Forum Index
»
Infants, Toddlers, & Preschoolers
Preparing preschooler and toddler for a move to a new house...
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
|
Hi Ladies,
We are preparing our 4 and 2 year old for a move to a new house - though it is local (we are moving from Reston to Herndon). Any ideas of how to make it a smooth and healthy transition? Thanks! |
Anonymous
| We moved into a new house (nearby) when our son was a little over 3. While the house was under construction, we stopped by almost daily to "visit" the house and see its progress. By the time we were ready to move, he was very exicited that the day had finally come. We bought a new "big boys" bed for his room and I took him along to the PB Kids store at the mall and let him pick out some new sheets and pillows/bed buddies. A few new bedtime reading books and and an inexpensive game or two (cards, matching dominos) was also added. I also tried to immediately carve out some little nooks just for his things (specific shelves in a built-in, etc.) We played multi-floor hide and seek to get him used to/comfortable with the house. We invited his friends over early after the move and oftern. I too was quite nervous about the transition (he was also leaving daycare and going to a new pre-school), but it came out better than I had imagined. Sometimes our kids do surprise us. Good luck and congrats on your new place! |
Anonymous
|
We moved within DC when our children were 2 and 4. I don't have any tips for you--we barely told the 2-y.o. what was happening, which was almost certainly not the right approach--but I do have some reassurance: it was fine. There was no crying, no screaming, no moping. Our younger one does still ask who's living in our old house (6 months later) and sometimes says she liked it better than our current house, but both have been happy in the new house and accepted it as home from the first day.
We did read a book about moving with the older one--it's from Usborne--and that may have helped, but I don't think its impact was huge. |
Anonymous
| Tell them, don't let it be a surprise. |
amma_mama
Member Offline
Member Offline
|
Ah, we are experts in this area! In a span of 6 months, we moved for a 2-month assignment overseas, then moved back to our "old" apartment in DC for one month, then moved overseas again, where we were in a hotel for one month, then in a new house. Same story with the schools, obviously. My daughter was 2.5 at the start (so 3 for the last move). I always thought her to be a very spirited girl and worried about her being overwhelmed by so many changes (which also included an almost 2-month separation from Daddy during the latest move), but she has been amazingly resilient and has taken it all in stride and quickly made herself at home. Given that we were moving overseas, there was no time/opportunity for easing her into the situation. With neither move did she even have very many of her toys, just what would fit in a suitcase (books, puzzles, etc.) until our shipment arrived. I felt bad but she coped up much better than expected with so much change (though it put us behind on thepotty training, which has been a more recent victory).
So, based on these posts, you have options - go all out and make it an exciting transition (the 22:19 poster sounds like they had great fun!) or make it a total non-event. I think you really need to "read" your own kids in terms of how well they handle change. In either case, I would pack up their stuff last, preferably when they are not at home, to avoid either tears/tantrum or the packing/repacking/repacking/repacking fiasco (my daughter likes nothing better than to empty out a box and she does it faster than I pack it up!) |
Anonymous
|
Talk about the move--everything that will go on the truck (clothes, furniture, toys) or with you (pets), as well as the things that WON'T go on the truck (because it's already there or not needed). My dd at 3 was wondering if the place we were moving would have toilets... I wouldn't have thought of mentioning it if she hadn't brought it up, but certainly a recently potty-trained child might be curious about such things!
Also talk about seeing old friends again (sounds like you'll be able to) and then work both at keeping in touch with old friends and making new ones. |
Anonymous
|
These are really helpful responses, thanks so much to all the posters for taking the time to answer my questions and concerns...
Here we go! - Fran |
Anonymous
|
We've been moving for a while--from AZ to CO (moved from DC when my son was 18 mos and that was no problem). First we were in a temp. condo, which we called the little house, with only a few things, and now we're in a temp rental furnished house, and our stuff is in storage until we buy (that's a whole other story, my husband's cold feet about buying).
Our now 3.5 YO has been great, even with most of his toys not being around--he thinks it's cool that a BIG TRUCK has all our stuff and he like looking at houses, his criteria is that it has to have very soft carpet (we've always had hardwood) and stairs, and a backyard. It helped that our current landlords decorated his room for him when they moved out--they felt bad that his bedroom was pink and purple (they have 2 girls) so they painted the room white and put up Cars decals and a border, and we've let him put up posters, etc. The move has really been tougher for me and DH--the first time I took my son to a "gymnastics" class after we moved I just cried because we had really great friends where we lived before and we used to do gymnastics with them and then go to lunch every week with a group of 3-4 moms and their kids. |
Anonymous
|
Definitely talk about it as much as you can - what it's going to be like, what will change, what will stay the same. Later this summer we will move with my 4 year old back to the DC area from Europe (where we have lived 3 years).
Needless to say, it's all she's ever really known and we're concerned about the transition, but we try to talk about it daily so that she is okay with the idea and knows exactly what's coming. We talk about what our house is like, our neighborhood, how she'll go to a new preschool, have new friends. We talk about how she won't see her friends here anymore, but she'll get to see her grandparents/aunts/uncles/cousins a lot more. I think if you take away the unknown it becomes less overwhelming. We're also trying to play up the "newness" of it - like we'll have our own YARD and she'll have a new ROOM and we can decorate it for her specially. Good luck! |