Relocating to a new home is often a huge challenge. Leaving a home where one has lived for years in order to relocate to a new space is not easy for most adults. For toddlers, a move can mean the upheaval of almost everything they know and recognize in their lives. The majority of toddlers do not like change. Team of Safe Ship Moving Services mentions that parents and guardians need to pay special attention to preparing toddlers for a move, in order to make the process easier for the whole family.
Safe Ship Moving Services discusses how to prepare toddlers for a move
Toddlers crave stability and routine in their daily lives, and may not cope up well with change. Hence, no matter whether one is relocating just down the street or a different city altogether, it is important to prepare their toddler for the move. Toddlers may not understand what moving to a new home means, and hence the entire process can make them anxious ahead of time.
Here are a few ideas that can help parents and guardians to prepare toddlers for a move:
- First of all, one needs to start explaining the move to their toddler. This should be done a bit before starting to pack all the household belongings. This way, when the toddlers see changes happening throughout the house, they would at least know the reason. It is better to, however, let them know about the move too early as that can increase anxiety.
- Today a wide variety of online resources about home relocation are available. It would be a good idea to have toddlers watch kid-friendly short videos that explain moving. This can help them to better understand what is going on.
- If one is relocating to a home in the same city or town, it would be a good idea to take the toddler to see the new home. Even if one can just look at the new house from the outside, it would be good for the toddler to simply check out the new neighbourhood. The toddler can also be shown photographs of the new house. Parents may try to help them understand where the toddler’s things will go in the new home. Seeing something concrete can help make the transition easier for the toddlers.
- Parents and guardians may pretend-play with the toddlers through the move. If the toddler wants, guardians should allow them to create play scenarios of moving to a new home in their mind. Young kids often benefit from ‘rehearsing’ things that will happen. Doing so can soothe their anxiety, as well as even helps parents and guardians to understand their feelings about the event.
The team of Safe Ship Moving Services mentions that in addition to preparing the toddlers for a move, parents and guardians should also make plans for the moving day. Having a toddler underfoot on the moving day can be challenging and dangerous. Hence, if possible, one should try to arrange a babysitter who can take care of the kid during this time.
