What to do to prepare two year old for a move?

[atlbaby]

We are moving from NJ to Atlanta in about 8 weeks. I doubt that Daliya will notice at all except that she's going to finally get a room and not sleep in a PNP in the LR! :) But I am unsure how to prepare Arielle for the move. We've discussed that we are moving, but of course she thinks anything that I bring up will happen either after her nap or the next day, so I don't think it's sunk in. :) Any suggestions on what I can do to prepare her would be wonderful. Are there any good books for toddlers? I've heard some people "say goodbye" to each room as the child leaves for the last time, to give closure. I think I'll do this with Arielle--I'm sentimental anyhow, LOL--but other than that I need suggestions!

Thanks!

-Rachel
Mom to Arielle Jill, 10/30/01
and Daliya Samantha, 10/27/03

[hjdong]

I would love to hear some responses on this as well. We're moving (hopefully) once our new house is built (this may be a while - we just submitted the plans for a permit - hopefully Jamie's still a toddler!). One thing a friend/ped. told me was that one of the most common times for a toddler to get injured was during moves. Your focused on other things, they toddle off, there's all sorts of boxes, and tape dispensers, and scissors, etc. lying around. He just wanted us to keep it in mind.

My sister got for Jamie a book called I think, "Build the Home," or something. If there's a book on house building, I'm sure there must be a ton on moving. Or you could make you own with pictures of the new house, if you have any. Also, I have no idea if Jamie will care, but I'm planning on at least letting him pick out new bedding and decorations for his new room when and if we finally get to that point.

HTH

[Hallie_D]

When we moved it was to a condo a mile away from our apartment, so we were able to drive by it fairly frequently and talk about how we were going to say goodbye to our apartment and go live in a new house. I don't know if that helped him understand the concept, but he didn't have any trouble adjusting.

A friend of mine who lives in another state is moving from an apartment to a house in the suburbs, too far away to visit very often. She told me that her mother took pictures of the rooms in the new house and "photoshopped" them together with pictures of her (2-year-old) son doing different activities so that it looks like he's doing them at the new house (for instance, she took a picture of him in his booster seat in his current apartment but placed it in the kitchen of the new house). She then made the pictures into a book for him (I think using shutterfly or a similar service). My friend says her son loves to look at the pictures, and when she reads it to him she tells him stories about the fun things he will do at his new house. I thought it was a really sweet idea.

[atlbaby]

Hallie,
That is such a great idea! Unfortunately for us, we're too far away to drive by the area and I don't have pictures of the new apartment. But when we get a house one day I am definitely going try your friend's idea!
Thanks!

-Rachel
Mom to Arielle, 10/30/01
and Daliya, 10/27/03

[raynjen]

This is a good one for younger children that got great reviews on Amazon
http://tinyurl.com/2n49n

There are a lot of other ones but they are aimed at about 4 and up. My DD about a week older than your Arielle and we are supposed to move this fall, so let us know (after the dust settles) what worked and what didn't. I'm sending happy moving vibes your way...

Jen in Okinawa
Mom to Noelle (2 1/2)