Advice for moving and helping kids with the adjustment?

We are moving to a new house in a month or two. We have never moved before and I want to ease the transition and adjustment for our kids (they will be 9, 7, and 4.5). The new house is only 5 minutes from where we are now, same district, so kids will be staying in the same school and everything, thankfully. My older two will now be taking a bus instead of being driven to school. Also, my FIL (whom they love) will be moving in with us, so that's an adjustment as well. All three are very excited to move, but I worry that we may have some difficulty/anxiety once we are actually moved in. I'm anticipating bedtime to be the biggest issue. My older two boys will be sharing a room (which they do now) in the basement, my FIL on the first floor, and our room and our daughter's room up on the 2nd floor. As it is, none of our 3 are very independent sleepers. I always lay with my daughter till she falls asleep. My boys are better in that they can usually fall asleep on their own. But almost every night, at least one (if not more) of them ends up in our bed at some point in the middle of the night. Both of the kids's bedrooms are going to be made really fun, with themes of things they love, and will have a lot of their "creature comforts" from their bedrooms now. Any tips/advice/suggestions to proactively help with this transition (on the topic of bedtime or anything move-related!)? TIA!

Re: Advice for moving and helping kids with the adjustment?

You may be surprised and not have any major issues. We moved twice in the past year, all within a few miles. The children transitioned super easily.

The only real advice is for moving day - to make sure you pack a suitcase (or suitcases) of everything you'll need to live out of until you unpack and find everything - clothes, sheets, towels, shampoo, etc. When we moved, I always focused on unpacking common areas (like the kitchen) and setting up the children's rooms first. This way their day-to-day is as uninterrupted as possible.

Honestly, just involve them in the process as much as you can and I have a feeling they will easily adjust, especially because you're keeping them in the same school.

Re: Advice for moving and helping kids with the adjustment?

keep the bedrooms and bedtime routines as similarly as possible. change their rooms over time. make it as much like any other night as possible. maybe a white noise machine if they are uncomfortable with any new noises at the new house.

Re: Advice for moving and helping kids with the adjustment?

When we moved, we made dd’s room the priority on moving day and made sure it was completely set up so she could play in there before bedtime. It never looked moving-transitional. You can also do a social story, something simple explaining the move, what to expect, etc. and read it each night.

Advice for moving and helping kids with the adjustment?

I lived in 5 houses in 4 years growing up and that was in 4 different states. If you are staying in the schools it probably won’t be much transition at all! Biggest issue is usually with new schools and friends

Re: Advice for moving and helping kids with the adjustment?