Six Survival Tips for Moving with a Toddler While Pregnant

Six Survival Tips for Moving with a Toddler While Pregnant | Houston Moms Blog

I am by no means a moving expert, but I have moved every 3-4 years of my life since I was born. So, I’ve picked up a few tips here than there. But moving with a toddler while pregnant took it to a whole new level. Those tips really helped to make this last move {from New Orleans to Houston during my second trimester, in August} as pleasant as it could be. Don’t worry, feel free to laugh because I’m also laughing at myself.

1. Start early

Take this tip with a grain of salt, because while I did try to start early, I also tried to keep everything as “normal” as possible for my two year old so we didn’t disrupt her routine. I know you may have been able to pull 2-3 all nighters way back when to pack your house, but with a toddler, you’re going to be exhausted. Plus, if your kid is anything like mine, she demands attention during all her waking hours, so the only time I had to pack was nap time and after her 7:15 bed time. Taking into consideration that you can only spend 1-2 hours at a time packing, give yourself some time to do that.

2. Get rid of junk, old stuff and unused stuff

I naturally like to get rid of things. It’s one of my husband’s “favorite” things about me. In fact, I welcome a move, if only as an excuse to purge my house of stuff. You’d be surprised how much junk you have learned to hide away in your house. Do yourself a favor and start fresh. If you haven’t used or worn things in a time period you can remember, you don’t need it! I promise.

3. If you can, have a room that is “Ground Zero”

We knew we were getting rid of some furniture so we called Salvation Army to come pick it up a few weeks early so the room would be cleared out. Once it was cleared out, we were able to pack and stack boxes in there without making our house look like a war zone and keeping things as normal as possible for our toddler.

4. Keep your routine

Even though both my husband and I were off for a few weeks for our move, our toddler went to school until moving day which was a Wednesday and we enrolled her to start school in Houston that following Monday. This allowed her to stay on schedule and allowed us free time to prepare and pack for the move and unpack without worrying about her safety or entertaining her. Toddlers, and kids in general, thrive off of routine, so the more “normal” things were, the better. We also packed up her room last and unpacked it first once we arrived.

5. Call in reinforcements

I am so thankful that both my parents and my husband’s parents are more than willing to help us however we need them to. All we have to do is ask {and many times they offer before we get a chance}. My in-laws came down the day before we moved to help pack the last few boxes, drive the Uhaul/our dog/our toddler and stayed a few days after and helped unpack our entire kitchen and living room as well as watched our toddler as needed. The following weekend, my mom and aunt helped me unpack our master bedroom which had been neglected due to my limited pregnancy energy.

6. Give yourself grace

As I mentioned, I’m used to moving and as part of that, I like to unpack everything as soon as possible. I’ll go several days nonstop to make it happen if needed. However, being pregnant, I could not do that. And, even if I wasn’t, having a toddler only gives you limited free time. I quickly realized that I only had the energy to do about an hour of work at a time before I needed to rest so things took a bit longer to get in order than I would have liked. But it happened slowly but surely.

Hopefully, these tips help ease your mind a little for your next big family move! Moving can be stressful, and add in a toddler or two and it seems near impossible. But, it is possible, especially if you set yourself up for success from the beginning, even as those unexpected things happen!

What tried and true tips do you have to make moving as easy as possible?


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