There’s no denying that moving home is one of the most stressful experiences we go through in our lives. Regardless of how excited you are to get to your new home, the preparations, and planning can put their toll on us. And, if you’re planning on moving home with small children, the stresses accelerate. Thankfully, with the right support, it’s easy to eliminate a lot of the worry and make the experience as smooth flowing as possible. In this guide, our Wild & Lye Removals experts will give you our top tips and advice to make this a reality for your family.
Speak To Your Kids
Change, no matter how small, can throw small children out of balance. Structure and routine are incredibly important to their feelings of security and moving their entire life to a new building can feel very daunting. They may not know what to expect or, indeed, what it means to move home. While you don’t want to incite any unnecessary worry or fear in them, it’s just as important not to keep things from them too.
Discuss the fact that you will be moving with them when it feels right for you. Tailor the conversation to their age. For smaller children, it may help to explain all the benefits they’ll receive from the new home including a bigger bedroom or better parks just around the corner. Try to make the move sound as exciting as possible – it’s a chance for your family to experience a whole new place and build new memories.
Plan As Far In Advance As Possible
Good planning is essential for any home move. But it becomes even more so if you’re moving home with small children. To make sure you don’t miss anything vital off the list, we recommend kicking off your house move planning as soon as you can – maybe even before you’ve found a property. Begin to consider things such as whether you’re planning on taking all of their soft toys with you or whether you want to have them looked after when you move. Speak to friends and family – get a plan in place.
Being as prepared as possible will help to eliminate a lot of the stress and worry that comes from the unknown. You may even want to plan an activity for the move in a day (depending on time), such as visiting a new park or popping into a friend’s house who will live around the corner. Organise as much as possible now so you have less to stress about later.
Visit The New Place (Even If Just From The Outside)
Try to eliminate as much confusion and unknown as possible. If you can, take your children to see the house for themselves. This can be from the outside or inside if that’s possible at all. Bringing the new home to life is a great way for them to connect the dots and begin to understand that this could be their new place very soon. If you can take them inside, show them where their bedroom will be. You can even ask them questions such as ‘where do you think you would like your bed?’ and ‘what colours should we use to decorate your new room?’. Anything you can do to make the move feel as exciting as possible while helping them to understand will help balance any anxiety they may be feeling.
Use This Time To Declutter
Even if you’re up-sizing, it’s unlikely you’ll want to move with every single item in your current home. Children accumulate A LOT and now is the time to begin decluttering. You can do this slowly or even involve your child in the process. Choose the best items to donate to charity or other families with small children. You may want to encourage your child to choose toys that you can sell on, using the money they make to help decorate their bedroom in the new home or to buy something special for the house.
If your child refuses to part with toys or finds this process difficult, you may want to do it when they are asleep or out of the house.
Turn Packing into a Game
In line with keeping them involved, turn packing into a fun game. If your little one is competitive, set a timer and see how quickly they can get their soft toys into a box. Or give them a pile of clothes and coloured boxes before asking them to separate the items into categories. You could also buy a pack of stickers for them and ask that they decorate any box which needs to go into their bedroom. Not only does this make them easy to organise when you get to the new home but it also keeps them occupied while you keep packing more valuable or breakable items. The more enjoyable you can make the process, the easier it will be on the entire family.
Label, Label, Label
Families move home with A LOT of stuff and this is why labels are so important. We recommend labelling every single box or wrapped item. Write down what it is and what room it needs to go into. If you’re working with a full house removal company, this will make it easier for the team to distribute your belongings out when they arrive. And, if not, it will streamline the process for you and your family too.
Consider coloured labels, with each colour being for a different room. Or even coloured boxes for each of the children.
Have A First Night Box
It’s unlikely that you’ll get completely unpacked in a day. But, there will be essential items your family will need on the first night you move in. Make a First Night box for each child with pyjamas, books and their favourite bedtime items. Consider new pyjamas or a special treat inside to make the entire process feel fun. You should also consider a first night box for the family which contains items such as plates, cutlery and cooking items so you can have your first meal. Think of the items you may take with you on a self-catering trip or camping – those are the bits you want to have to hand.
Moving home with young children can be stressful but with the right planning and support, it’s entirely doable. Here at Wild & Lye Removals, we work with families of all different sizes and provide full house moving and storage services to suit your needs. If you have any questions or require additional support, get in contact with the team here today.