An international move can be challenging, but doing so with an infant can be especially challenging. When we moved here, our daughter was 2 months old. These are some of the things I did to try to make it easier on everyone (mostly me) LOL. Hope you find some of the info useful.
Sometimes, packing for an international move can take several days–even if you don’t have a lot of stuff, simply because of the way they have to pack things.
-If you are alone and need to stay there with the movers, consider asking a family member, or hiring a babysitter to just come over for a few hours at least and help you with the baby and don’t feel guilty about it! Sometimes, Mommies need a sanity break just to walk around the block for 15 mins.
-If anyone asks if they can help you with anything, take them up on it! Ask if they could bring you lunch or coffee or have you over for dinner and don’t feel guilty about it!
-Call in every favor you can to get friends to take your older kids for play dates and don’t be shy about asking them to keep the kids out of your hair for as long as possible and don’t feel guilty about it!
It’s hard for kids to see their room being “destroyed” by movers, it’s less traumatic for them to see everything in tact and then return to see it all boxed up. **Make sure that any of your kids’ loveys and/or important items are kept in the Sanctuary–see below–so that they aren’t accidentally packed–even the most well-intentioned mover is programmed to pack everything in sight.
-Have 1 room that is left in tact, preferably yours, that is the last room to be packed–your Sanctuary from the chaos. (Let the movers know about this room and that it is the last to be packed!)
-Have a laundry basket or some container with essentials in it, like toilet paper, hand towels, baby wash, formula, bottles, bottle brush and drainer, bath towels, paper plates and cups, paper towel, etc., to be kept in the Sanctuary.
-Keep your suitcases in the Sanctuary or in your car, so that the movers don’t pack them.
-I highly suggest a noise machine for the baby (the movers can make a lot of noise and you don’t want them waking up the baby from his/her nap). My baby loved the heartbeat or ocean sound, turned up nice and loud. I let the movers know when my daughter was napping and asked them to not yell at each other from one floor to the other while she was napping, which they kinda sorta respected.
-Put signs on anything (even in the sanctuary) that you really do not want them to pack or don’t want them to pack until the last minute. (Like your baby’s pack and play, breast feeding cushion and a bouncy seat).
-Make a mini diaper changing station in your room or move the baby’s changing table in there and move a comfy chair in for breast feeding.
(You want to trick the baby into thinking everything is business as usual, for as long as possible. LOL)
-You may also want to set up a place where you can pray or meditate every day that everything goes smoothly with the move, that nothing essential is lost and that everyone in the family adjusts well to your new time zone, home, school, friends, and life in general.
Ok, I think that’s everything I did. I hope you find some of the tips useful. I’ve moved around almost my whole life, but moving with an infant and maintaining your sanity, is especially challenging.
A few more things:
-Be warned that occasionally it can take longer than they say to get your stuff delivered to your new country/home. So, consider packing in your suitcases, clothes for the baby that are the next size up, because those little suckers grow really fast! And, consider packing favorite toys for older kids in your suitcases too. There is nothing that can get on your last nerve more that your older child asking/whining about when their Cinderella/Superman/Teddy Bear or whatever will get here when you are doing everything you can just to hold your shit together and make this thing work in a new country.
And last, but not least, know that even the toughest of us moms have a tendency to shed a few tears upon seeing our house, the place we brought our babies home to, empty. So on that last day, when you leave your home for good…make sure someone is nearby to give you a hug and reassure you that you do indeed have the strength to do this!–even if it’s your new friend, the moving guy! ;0)
Good luck ladies!
