When you arrive at a new house, there is usually a mountain of work before you can rest. These Tips for Parents will make it easier. Unloading the truck, unpacking the furniture, and setting up the home take time. Young people, singles, and even families with older children can pull a first-night sleepover surrounded by half-unpacked boxes – but this isn’t so easy when you have a baby or young toddler in the family. Your baby must be taken care of, supervised, and kept safe from the unpacking process at all times. It would be best if you had a place to safely settle your baby for regular naps and play while you unpack the rest of the house.
6 Tips for Parents Unpacking with a Baby
We know how tough it can be to coordinate moving with a baby. Not sure how to keep your baby safe and happy during the involved unpacking process? Here are a few tricks we’ve learned along the way:
1) Prepare & Secure the Nursery First-Thing
The single smartest thing parents can do for baby-safe unpacking is to prep the nursery. Make sure nursery furniture and boxes go into the truck last so they can come out of the truck first. Talk to your movers and ask them to help you get the nursery set up as soon as the truck arrives. Most likely, your movers will be happy to help ensure the baby’s safety and happiness. This one of the more important Tips for Parents Unpacking with a Baby.
Many parents find that unpacking services are extremely helpful if it’s in the budget. You can even arrange to just have the nursery unpacked for you so that you can tend the baby until their crib and security-gated playroom are ready.
2) Stick to Your Baby’s Routine
Every baby has its own scheduled routine of naps, meals, and playtime. Parents know that sticking to the schedule will make the entire day easier for everyone. So even though unpacking is a hectic experience where schedules can disappear for the grownups unpacking, try to keep your baby’s experience consistent each day.
Set timers on your phone, if necessary, to help you remember your baby’s schedule though the move has thrown off your adult routine.
3) Have Snacks and Toys Ready to Deploy
Babies need oodles of attention and entertainment – every day is a learning experience. They often prefer to get this learning and playtime face-to-face with parents, but many babies can also stay happily occupied with toys while parents unpack nearby. Having a variety of toys, snacks, games, and books ready to keep your baby distracted and happy can win you precious minutes to unpack another box.
4) Baby-Proof The Rest of the House ASAP
Baby-proofing the new house is a top priority. After the nursery, methodically baby-proof every room in the house. Cover outlets, pad corners and place the baby gates. In a new house, take the time to closely inspect every corner, doorway, and fixture your baby might encounter in their crawling or toddling explorations.
Your movers can advise carefully stacking boxes so that they pose no threat to the baby. Avoid stacks higher than two-boxes anywhere the baby might go, and use closed boxes as make-shift baby gates for partially unpacked and not-baby-safe areas.
This is one of the MOST important Tips for Parents Unpacking with a Baby.
5) Show and Tell Unpacking
Once the chaos dies down from moving in and setting up furniture, many babies are happy to participate in unpacking from the safety of their fastened carrier. When your baby is awake and in the right mood, a little unpacking show and tell can be a fun and productive way to take care of both your absorbing duties at once. Unpacking is chaotic, so be sure to fasten your baby into their carrier and set them in a very safe location in the room.
6) Plan to Unpack While the Baby Sleeps
Prep your extended unpacking plan. Find the right times in your baby’s routine to get a few boxes unpacked. The best times are often while your baby is sleeping during naps and after bedtime. As long as the unpacking process doesn’t wake the baby, this is one of the few times that a baby monitor is a sufficient supervision for a few hours. Some babies are also interactive and may enjoy sitting upright in a carrier watching while you unpack.
