Tips/books for preparing toddler for a move?

[tny915]

We're moving at the end of the month (YAY!) and as of yet have done no packing or preparation whatsoever. I've done a search for moving tips and found some good hints here so am hoping to get my butt into gear this week. What I'm more concerned about, however, is DD's reaction to all the packing and her adjustment to our new home. Are there any tips that you can recommend that may help us? I know we'll be packing her stuff last and unpacking it first. I've also enlisted my parents keep DD occupied and away from old and new houses the entire day on moving day. My plan is to have DD gone when movers arrive, and DH and I will try to unpack as much as possible before DD gets home to the new house. Do you think that's wise, or would it help her more to see things go from one home to another?

I'm crossing my fingers this will go well. We rented a vacation home last summer for a week, and DD adjusted to that house so quickly. The first night we were there she ran around like she owned it. But I can't even remember what I said to explain to her why we were living there.

Sorry, this got long. Appreciate any tips you can offer!

[amp]

Okay, I've never done this before, but am about to also. My gut feeling is that I need to prepare DS for the impending move, and we talk a lot about how we will be putting everything, including his toys and stuff into boxes and how it will all go onto a truck to come to our new house. He can repeat that and talk about it. I reassure him that his big boy bed, toys, sandbox, train table and all his stuff, and mommy and daddy's stuff, and baby sisters stuff will all come on the truck, etc. I'm not entirely sure he should see the packing either, as I think it could be unsettling, but I'm not going to hide that we're moving either. I just hope to keep him out of the house for a good portion of the day.

We do have one book, and it's the only one I could find a good review for, besides the Berenstain Bears, who I am not a fan of. It's called Boomer's Big Day and I had to buy it on ebay since it's not readily available at the store these days. I got it in about a week. Here's a link...

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0811805263/qid=1139354730/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/103-1712381-3195817?s=books&v=glance&n=283155

Good luck with your move!

ETA: I do like the book, and so does DS. It's cute and has a nice resolution instead of just sadness about leaving the old house like some books do.

[lizamann]

We moved several months ago. A while before the move, my sister came to take a pink futon that had been in dd's room all along, and dd freaked out seeing it carried out the door. So I knew then that I didn't want her to be around for the actual move. Turns out we hired packers, too, the day before, so dd was gone for that, the move out, and the move in. We had her room more or less set up when she arrived. She settled in and slept better than she had ever in her entire life. There were no glitches whatsoever. We had a brochure of the "new home" that we looked at sometimes beforehand, and walked past the place several times (only a few blocks from the previous place.)

I think kids move and settle in to new places pretty well, in general. It's that the actual move can be traumatic (for us adults, too!) so I didn't want her around for that process.

[billysmommy]

We're moving at the end of the month too :) We actually rented one of the PODS and put alot of our stuff in storage at the beginning of January. Billy saw us packing some of our things, took a box, brought it into his room and wouldn't do anything else until we had helped him pack some of his things. He chose some interesting things, a few stuffed animals, books, his favorite pacifier, a blanket and a bottle of his bubblebath. He knows he packed this box and always talks about how it will be waiting for him at the new house.
He has gone with us to look at all the houses and the one we bought was actually his favorite because it had some toys in it when we looked at it :) At this point we have packed most of his toys except his train table and trains, some books and puzzles and his kitchen and food. We do have some toys in a box in the attic "just in case" but haven't needed them yet.
He is really excited about the move and tells everyone that he is going to a new house. He woke up from a nap one day, came downstairs, saw the mess of laundry I had in the living room and said "Mommy we need to go to our new house, this house is a mess" :)
Hopefully he will do well with the actual move as well but he seems excited. My parents and my IL's are coming to help us move so he is very excited about the Gramma's and Grampa's coming to new house and that he will show them where everything is. We also talk up the fact that he is going to have a room that is only for his toys as there is an extra room we are going to make a playroom.
We've kind of let him take the lead as to how much he is involved and he very much wants to be a part of it right from the beginning of the packing.
Good luck to everyone moving soon :) Let's hope it all goes smoothly

[Momof3Labs]

We moved this summer, and DS handled it really well. We really played up the idea of the new house (and how close it was to Grandma's house), then realized that it was also important to let him know that we couldn't come back to our old house. He was saddened by that, but it was better that we talked about it.

DS supervised a lot of the packing (he loved drawing on the boxes) and was there as the movers started doing their thing. He also was there for the walk-through of the new house (before the movers showed up) and we talked up the room that was his big-boy room, and where mommy and daddy would sleep and so on.

I really don't think that it hurts for them to see things be packed up, and then see them unpacked at the new house. In fact, DS was thrilled as we opened boxes and "found" his things. Trying to do all the packing and unpacking while she is gone will probably stress you out for nothing, honestly.

We didn't read any particular books about moving, but did share pics of the new house before the move, talking about which rooms were which and so on. So the house was already somewhat familiar to DS when we came here. Any sadness he felt was lessened by all the kids to play with and the great park across the street, and we've actually noticed that DS is much more outgoing and willing to be away from us (e.g. go play with the kids across the street without us) since our move.

So, talk with her and be honest, and do what you need to do to get it done - she'll adjust a whole lot better than you expect, I'm sure!