How to help my child cope with a move?

Question

My hubby and i are in the process of moving, we close on our house on 9/19 i am looking for advice on how to help my 3year old son ease into the move. He knows we are moving, and my main concern is that since he figured out that we would not be living where we have his whole life he has not been sleeping well. I guess this is probably normal, but, any advice??

Answer 1

Make sure he knows that all the stuf inside the house. His bed, toys, etc... will be going with you. Unless youa re getting new furniture. Just make sure he knows that none of the important stuff will change.

Try to keep your routine the same as much as possible, and rules too, don't give in on things that you normally wouldn't. As much consistency as possible will help. And make sure he knows that everyone is going to the new house.

Answer 2

There is an older book called Moving Time for Kelly, maybe if you read him books about other children's experiences with moving, it would help.  There is a Berenstains Bears Book called The Berenstains Books and the Eager Beavers about a family who moves in next to the Berenstains too.Also there is one where the Berenstain Bears move called The Berenstain Bears  Moving Day--where they actually move.  But I would just try to concentrate on spending time with your son, mostly, and try to keep any conversations about moving to a minimum when he is around, so he won't feel overly fixated on the whole thing.  He is probably feeling kind of apprehensive maybe even fearful about the whole thing--so you need to really try to ease those fears--but you can't really know what he is feeling until you ask him.  You have to ask not--Are you afraid of moving--that puts words in his mouth--you have to ask things like--how do you think your furniture will get into the new house--do you think our mailman will know where to send our mail when we move-did you know that when we move that all of our friends will still know our phone number and where we live?  These types of things will all generate conversation and maybe you can figure out what his apprehensions are and address them. If you have pets, be sure to let him know the pet is going along too and that the pet seems like it is really happy that it will be able to sniff/meow etc. all over a new neighborhood and meet new friends. Maybe you could take a walk around the neighborhood with him and introduce yourselves to the new neighbors and your son can see if they have any kids he clicks with.  I always LOVED moving when I was a kid, my parents always made it seem like such a fun adventure.

Answer 3

We are in he military so we moved when my son was 2 and will be moving again soon and he will be  3 1/2.  It helps to talk up the next house.  He will get a brand new bedroom, new closets to explore, new hide and seek places.  The more excited he sees you, the more fun he will think it is.  Make it an adventure!