Updated on 03/04/2025
With 57% of us ranking moving house as our most stressful life event, let alone moving house with children. And our kids play a big part in the decision to move house with nearly 9 in 10 of us saying we’d consult our kids around choosing a new home (1 in 5 even say they’d let them choose).
Moving during a child’s formative years can have a big impact, with research finding that ‘moving has the most profound impact on kids over the age of 5’. Depending on the age of your kids or if you’re moving with a baby, it can be an emotional time for all involved.
As experts in helping families move home, we’re sharing five thoughtful tips for moving house with kids:
- Prioritise your kids
- Get them excited about the new house and local area
- Time the move well
- Avoid packing toys until last
- Keep them busy on the day of the move
1. Prioritise Your Kids
Whilst organising a house move can be one of the busiest times of your life, it’s essential that you prioritise your children during the process.
When moving house, everything is unfamiliar to your children, not to mention they might not be old enough to fully comprehend what is happening.
That said, even if their normal environment is being upended, their routine should stay the same to help the transition from your old home to your new home. As such, things such as their bath time and bed time routine should remain the same as usual.
Prioritising them and their routine will help to ensure that your children settle into the new home and to prevent them from feeling overwhelmed.
Moving House and Your Child’s Mental Health
In our moving house tips to help children, we couldn’t not cover mental health. While, as parents, we don’t want to do anything to harm our kids, sometimes moving house is just inevitable. For example, children living in private rented homes are nine times more likely to have moved three or more times by age 14 compared to families who own their home.
It’s important to factor in the mental health impact that moving can have on kids, even increasing the chance of 10-15-year-olds developing depression later in life. That’s why it’s so important to show empathy towards your children when moving house, listening to them and giving them space to process the change.
Having conversations about the move together well in advance is also recommended to give your child more time to adjust to the change and share any worries they might have. If you’re worried about your child’s mental health, you might need to seek professional support.
And don’t forget yourself too. Here are five ways to cope with moving to a new house.
Moving during a child’s formative years can have a big impact, with research finding that ‘moving has the most profound impact on kids over the age of 5’.
2. Get Them Excited About The New House & Local Area
The next tip is to get your children excited about the new house and local area. There are a variety of different ways that you can do this before moving, from allowing them to pick out paint colours for their new room to exploring the local area and making new memories in the new house.
It’s important for your children to feel involved in the moving process, so they know that it’s something that they’re a part of and not just something that’s happening to them. By making the effort to explore the new area with your kids before you move, the more they will consider the move an exciting adventure.
As a busy parent, the prospect of moving house with children might be making you feel overwhelmed. That’s why it’s our purpose to make moving as stress-free and easy as possible. We can help you with expert house removals and storage facilities in South Wales.
3. Time The Move Well
An important tip to help your children when moving house is to time the move well. Moving to a new area is difficult enough without your children missing school.
Bearing this in mind, it’s best to plan a house move during a school holiday, as opposed to during term time, as this will help to ensure that they don’t miss any work and fall behind as a result.
This is particularly important if they’re moving schools, as joining a new school mid-term will be stressful for them if there’s lots of work to catch up on, which could impact how well they settle into a new home.
There are a variety of different ways that you can get your child involved during the move, from picking out paint colours for their new room to exploring the local area and making new memories in the new house.
4. Avoid Packing Toys Until Last
A good tip to bear in mind to help your children when moving house is to avoid packing toys until last. This comes down to the fact that if their toys are put in the removal van last, then they will be one of the first boxes to be put into the new house.
This will help you to get a space set up for them as soon as possible to keep them entertained. You will also want to keep a bag of essentials with their favourite toys to ensure that they’re never without them.
And, in case you were wondering, here’s how to pack your kids’ trampoline ready for a move.
5. Keep Them Busy On The Day Of The Move
Last, but not least, a good tip to consider is keeping your children busy on the day of the move. Having removal men coming into the house to remove boxes isn’t a safe or settling environment for your children.
So, while it’s recommended that you keep your children involved during the moving process, it’s better to leave the removal process to the professionals. Not only will this help the removal company when they’re packing up the house, but it will also keep your children’s mind off the big move.
Keeping them entertained and distracted on the day of the move, then, is helpful if they’re feeling emotional about moving house.
It’s best to plan a house move during a school holiday, as opposed to during term time, as this will help to ensure that your children don’t miss any work and fall behind as a result.
How We Can Help
Whenever you’re planning your move, we hope our five thoughtful tips for moving house with kids help you ease the transition for your family. For more expert advice on how to pack, move and store your belongings — or other FAQs on how removals work — check out our blog page.
At Falconers, we’re a family-run business helping families move home. We use meticulous moving techniques, passed down and perfected through generations for over 132 years, to ensure your goods are moved with expert precision and kept in perfect condition.
Learn more about our removals services and purpose-built storage facilities in South Wales, and contact Nathan when you’re ready to move home.
Written by Jemima Thomas for Falconer Removals & Storage.
