I have a question for those of you who have moved with toddlers: How did you explain the transition so that they still felt safe and secure? Rudy's at an age where she'll notice the move but I'm not sure if she understands enough that we can prepare her for it beforehand. I'm worried her little world will be shattered... even if it's only for a little while.
I've helped many families with children Rudy's age to find new homes and I'm always so interested in how they transition their children:
I've seen families keep their child's room exactly the same in the new house- right down to the paint colour and layout.
I've seen other families make their child's new room extra special so they'll be really excited about it.
Many parents make a special effort to make sure their child's room is complete before moving in.
Some parents let their child choose paint colours or a new bedspread and one family I know posted an adorable photo of their toddler helping to paint their new room! How cool is that? I loved that idea!
Here's what we've been doing so far:
We've been talking about the new house for weeks and we often pull up the photos of the listing and look at them together while naming the different rooms... Special emphasis on Rudy's room!
Rudy's favourite show, 'Bubble Guppies', has an episode about moving to a new house. We've been watching it and talking about it.
We have possession now but we don't officially move yet so we've been visiting the house after school and having snack there. Each time, Rudy is excited to climb the stairs to look at her room. We also bring a toy from home each time to leave at the new house.
We decided to make her new room a little more suited to a "big girl" and a little less like a nursery. The first time we brought her to the house after taking possession was to look at paint swatches and she immediately fell in love with her closet and loved running back and forth inside it and collecting paint chips to hide on her closet shelf. It was so sweet and it made us feel more confident that she will be comfortable in her new room.
We've ordered a big girl bed because we're longing to cuddle with Rudy at night -She's never been able to snuggle in our bed and prefers to jump and climb... not so relaxing! :-/ Her actual bed won't be ready for a few weeks still but we're debating not moving her toddler bed into her new room at all and just letting her sleep on her new twin mattress on the floor until her bed arrives. Are we crazy?
I'd love to hear your tips and ideas! Toddlers are tough little buggers. What worked for you?
