Moving with Infant

Hi A.!

We have moved 9 times in the past 10 years, and some of those moves were with babies. My trick was to have a bassinette or something like that, where I put my little one to sleep as a practise for a while for him to get used to it, and while on the move there was no sudden changes!

Another thing is, do not change the sleeping schedule during the move. Moving goes forward regardless if the baby is sleeping or not.

Hi Annie,

There is a Parent Education and referral sevice at the CHKD at ###-###-#### that may be able to help.

The Health Families (CHIP) in Norfolk at ###-###-####.

Moms Group of South Hampton Roads at ###-###-####

Hope this helps. Good luck. D.

once you have gotten into your new house have his room done up first.

show him where he will be, where you will be and just walk him around the house.
make sure you use all his normal things.
that will help reasure him, but to be honest you have to expect that he will wake up, if you are not used to moivng you would be excited and nervous and have a lot of things running accross your mind.

babys arnt much different.

hope this helps

If you are moving over 6 hours away, you might want to try driving at night. It will be better on all of you. When we relocated form Cincinnati to Hampton, we made the trip in 2 days b/c no one listened to me. I wanted to drive at night but my hubby didn't. We have 2 kids, our youngest was 9 months at the time. He was screaming and crying 90% of the time and he was in my car. we drove both our cars b/c we also had a boxer who took up most of the backseat in my car. My MIL came with us for a few weeks to help us get settled in and everything so we didn't have enough room in one car for everyone.
If you are really insistant about driving durring the day, get up early the day you leave and actually leave your house when it is nap time. Fill up the car and get everything packed up the night before or early in the morning. Don't forget to double check the place you are leaving to make sure you don't forget something. Pack a lot of toys, a couple of bottles and bottles of water, formula and pacis. We actually had to stop about 2 hours into our trip b/c my husband had my son's favorite blanket in his truck and our son was with me and screaming b/c he wanted his blanket. So make sure if you are driving 2 cars, you have everything you will need in your car. Good luck

babys and kids thrive on routine and things being familiar. if there is any way to make sure the baby rooms is set up before the move? not sure how far you are going. if thats not possiable try to set his crib and room up first. that way all of the familiar things are there for him. most likly it will take some time for him to get used to his new place and his new routine. give him time it doesnt take to long to get them back into routiine but with all the other things that come with moving he will sense things arent "normal" but it will pass. good luck

Hi A.,
We moved, 4 times while my daughter was under a year old. First to a long term hotel to be with Daddy as he transitioned to his new base, then back to my mom's while daddy was gone for 2 months, then back to the hotel, and finally into our new home. Although the bed was not the same for her during all the moves the stuff around the bed was. She had a wall hanging over her crib that I hung each time. I used her same bumpers in the playpen she slept in at the hotel as in her crib. Same lovey and we always played the same music when she went to sleep. This really helped to drown out unfimailar noises. I hope this help, but be aware they go through phases of waking at night as they grow. If you can avoid going to him and let him self soothe it will help. Also, if you don't stay with hime until he is alseep initially it will help with him putting himself back to sleep. My daughter is now 6 and a good sleeper, but my son 5 still wakes up frequently during the night. I hear him, but usually he will go back to sleep without me.
I will be praying for you during this time of transistion. I know how hard it can be.
P.

Hi A.,
I had to move when my son was just over a year. I've moved several times, and each time I learn something new. The last time I moved, my son was around 1 1/2.Here are some of the things that helped us.
1. Do NOT pack his crib bedding in a box. The same goes for your bed sheets and such(at least the stuff you will need for the first night). Use either a clothes basket or plastic container. For some reason, clothes and bedding get a smell to them when they are put into the cardboard boxes.

2. Make signs for each room of your new place 'Baby's room', 'Master Bedroom', 'Living Room', etc. When you get to the new place, hang the signs. This lets your family/movers know which room is which. This saves time from people having to keep asking, and most of your stuff will end up in the correct area.

3. The crib and mattress and your bed and mattress should be the last items on the truck. This way they can be the first items OFF of the truck.

4. Put the crib together and fully setup with bedding first thing. As soon as its moved into the room, someone should be there to put it together while other stuff is being moved in. This allows your child to sleep in his own bed the first night. The room may be different, but he's among familiar things.

3. Put your bed together second. As the frame pieces are being brought in, have some people take 15m and put it together. Once its together, sheets and such can be put on. Again, this allows YOU to sleep in familiar surroundings the first night. One trick that I learned is to put the cleaned bedding in a clothes basket. The basket then travelled to the new house in my car, and was the first thing I took in. Within 30m of getting to the house, we all had places to sleep!

4. Pack a suitcase of 3 outfits for all of the members of your family. This way you have clothes available without having to search through boxes.

5. After the beds being setup, have someone unpack you kitchen. It helps to have 1 box of all of the basics that can be unpacked quickly: the silverware, 1 plate; cup;bowl for each person (you can also by paper plates and such.) I tried this on our last move,and it made the biggest differnce. I didn't get the whole kitchen unpacked at once, but it just felt good to be able to grab a drink, fix lunch, etc. the first day.

Good luck.
M.