share your stress free moving tips !!

i have 2 kids under 3 and want to know whats the best way to move house .
also what are good strategies for packing/cleaning/upacking etc ..

share your strategies on making moving house less stressful , we are moving on the 20th of this month !!

i have been thinking to bring my mum and my PIL's to help .. one lot stay at the new place with the kids and me and my mum clean , while the boys pack the truck ??
wdyt ???

what have you unpacked first and what about food and drink for the day ... we are planning to move fri and sat .. and un pack sun and mon !

Good question Lea - we are moving on the 25th and im soooo dreading it! hate moving at the best of times and now we have a baby to add to it!
Plus we are moving in the middle of the week so we have no one to help us cause everyone is working!!!
ive packed 2 boxes already tho - surely thats a good start! hahahaha

better than me .. i tried to pack , but DS demanded my attn .. !!

Make sure comfort toys stay with the kids at all times. Essentials that you will need as soon as you arrive should go in the car, like a couple of changes of clothes per child, and nappies and some food.

If you are doing a long distance move hire a removalist and get them to pack and unpack. If someone can have the kids completely out of the way then take them out for the day while at least one parent stays to pack and clean. If you can pack and move in one or 2 days and clean in the next with the kids being babysat do so. I took the girls to IKEA the day the movers emptied our old house and DH took them out the day they delivered. If you can afford to, then give away as much as you can, like crockery and other fragile things, and replace when you arrive, It is really nice to sleep on new sheets when you arrive in a new house too.

We had 2 weeks in hotels during the move because it was such a big move, so we had to buy groceries when we got here and pass whatever was in our old house on to the PIL before we left.

Moved last year with a 3yo and a 5 month old. We used professional removalists on the day to move all the boxes and furniture. After, as we were leaving a rental property, we used a carpet cleaner that also provided house cleaning. Yes, I know money, but it was so worth not having that stress. Just adding we have no family to help here and had only just started making friends.

If you can have someone help with the kids get it. Help for when you are packing is good and also on the moving day. It may be more helpful for the kids to not be there if possible. I put my 3yo in an extra day of childcare on moving day as she was just getting in the way and DH had to work. It was still hard juggling the last of the packing and organising with a baby, but at least partly doable.


I had boxes labled as followed:
House - for boxes I knew we would need fairly quickly
ST - short term storage - thinks like books, rarely used kitchen items, extra toys, guest room bedding etc
LT - just for all that stuff we just hang on to, or know we wont being using in the next year.

I also numbered them and kept a basic list in a spreadsheet. Very handy for the storage boxes for unpacking later.
The House boxes had extra labeling like (kitchen - food), or (bed 1 - clothing). So the removalists knew where to put them and so I could work out what to unpack first. The ST and LT boxes went straight to the shed to keep them out of the way, of course they had basic labeling as well (eg sewing, camping, platters)

I used large plastic tubs for immediate things. One had the kettle, toaster, tea coffee, long life milk, cups, teaspoons etc. You got to have your cuppa. I also had a cold bag with snack foods (apples, biscuits and cheese dip, muesli bars), if there are a few of you then you could make up some sandwiches the night before. Have cash on you for sending someone for the takeaway dinner. Oh, pack a radio/ipod for a bit of music.

Big stripey bags are good for bedding (one for each bed, well 2 for the master bed), soft toys, large plastic toys etc.

Great thread Lea, I think we're moving later this year.
Where do you get boxes from? I've always wanted to know that.

When we moved, we rounded up boxes from all over for a while before hand. The grocery store has some good ones, the liquor store, office supply stores (the computer paper boxes are great!), and nursing homes, actually - the boxes from the incontinent briefs. Of course, your new neighbours are going to wonder if you are incontinent boozers with a paper addiction... :D

One thought for moving - don't keep "stuff". Pitch it. Its not worth hauling around.

Moving is like being naked in front of your friends. All your dirt under the couch is exposed, all the crap hidden in the closet is taken out.... Blegh. But if you just accept that it's that way for EVERYONE, it's much less stressful.

Oh, and one tiny little tip - don't unpack the clothes from the dressers if you can. Carry the drawers with the clothes in them - drawers are like boxes, sort of. It'll be one less thing to unpack at the other end, and you'll be able to find all of your clothes right away. That's what we did.

Join Freecycle Nelle, they often come up when a removallist is too lazy to collect them after the move. I have given 30 big moving boxes away recently.

We got a lot of boxes from Kennards and spent the extra money of the heavy duty ones. We were renovating first and had to get a lot of stuff out of the house. The heavy duty boxes do stack much better without a lot of buckling. Also they take a lot more bashing around and have survived being in storage, then the move from Melb to SW Vic and then another move to the house we bought. So if there is a lot of moving/storage in the your future I say go for them. We did also use a lot of scrounged boxes, if you have someone who does creative memories, or has a the hampers delivered at Christmas, they may have some good boxes.

Kennards has reasonable 2nd hand boxes as well. I found the one through our local mover down here to be totally crap and were just falling apart. So only good for the short move. You can take back any unused new boxes and good condition used boxes. Kennards also have stripey bags (I do think the Reject shop may be cheaper) and other packing items such as tape, paper, bubble wrap, plastic for mattresses etc.

I do recommend going to the wrapping paper over newspaper. Newspaper leaves print on everything. So rather than unpacking your crockery straight into the cupboard, you will most likely need to wash it first.

You can use towels, doonas etc to help with packing. They are good for cushioning in boxes with more delicate items. Spare pillows can be stuffed in the top of boxes that are almost full, but getting heavy.

My tips are similar to Cricket. We have moved twice in the last 18 months so I feel like I am an expert!!
Get those boxes and start going through everything now and pitching everything you don't need and packing the things that you can. It will be much easier to pack if you have "pitched" first and it won't take so long.
Definitely have your children looked after for some of the time and try also to get them looked after while you declutter in the next few weeks.
Be prepared to have takeway on those 4 moving/packing days. Using the kitchen is impossible as half the stuff is packed and you won't feel like cooking.
Be prepared for a demoralising time when you are about 3/4 done and it still looks like you have about 10 trips to do.
If you lare not moving to far and you can do it my preference is to unpack as things arrive so that you don't end up with a million things to unpack as you are usually over it by then. and that way it is not so important to label boxes as you just unpack them as they turn up. so you could have your mum finishing packing at the old house while you are unpacking at the new.
Pay someone or get your mum to clean the house you are moving out of, as the last thing you will feel like doing is go back to clean it.
good luck

don't move lol
sorry no help here I hate moving!! Last time it was with 2 littlies, (1 and 2) and it was hell!

Hi, I start in the rooms we use the least and start packing the cupboards up months in advance and stacking the boxes up in the shed. Excess manchester, tupperware, toys etc all gets packed months in advance until we only have our every day stuff to go. When the time comes to finish the rest of the house I start at one end and work my way through 1 room at a time. We always find someone to look after the kids or we do the majority of our packing while DD is at daycare. Set one box aside as "priority" and place all the things you want ASAP in the new house. Things like the sheets for the beds so you have somewhere to sleep the first night, kettle etc all the things that your going to use in the first 24 hours. We buy snacks and make up sandwiches and keep 2 eskies full of ice going for drinks. The first thing we move is the fridge, we let it sit for an hour and then turn it on so that we are able to use it straight away. We also rope in as many friends and family as we can, lol. Good Luck with your move:D

Valium sandwiches...

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Valium sandwiches...

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lol, for me or the kids ???

tomorrow, he have set aside to pack all the stuff we are not currently usuing (seasonal clothes , linen excess towells and what ever else i find ) and also doing a major clean out ..

I wrote a list on what to do and when , but we are getting a truck on friday and the only other person we have helping is my mum !! poor thing and i have a bad back so we'll see how the day goes !!

i have no motivation to pack atm as it seems so far away , but i guess the sooner i get it over and done with the better !!

thanks for all the tips ,they are really helpful ..

im the sort of person who wants it all moved/cleaned in one truck load , but apparently moving doesnt happen like that :lol:

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i have no motivation to pack atm as it seems so far away , but i guess the sooner i get it over and done with the better !!

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I was like that, ended up that we did not get all the packing done. I was still packing on the day and we had to go back ourselves for the that few items. The kitchen was the worst. It takes a lot more time and boxes than you first think. Set your self a rule, to pack x many boxes a day and don't just do the easy stuff first like I did :rolleyes: Mix it up, so all the last boxes are not hard.

Some great ideas from the other ladies as usual. I 2nd Lulu's sandwich idea!! We have moved 10 times in the last 11 years and I don't think it gets easier, I have moved while pg twice and with a 6 month old and 2 other kids!
Here are the only things I can think of to help:
We have decided that the expense of a removalist is well worth it!
McDonalds can be family food for 2 days if it needs to LOL
Let anyone who offers to help do so!
If you have to have the previous place clean hire a cleaner, we found a lovely Korean couple who do it for cash in hand and they are cheap and do a brilliant job.

Good luck!

oh yes I second the cleaner thing!! They do it all, floors, scirting boards, scrub the walls. Something that none of us want to do!

About last minute packing - some of that will have to be done. And you likely won't do worse than my parents. They moved last summer and were told that the moving company they hired would do the packing when they arrived, so that it would be insured on the truck. However, when the guys got there, they said no, they never pack. They had no boxes or anything. Needless to say there were some panicky moments. Mom and Dad had nothing ready, and a whole bunch of moving guys waiting to load the truck. So while the moving guys loaded the furniture, mom and dad and the kids ran around like mad throwing anything and everything into whatever boxes they could come up with. When they got to the new house, they discovered boxes with things like "coffee filters, two hangars, a single sock, the toaster, and a couch cushion" :) Mom said at least all the stress of packing was confined to a few hours. And they made it to the new house with all their stuff, and nothing broke.
Hope your move goes more smoothly than that! :D

LOL Cricket that is quite funny!

We moved two weeks ago, and I dont have an answer.

We cheated and paid people to clean and move our stuff...:rolleyes:

Good luck...:D

About the cleaning of the old house - I don't know how far you are planning to move, or how much time you have between you leaving and the new people taking possession, but I kind of liked going back to the old house a couple days later to clean. I went through all the rooms, and made sure that we really had gotten everything, cleaned things, and remembered all the things that happened there, looked around the property again, etc, etc. It was kind of nice, for me. But then, the times that we have moved haven't been really far, or really rushed, and my mother-in-law was able to watch my kids. If the new owners are moving in the day after you leave, or if you have to drive for hours to get there, or if you have to take the kids with you, then you might want to get a cleaner in. Too stressful otherwise.
Just a thought. :)

were not goign far at all , i did plan to get cleaners in , but its very expensive !! one person came and did a quote for $400 .. i can not afford that , then another said $125 for 3 hrs and it would take longer than that !!

i have started to pack , did the kitchen cupboards, left out the things i regualry use and everything else went in to those big bags you can get from the $2 shop ..

but now my kitchen is a bomb site !! im a perfectioinst .. esp when under stress and im fininding it hard to cope with the mess .. this is not going to be easy !!

i need boxes , i think thats whats holoding me back!! and with the bath room i clean it every day so it dont have to spend ages cleaning it on the day !!
its just the grot from the oven and the range hood im not looking forward to !!! ugh

wow Lea that is heaps! I paid the couple that did my old house $30 an hour. It was cash in hand though so maybe that's why...

I have done this way too many times, and while I don't have kids, I do have 2 dogs - which always go to the kennel overnight... no worrying about where they are and what's happening. Less stress than watching the upheaval.
Big boxes - room by room. Write on the boxes generally where they came from because when being unloaded they can be put in the right room to start off with!! Lots of textas and tape!!
Book boxes, they are so heavy its much easier with small boxes.
Essentials like: phone chargers/kettle/toaster and things you need first up - in a box in your car!! It cannot get lost amongst stuff which always happens because its the box you want.
Make the beds up first once moved. Kids can then sleep etc, while you sort out unpacking.
If you have a garage... put allllllll the boxes in there or somewhere in a room out of sight. If you are exhausted and overwhelmed, looking at them only stresses you out more. Bringing a couple in at a time makes the job more user friendly.
Esky - lots of water/easy to eat snacks, and cash for the takeaway - never try to cook dinner the first night you move.
Frozen food - plastic washing baskets and bags of ice if you don't have a spare large esky!! You can freeze water in old milk cartons as ice blocks - smaller and cost nothing extra too.
And as a mother - get out of the house as early as possible and let the guys move. They are more efficient when we don't get under their feet and they don't have to worry about our stress levels and cranky pants moments.
Clothes - lay out your doona... take clothes on hangers from wardrobe and lay across the doona... top and tail to even out the weight, fold the doona ends over each other and they can moved as they are just like that. Much easier than trying to box etc, and you can speedily unpack them to access the doonas at the other end.

I am sure there are a heap more, but its an experience I choose to block from memory lol.

If moving house but not town, I have found it easier to do a somewhat more gradual move. That is, pack up stuff you barely ever use and get that over to the new place first (we tend to move over the space of a week or two, rather than do it all in a day or two!!). Then, stuff that is used relatively infrequently. Then goes the stuff that you won't need for the next few days. DH and I have a routine of deciding which date will be the first night we spend in the new place, leave out as many changes of clothes as we need for the next couple of days, and shift everything else before 'moving day'.

Small loads are best for us - I'm one of those people who buckles under pressure and when given a small amount of stuff to sort out, I can do it and then go through another pile quite happily, but if I were presented with a massive amount of stuff, I crumble and can't do it. So maybe try doing things room by room? Bathroom/laundry. Then eldest child's stuff. Then second child's stuff. Then mum and dad's stuff. Then lounge room. Then kitchen, kwim? Rather than 'Okay, the movers just gave us an entire house bursting at the seams with cardboard boxes... this is going to take me daaayyyss!!'

As for cleaning, again, I tend to do it room by room as things slowly disappear from the house. Ahh, spare bedroom's empty - clean that, shut the door. Kids' bedrooms are vacant - do them, shut the doors. Master bedroom - done. Bathroom and kitchen I tend to do a day or two after we've moved out, when there will be no more splatters on the tiles or dripping water in the shower to help the mould grow back.

Good luck, I hope everything goes well!!