Five Tips for Moving with Small Children

If you are moving to a new house and have young children, the process can be confusing and even scary to them. Toddlers or preschoolers may not really understand that “home” can be anywhere different than they have always lived and that delineation is central to their personal sense of security.

While you will be in the throes of the moving logistics and working with your Jacksonville movers, it is important for you to also stay focused on helping them adjust before, during and after the move so that the whole family can enjoy the new home together. There are a few things that you can easily do to help a young child’s transition to a new home go smoothly.

Visit your new home

Drive by the new house as often as possible when you are out and about. This is one of the luxuries of a local move. If you are able to go inside the house or at walk around the yard, do that as well. The more time that a child spends at the house, the more comfortable he or she will be with it as it no longer will feel “different”. Remember that for young children, “different” can be the same as “scary”.

Keep routines consistent

While your home will be undergoing changes, with items “disappearing” as they are packed, it is important to keep as many routines for your child consistent as possible. If you always read the same book at bedtime, continue to do so. Bedtimes, naptimes and mealtimes should remain constant as well. Even keeping snacks the same can help maintain a sense of security to a youngster.

Make the child’s room the priority

Work with your Jacksonville movers to make sure that your child’s room is the last one to be “taken apart” in the old house and the first one “put together” in the new home. This will maintain the child’s primary space—his or her own room—to be left intact for the greatest percentage of time possible, ensuring greater stability for your child.

Keep bedrooms similar

As much as possible, set up your child’s new bedroom like their old room was. This may not be exactly the same but the more similarities that can be had, the better for the child. Where changes are necessary, involve your child in an age-appropriate way. Ask him or her to choose the blue rug or the yellow rug in their bathroom, for example. Allowing them to have some ownership in the process can be helpful.

Invite friends over

Once you are in the new home, invite your child’s friends over to play. Do this as soon as possible, even if the entire house is not yet settled. The more your child associates his or her new living space with fun activities and begins to create memories there, the more he or she will bond with it. Such attachment helps to create the inner security that every child needs and deserves.

Children will naturally be confused and even a bit concerned by a move but with a little bit of diligence on your part, the process can be made much simpler for them. Before you know it, your youngster may almost not remember your prior home!