We are moving to another city and I need some suggestions?

Question

I have two girls ages three and one (on August 15th). We are having to move because my husband is going to go back to school. We are going to be living in the married housing on campus (if he does distance education he gets distracted, we tried that). The city we are moving to is about an hour and a half away. My parents live in the same town that we live in now and my kids are used to seeing them at least 3 times a week. They also have always had their own rooms and they will have to share a room when we move. I need some suggestions on preparing my three year old for the move and the new surroundings? Also, what is the best way to have a three year old and a one year old share a room? Who should I put to bed first and how should I work naps and all that stuff?

Answer 1

When you get the keys to the new place let the three year old run aroun and explore the place to herself. Open closets, check out the cabinets, ect.. Tell her what room is hers, yours and other
"important things" If you get a chance, try meeting some of the neighbors.

When you pack, have her help. Put her names on the boxes. Maybe mark her boxes with heart stickers that she gets to put on. You can buy the big color circle stickers and let her help you color coordinate all the boxes. Blue for the bathroom, green for the living room, yellow for the kitchen, ect.

write up a phone list with the grandparent's phone number. She's not to too young to start learning numbers and you can help her call her grandma durning the week. Grandma can give her a "new home" present. (my kids always loved plants!!)

Just before you turn in keys to the old place, take her and explore the old place. Check out her room and have her check for "escapees" that might have been missed. Then walk through the place and casually say goodbye to everything.


As far as bedtime, who sleeps the heaviest? If your 3yo already has a set routine then keep that and decide if baby needs to be in bed first or after. You may end up having to quietly sit in thier room for the 20 minutes or so until they are both asleep. I used to sit and pat my older two (29 months apart) until one or both were asleep. My older one eventually got used to falling asleep while waiting for me to get the younger asleep. Just the fact I was in the room was enough for her to fall asleep on her own after a number of months.

hope that helps.

Answer 2

first, get them excited about the move. Say things like this will be so cool.. and stuff..
DON'T tell them that they will be so far away from their grandparents. Just say 'you will still be able to see them..' but don't tell them that it won't be as often.
Put the 1 yr old down first for naps or bedtime.
Give the 3yr old an extra 1/2 hr or something like that 'because she's older'
Make it sound like fun to be able to share a room together.

When you pack, put masking tape on each box and mark it with "1 yr old toys" or "Christmas" or "dishes" ect. So when you unpack you will know what you want.

Tell the kids how there will be all kinds of kids there to play with. that will help to get them excited about the move. Bring along a radio with a CD player to keep the kids busy during the ride or books or games.. they will get bored easily so be prepared with some songs to sing or to count the 'blue cars" or how many 'white cars' you see.. ect.
Involve them in the move by asking them for suggestions.. where should we put this.. where do you think it will look nice? Maybe they can help by packing their own toys. You will need to supervise and keep out a favorite doll or something that will help to comfort them.
Keep a diary of their move. If they can color that would be great. They can draw and color pictures of you packing and putting things in the car ect

Answer 3

I used to share a room with my younger sister and the only way that we were able to survive was actually putting up a divide. Of course we were kids so we used whatever we found. We took nails and old sheets and divided the room in half. I would recommend that you take the tri-fold doors and connect them to the ceiling and the floor to seperate them and allow your oldest to decorate as she wishes.

As far as the grandparents do what I did with my niece and nephews when they moved across the country.. Have them exchange videos of themselves with them saying hello. And with grandma and grand pa telling stories. It will feel like they are with them

Answer 4

Let the kids sleep in the same room. A dim night lite.
Make sure that they kids go to bed EVERY night at the same time.
ie 8:00 .. the next day, give them a nap at the same time.
Bath at the same time..
Every thing on a schedule and they will adjust to it.
If they cry, let them cry. Once they know that you are not going to pick them up, they will settle in and start sleeping regualr.

Answer 5

I would let your kids call their grandparents every night for awhile and also i would put the children to bed at the same time. The same goes for naps.

Answer 6

By all means put the infant to bed first. Make it part of a ritual that you do with the 3-year-old.