Making a move easier - advice needed

[Anonymous]

My husband, son, and I are moving from Silver Spring to Rockville in a few days. We ended our nanny share on Friday and now have an au pair who has come to live with us. She is staying in our old tiny little house for a few days, until we move to the new larger house.

My 2 year old son is definitely sensing the change. He's really whiny, clingy, saying NO to everything, and not sleeping great. I want to help him by staying close and holding him when he needs it. I am just completely exhausted from everything though.

Any suggestions on how to make this transition any easier....on mom and son.

[Anonymous]

We had a longer window between our move, so not sure if it would help you, but we did a lot of driving by the new house, talking about all of the great things we would do there, what the rooms would look like, what we would take (should we take the dining room table or leave it, jokingly, etc). DC was thrilled when we actually did make the move. The new au pair issue isnt something we had to deal with, but I'm sure in time it'll be fine, OP. I cried when we actually moved and DC didnt!

[Anonymous]

The transition from nanny to the au pair is in some ways more significant than the move.

I read somewhere that making a book (with photos) to document the move is a good way to help kids get involved and get excited about the move. Your child might be young to benefit from that, but could you think of another activity to get him involved and excited about the new house and/or his new room?

The sleep will return to normal once things have calmed down, but I think it's worth being aggressive with keeping him on schedule even during the move.

At age two, could you do some work in the house with him on your back in an Ergo?

Military spouses post on DCUM every once in a while; hopefully some will respond with some ideas (other than the typical, "you'll be fine" - which is of course true also).

[Anonymous]

We move A LOT. My suggestion is to keep things as normal as possible. We've done some overseas moves, etc., which are really tough. I always make sure linens and their bedroom stuff gets moved early and unpacked first (even in temporary quarters). We try to have their bedrooms set up and looking as similar as possible the first night. Sleeping is so much easier in their own bed with their usual sheets, lovies, etc. Also, get the toys unpacked early.

I agree with PP that the AP is probably the harder transition than the move. We also have an Ap. It took a few weeks for our children to adjust, but they did and they are very happy now.

Good luck and enjoy your new house!

[Anonymous]

There's a Berenstain Bears book about moving. We got that for our dd who was turning 2 the weekend of our move and she loved the book and our transition went surprisingly well. She called the moving guys 'moving bears'

he may be picking up on your stress surrounding the move. Make sure to spend some one on one focused quality time with him each day even if it puts you behind on packing.

Good luck!