5 Amazing Tips to Help You Move Houses with Kids and Not Going Insane
How do you stay sane when you move? Is it even possible?
Advance planning is your friend, and when it comes to parents moving to a new house, it will help you to efficiently get your family settled. Consider following these tips for moving, which may seem like common sense, or may be rather insightful. Either way, in the name of efficiency, read on.
1. Purge Old Toys
The perfect time to narrow down your child’s toy collection is during a move. If a toy is broken, worn out, or just not played with anymore, don’t bother packing it. This saves room in your new house, as well as decreases the amount of stuff you have to move.
2. Hire a Babysitter
Keeping an eye on your kids is a full-time job on its own. It’s especially hard during a move. Find someone who can watch your child during the packing, unpacking and transportation of your belongings.
Book the babysitters ASAP. You’ll need child care coverage that enables you to pack, to move, and to unpack. Trying to move without someone to watch your little ones is life-shortening. Book early and triple confirm, wrote Sarah Welch at BabyCenter.com.
You might even want to have some backup babysitters at the ready for the actual move-out/move-in dates just in case.
3. Pack an “Open Me First” Box
Pack a box of essentials and household cleaning supplies in an “open me first” box. Things like toilet paper, soap and whatever disinfectant you’ll use in your new home. Making a safe, clean environment for your children is significantly easier to do when you have everything in a box that is marked for the occasion.
4. Moving with Babies
Younger babies aren’t as much of a concern while moving, but older toddlers can be a bit more challenging, especially if they’re crawling or walking. Be sure to set their room up first, so they’ll have a place to go during the unloading.
Make sure they have access to at least a few of their toys. Having something to keep them occupied means less stress for your kids, which should result in less stress for you.
5. Moving Long Distances
If you’re moving a long distance away, schedule a doctor’s appointment for your child, prior to the move, to ensure that no medical issues arise during the trip. To be on the safe side, make a list of hospitals along your route in case of emergencies.
“Schedule a doctor’s visit before you leave to make sure the child is OK to travel, and take care of any vaccinations now before you get busy in the new town you’re moving to,” according to Relocation.com.
Bonus Tip: Mobile Containers Make Moving Easier
One of the biggest challenges is getting all of your items moved into a large truck on the day that you move, but there is an efficient alternative: mobile containers. You can simply have one delivered to your property, and gradually fill it in an organized fashion, until the day you move, when it can be transported to your new location.
At Go Mini’s, we have been helping families (with and without kids) move smoothly by providing convenient portable storage containers that we drop off, pick up, and move to a new location. The containers can even be stored at our secure storage facility, if you prefer. Get a free quote by letting us know what your needs are, and make life for you (and your kids) easier.
Moving is never fun, even in the most ideal circumstances. However, by taking advantage of some of these tips, you have a much better chance of maintaining your sanity. Try to think of relocating as a family adventure of sorts.
