How to make moving house with young children stress free

Moving home can be a really stressful time. But moving home when you have young children can be even more stressful. You need to think about what to do with them on moving day, how are you going to manage looking after them whilst you pack, and you may be worried about how they will settle in to their new home. All of these concerns are normal, and as a parent who has recently moved with a 2 year toddler, I’m here to share my top tips with you on how you can make moving house with young children stress free.

Prepare your child

In the run up to our move we explained to our daughter what would be happening so that moving to a new home hopefully wouldn’t come as a complete surprise. You can try to eradicate any concerns that your child may have by giving them some incentive. Tell them that they may have a bigger bedroom or a better garden to play in. You could also visit the new area a few times with them so that they start to get familiar with it. On moving day let them say goodbye to their old bedroom and the house as this may have help them with the moving process in their minds.

Get childcare

I cannot stress enough how vital it is for you and your sanity to arrange some form of childcare for your children on moving day. You do not want a toddler hanging around when the removal men are emptying the contents of your home, and they probably don’t want a toddler running around either. If you can arrange for friends or family to look after your children, or like us we asked our nursery to take our daughter for an extra day that week. Consider what your options are in advance, but make sure that on moving day your children are taken care of.

Shop around for your removal company

There are so many removal companies, and it is best to shop around to find a removal company that suits your requirements and your budget. Getamover can help you do this in 3 easy steps. All you have to do is enter your location, your move requirements and submit your request. This will return to you the best removal quotes and help you pick the removal company. It is also worth getting three removal companies to come to your current home and provide you with an accurate quote based on the actual contents of your home, discuss with you in person your requirements, and look at ease of access too. Make sure that you allow time to do this so that you don’t feel rushed into making a decision as soon as you exchange contracts on your new property.

Get your house packed up for you

My NUMBER ONE top tip is for your removal company to pack up your house for you. This will save you hours, or weeks! When we moved house earlier this year we had our entire two bed flat packed up in 3 hours. The alternative was for me to spend weeks packing and constantly unpacking boxes when I needed something. Plus I’m not sure how I would have packed up the house with my toddler who loves to unpack a box. I would definitely recommend you pay for a packing service, it doesn’t cost a lot, all packing materials are provided, and the packers will pack the boxes and your furniture to ensure a smooth move the next day.

Set-up the children’s bedrooms first

Moving house for young children will be a very strange experience, and they need their home comforts. If they are spending the day away from you on moving day, make sure that their room is set-up as best as you can when they arrive at the property. They will need their bed or cot, bedding, toys in place, lighting set-up, and bunny under the duvet. You’re trying to create the familiarities of their old bedroom in their new bedroom, which should hopefully (fingers crossed) make them settle in the new house quickly. We did exactly this with our toddler and found that she adapted well, resulting in a swift and easy bedtime.

Take your child on a tour of the house

Remember that this is also their house as well as yours. When they arrive at the house take them on a tour. Your aim is to make them familiar with it as soon as possible, and if they see that you’re comfortable with it, they will be comfortable with it too. Show them all the rooms, where the kitchen is, where the living room is, where the bathroom is, and most importantly where their bedroom is and where their toys will be stored. You need to overcome any worries that they have about the move in hope that they settle quickly.

Having recently moved with a two year old those are my top tips for helping to make moving with children as stress free as possible.

If you’ve recently moved with children I would love to hear your experience, and good luck to anyone who is about to move.

Claire x

This is a collaborative post with Getamover.