The Challenges of Moving House with Kids

If you’ve ever gone through the process of buying, selling or moving house with young children in tow then you’ll appreciate that they definitely can add to the stress! It’s to be expected of course, especially if it’s the first time they’ve ever moved, as it’s a huge change and bound to cause some upheaval.

In this post we’ll take a quick look at some of the most common ways that children can be impacted by a house move and how that in turn can affect your planning, plus we’ll suggest a few things that you can try that might help to ease the process for the whole family.

Dealing with the emotional upheaval

Children are all creatures of habit. They like routine and security and anything that threatens this has the potential to upset them. Their home should be their safe space and so of course if you move house, the impact on them is huge. 

There are lots of different ways that you can help with this and it all comes down to communication. Keep them in the loop in whatever way is most appropriate for their age, for example, you could share simple updates when you have dates confirmed.

Keep things positive. Don’t let them feel like moving house is something stressful, instead focus on celebrating milestones, making packing fun and getting excited together as a family about your new home.

Let them familiarise themselves with their new home. See if you can arrange multiple visits to the new property to help them get to know the space and take pictures while you’re there that you can look at as a family. You can also get them excited by letting them choose things like paint colours and decorations.

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Managing the logistics

One of the most challenging aspects of having children around while you’re moving house is finding the time to take care of all of the house admin as well as your kids.

Creating a well-planned moving home checklist can be really helpful here as it can help to keep you focussed even when your attention is being pulled in multiple directions! It can also help you to plan timescales and prioritise tasks.

Don’t be afraid to ask for help from friends and family! This could be helping with babysitting or taking the kids out of the house while you’re packing and getting organised, or it could be other practical support such as cooking meals for you when all of your kitchen equipment is stuck in boxes. 

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Don’t forget to delegate tasks to your children too if they’re old enough as moving house should very much be a family responsibility. Assign them simple tasks or give them their own checklist to work through if they are older.

With a little planning and care and some thoughtful communication, there’s no reason why your whole family shouldn’t adjust well to the move. We hope that it goes well and is an exciting new chapter for all of you!