Moving House with a Baby
Posted on 19/08/2016
When your family starts to expand it is only natural to find that your current home is no longer big enough for your needs. In an ideal world you can move nice and early and spend the latter half of your pregnancy happily ensconced in your new family home, but the unfortunate truth is that the property market simply isn’t like that in reality. Firstly, there is the time trying to find the place that you want which can take a monstrously amount of time in the first place, and even after that the problems only come thicker and faster as signing over properties and moving in dates can be months of even in some cases years after the ideal timing has long since passed.
As a result you may find yourself moving house with a young baby. Both being a new parent and moving house are highly charged and stressful roads to tread, so here is our handy guide to help smooth the process.
The first thing you must do is be unafraid to ask for help. This is a general rule of thumb for any new parent anyway but the fact is that - particularly as moving day approaches - the environment may well not be suited to a young toddler or baby. If you haven’t moved house before then let me assure that even if you are well organised, the last couple of days are fairly manic and unless you are able to keep them away from all that stress then it may well be that the best place for them is with grandparents or friends, just for a couple of days. Hard to imagine though it may be, the odds are that it will actually reduce your stress levels and if nothing else ensure that you get a good sleep, which is hugely important as your energy levels will be tested - not that they won’t have been by having a young child anyway!
If you do decide to keep the child with you then you need to think very carefully about the order that you pack things in. Have a look around the room a few days beforehand and ask what things are there for the baby and what bits are there for you. I say this because we all put little cutesie bits of decoration in out children’s rooms that essentially pass them by, so they can get packed early on without causing any undue distress.
Whether with you or with relatives, it will be important to ensure that everything the baby needs is ready for when the baby arrives at the new property. Make a duplicate of your baby travel bag, the sort of things you take when you are out and about so that you have a handful of the ‘essentials’ that can last you through those first couple of days. The essentially cuddly toys and blankets will probably be with them wherever they are but whatever smells and textures they are used to keep them the same. If possible use the same sheets that the baby had in the last night at the old home for the first night at the new one.
Then, explain in no uncertain terms to your removal company that the furniture from the baby’s room is to be the last thing on the van and the first thing off it. That way, even if you are personally all over the place at least your baby can come to a brand new house where hopefully you will spend a lot of happy times together, and feel immediately at home.
