Are you and your family preparing for a big move? These tips on moving with kids will help save your sanity, make your kids feel more comfortable, and lighten your load.
We moved from North Carolina back to our home state of Virginia when my oldest child, my son, was four. He left his preschool and we had to get rid of our dog. Not very traumatic for him.
Then, when my daughter joined our family, we moved from an apartment to a house in a neighboring city. This all happened just before her first birthday, so that would have made my son about eight. A friend and classmate of his moved to the same area, so the adjustment went fairly well for him.
Moving can be a big deal for you and your kids. For a child, it can be the first time they’ve experienced moving away from friends, family, and familiar surroundings. They may not be prepared to deal with it. So, I have some guidance to help you prepare your kids for moving home:
Discuss the Move
I read this great article from Kids Health that I think sums it all up best:
No matter what the circumstances, the most important way to prepare kids to move is to talk about it.
Try to give them as much information about the move as soon as possible. Answer questions completely and truthfully, and be receptive to both positive and negative reactions. Even if the move means an improvement in family life, kids don’t always understand that and may be focused on the frightening aspects of the change.
Involving kids in the planning as much as possible makes them feel like participants in the house-hunting process or the search for a new school. This can make the change feel less like it’s being forced on them.
Visit the House before You Move
If you want to prepare your kids for a move, you should start doing so months in advance. If you spring a move on them, it will make things so much worse! Take them to the new house before you move in. It gives them a chance to look around and see the house for themselves.
They can go into their new bedroom and get a feel for it. Doing this will help things massively because it starts to get them adjusted to the thought of moving. When you do move, the house won’t feel so different to them, because they’ve been there before.
Get Their Bedroom Set Up
When you move into a new place, everything will be a bit of a mess. None of the rooms are completely how you want them, and there are loads of things to unpack. You should make your kid’s rooms the number one priority. Get them set up and ready for your children to sleep in.
Make sure the beds are all set up with their favorite bedding. Bring in all the boxes with their toys and unpack them. Try and get the new bedroom feeling like their old one as quickly as possible. The quicker he or she feels comfortable in the bedroom, the more the child will start to feel way at home.
Buy Them a Moving Present
Kids are often upset when they have to move house because they’ve become accustomed to your home. Generally speaking, young children don’t like change. They like things the way they are, so anything different will be looked at negatively. So, to try and cheer them up, why not buy them a moving present?
Get them a little gift to help make the moving process easier for them. If you promise them a gift, it will put a little smile on their face. Perhaps get a nice dress up costume from Just Pretend Kids, a new soft toy from Amazon, or a new item for their bedroom. Something as simple as a little gift can make a huge difference in helping them deal with the move.
Show Them the Surrounding Area
If you’re moving to a new town, it would be a great idea to show your kids around the area, too. Moving is tough for young kids, especially if it demands a complete change of scenery. They will be used to the area they lived in before, going to the local parks, and exploring their old neighborhood.
Take them around the town and show them all the sights and scenes. Help them to get used to the new area that they’ll be spending time in once you move. If they’re moving to a new school too, make sure you visit the new school with them too.
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What moving tips do you have for making the transition easier?
All your tips are great! I agree with every single one of them and you help me succeed in maintaining a stress free move next month with my twins. Thanks for sharing! <3
The tips are really nice! I am about to move to another city with my family and the kids are not that happy about it. My husband got a great job offer and we are going to London! I believe that this is a wonderful opportunity for us and I want to somehow make the kids understand that we are going to a better place. I have already hired movers (http://removalcompanychiswick.co.uk/) and next week Wednesday is the moving day! I will definitely listen to you and spend more time with the kids, take them presents and explain them of the great stuff there are there! Thank you for sharing!
My husband’s military career keeps our family moving around a lot. We have six kids and the idea of moving is pretty routine. We always hold a big meeting whenever we are going to move so that we can talk out all of what they are feeling. One thing that is on this post that we have never done that I really like, though, is the idea of the moving present. Perhaps we will allow each of the kids to get a souvenir from wherever we are stationed before moving on.
Good idea to set their room up first. I can’t think of a more welcoming way to move into a new home than having your room already look perfect.
Label the top and all four sides of a box with a short explanation of what is in the box (Toys) and what room the box should be placed in at the new house (Bobby’s Room). You want to label the top and sides so that the box can be facing in any direction and you can still know what is inside it and where to take it.
You hit all my favorite talking points! Great post
When you are moving with kids I would like to suggest you that you must stay strong and positive in front of your children. It is going to give your kids extra comfort. If seems negative or stressed while moving you will make your children experience the same emotions which in turn will surely make the moving even harder. You can also involve your kids in your move, Just need to make it like a game. For example the first who packs their box the fastest wins a tasty treat. By the way thanks for sharing your helpful tips with us.
Lovely article. Indeed it is difficult to keep the kids happy after a move, especially when they started missing the old place. Good thing, I read the tips here. Worth the time reading from start to end. Thanks for sharing this.
I’m really glad i found this article post, their talking point is really i looking for we preparing for moving this next 2 month’s and I probably thinking of what will happen of kiddies if when we at the new place of course they will miss the old place and there friends and how they adjust.. But thanks to this post this is like a eye opener information really helpful for me…..
Thanks Raki for sharing this lovely post. If you are moving with kids I would like to suggest that at least go through this post.
WOW!! Absolutely impressive, the tips and ideas about moving is very brilliant for me, We are preparing for moving in few week.., And my problem is my kiddos will be okay if we get in the new place, but this point out my tiny problem LOL!! Thank you for sharing this..
Wow!! This impressive blog post, now I know of what I supposed to do when we move. Thank you so much for sharing this tips to us.
Moving is definitely very stressful but I always try to be positive and I rather think that it is exciting and adventurous in a way! It is great when there are things happening! ?? Thanks for sharing your experience! I am also on the move so everything that is on the topic is very useful for me! ??
Spend your time with family and let the experts work on cleaning up and relocating your stuff with the right transition services.
Yes! I’m all about outsourcing.
These are good tips! I remember moving to a new home as a child and having no clear sense of what was going on. It’s a really good idea to get your child warmed up to the idea of the new house before moving. Nice work! Thanks for the advice!
Moving services that helps on transitions is really nice. It will help you do things more while not spending so much on getting ready to move.
I totally agree with this. When it comes to moving with kids, it’s all about how you approach the subject when you talk to them and making sure that your emotions are what you want to convey- any negatives can throw the move off balance and make it difficult to move. These are great tips for helping them along with the transition. Nice work! Thanks for the awesome advice!
hello..!!
sometimes kids really do feel awkward while moving to a new place. So we need to prepare them mentally about the new place and acquaint them to the surroundings . Also make them feel that how good it would be shifting to this new place.
Great post buddy. Appreciable.
You’re right Raki! Moving to another city with your kids is difficult, I never experience that, but, I saw my auntie, her kids was not comfortable with their new house and she’s trying to make them happy but it take weeks to accept to fact that they’re moving for the own good of her kids..
It would be such a huge change, but those tips would definitely help to prepare kids…is there something you haven’t told us? Lol, I’m sure you’re tempted to move to one of your glamorous destinations!
Thanks for share Raki!
Your right Raki!
Moving to another places is difficult thing, especially your kids is too young to understand the world. I do not even try to move, but, if I plan for moving I will wait until my kids matured enough at the same time they can help me to pack all items to bring.
I am planning for moving from the city to farm because there’s a fresh air and far to the pollution, but I have two babies and it’s difficult for me to move because I’m single parent and I do not have relatives to ask for help to load the van of item and unload when I reach the new place, so I decided to stay here until my babies mature enough that they can understand everything.
Great advice! Moving with kids can be very hard on them. Getting them prepared for the chaos is important. I remember when I moved as a young kid, my parents helped me understand what was happening and how I could help and also stay out the way. Thanks for sharing!
Cheerful moving article with kids! My sister and her family will be happy if they read this kinda good for them. They are planning for move and their children is not matured enough to travel, hopefully this info I share will them.
Thank you Raki, you are awesome!
Relocating homes is sometimes really time consuming. Making you delay the stuff you need to do. Good thing there companies that provide transition services.
Hi, Raki! This is the most precise tip for moving with kids.
Great informative information, if I’m going to move with my kids I will definitely follow this moving tips. Thank you, Raki!
You make a good point about showing the kids the area. You definitely want the entire family to feel comfortable with the new living situation.
I really like your tip about visiting the house before you move when it comes to moving with kids. That seems like a great way to get them used to the idea of a change. We are going to be moving in the next few months and we want to move some things into a storage unit. We will have to keep this info in mind to help them with all the changes, thank you for sharing!
Moving services also provides a cleanup of your home for it to be ready for selling or other stuff.
I really like your tip about making sure the kid’s rooms are set up as quickly as possible to make the move a little easier on them. My brother and his wife recently moved with their three little ones and they made sure to unpack the kids’ rooms before getting to work on other areas of the house. I will be keeping these tips in mind for future reference when my husband and me find ourselves moving with kids.
Thanks for sharing this so interesting tips for moving with kids! When you are planning to move, hiring the right moving company is a big part of the process. Thanks for sharing the great information. Good Luck!
It is really tough for the kids to move from one place to another. I experienced it when I had to left my own house due to some circumstances and moved to another place. I had no friends and all the time I feel very bad. So it is really necessary to talk to the children about the new place and new environment.
Thanks for providing this information. This is so amazing and I am very glad to read this post.