Moving with 2 yr old-what to do about sleeping?

[abaker89]

We will be moving to a new house when my 2 yr old will be 26 mths old.  She has never slept anywhere but our home and has a great routine right now, falls asleep on her own and sleeps very well.  We plan to set up her new room just like her old one and maintain all the same routines but I just don't know what to do if she is scared or upset.  She is very easy to get hooked on any kind of AP but I don't want her to feel scared.  Does anyone have any advice for this?  We have mostly used wi/wo in the past but again, I hate for her to feel so scared.  Should we treat it more like when she is ill and tend to her as much as needed but be prepared for difficult wi/wo training after a week or two??

Thanks,
Aileen

[Fiona (Leah & Kians Mom)]

Honestly I think she will be fine. I have lost count of the number of times I moved house with dd and ds has moved 4 times, the last time was in Feb. One thing I did apart from setting up the room almost the same as in our previous house was to go to our new house loads of times before we actually moved in so they were really familiar with it and knew which room was theirs, where the kitchen and bathroom was. Amazingly they never got lost and the house we are in now is bigger or rather in a longer lay out than we have been in before. They were both great. I think on one of our moves dd did wake one night, and as she wasnt used to wakening so I knew wi wo wouldnt work with her I just treated it as a pain wakening, gave a tiny bit of nurofen like 1 ml and tucked her back in. Worked fine

[Sarahboosmom]

Hi there!  I have to say that since you have such a great routine now, as long as you stick to it as best as possible it should not be an issue.  Have you never taken her on a trip to stay in a hotel in 2 years?  I would think it would be much the same.  

Now, you are assuming that she will be scared, you already mention it several times.  Please make sure that you do not project YOUR feelings that she might be scared onto her.  You must exude confidence that everything is okay and don't EVER make mention about her being scared unless she tells you or shows that.  If you are going to be able to have all the same things set up by the time she gets there, I don't think it will matter much as long as the routine is the same etc.  We moved last year and it involved a short temporary move to Florida to my parent's house for a month and then 2 weeks in 3 different hotels and finally our new house with our furniture arriving 1 week later. She is a spirited LO and did amazingly fine, but we never varied our routine.  The routine was the same no matter where we were, awake, eat, activity, nap, awake etc. same winddown routine and all.  I took her lovey and some familiar blankets so she had the smell of home too.

As far as AP, just don't do it.  Do what you always would do in any situtation.  If she were to cry at home what would you do?  Respond the same way and don't take her into bed with you etc.  If she had a nightmare at home I'm sure you would just comfort her, reassure her, then tell her to climb into bed and do whatever it is you normally do (I use WI/WO with gentle reminders that it is time to sleep and mommy is sleeping in her bed just like everyday).  

Please don't concern yourself with how she will react, I'm sure she will surprise you and do just fine.  I'm not saying that she probably won't cry (mine did here and there) but if you respond confidently and don't work her up into her frenzy she will be okay.

Also 26 months she can most certainly understand what you are saying, have you prepped her for the move?  Make her excited about a new room and new bed and prepare her for it.  I'm sure you will be fine!

[We Three]

Hi!  I just went thru this 7 months ago with a 22 month old, who is also a great sleeper, on a great routine.  I painted her new room the same color, tried to set things up the same, same artwork on the walls, etc.   We visited the new house every day (it was only 2 miles from old house) and even had lunch and playtime in her new room before we lived there..(we built the house, so nobody lived in it) If your new home is occupied, still then just drive by alot, maybe put a picture of the new house on your fridge, and keep talking about it and how much fun it will be.

On our last day at the old house, I told my dh that the moment dd woke from her nap, he was to break down her crib and furniture and get it completely set up at the new house in time for bed at 8pm.  He did it!!!  I hadn't packed up any of  her things that she could see..I wanted her room to look the same, so she wouldn;t get nervous. I was probably a little OTT with it all...but she went down on her first night in the new place, just like always, slept thru the night...not one issue ever.  Keep the routine as close as possible to her normal routine during the move...keep all the rituals the same (stories, bath, prayers, whatever) If your lo has a lovey or blankie that will go a long way towards helping her feel safe.

Good luck!

[abaker89]

Thanks to you all, this makes me feel much better!  I will be sure to act very confident and not mention anything about fear.  I guess it is sad that we haven't ever had her at a hotel.  All our family lives within 1 hr away so we just drive home the same day, its just easier that way.  My husband started a new job right before she was born so we haven't had any vacations since then.  We should be able to take her to the new house a few time once the sale is final (it is occupied right now) but it is 1 hr away so it won't be every day or anything like that.  We plan to have some work done on it anyway so we will have to go there occasionally before we move.  Good news is, her 2 yr molars are cutting now so we should be done with that before the move.  Two came this week and she is still working on the other two.  Thanks again for all the tips!

Aileen