 5).
Keep their routine as normal as possible
If you’re moving house during the week, then aim to get everything done during the day so that your night-time routine isn’t disrupted, things are bound to run a little into the evening but try and keep this to a minimum if you can.
If you’re moving at the weekend, try to stick to any nap times and mealtimes as much as possible. If you can, ask a family member to sit with young ones whilst they nap as it could be scary to wake up in a new environment on their own.
Have plenty of snacks available
This one is key, especially if you have younger kids. Make sure you have plenty of healthy snacks on hand as well as drinks to keep everyone going. Fruit is a great option and isn’t too messy either.
Make a bag up of favourite things
If younger children can’t get involved, have a bag ready with their favourite things, this way if you need to keep them occupied for a length of time, they have something to do, pack a snack and if unpacking is likely to take a long time it’s a great idea to pack PJ’s and their favourite storybook.
Give them their own space
Once you have moved everything over from one property to the other, designate a small area for the kids with all their favourite things close to hand, this could be a corner of the living room or even just a rug, this way they can play whilst you get to unpacking your first boxes.
Set up their bedroom first
If you can, try to get the kids’ bedrooms set up as quickly as possible so they have a place to call their own and can start feeling settled. It doesn’t need to be perfect, but just having their bed made and some of their toys in there will make all the difference.
Get them involved in unpacking
On the first day it may seem like a bit much to ask children to unpack all of their own belongings but doing some of this task will help them to feel like they’re part of the process and not just sitting around whilst everyone else is busy.
Also, lots of children like to organise and letting them find a place for their things is good practice for keeping their new space tidy.
Organise dinner ahead of time
We all get cranky when we are hungry and moving is a big job for people of all ages!
Make sure to have some local takeaway menus to hand or organise a friend to bring you a warm meal, so you can relax and enjoy your first night in the new house.
Have a fun first day planned
After all of the unpacking has been done (or at least most of it!) treat the family to a fun activity, whether that’s exploring the local park, or relaxing with a family movie, just something to make the first few days feel special.
It’s important to remember that moving house is a big deal for everyone involved, so cut yourself and your family some slack. Be patient with the unpacking process and try not to get too stressed, everything will eventually come together and before you know it you’ll all be settled in your new home.
We hope these tips help to make your move a little bit easier for you and your family.
