As the moving day draws near, your whole house would be filled with boxes, dissembled furniture, and packing supplies. Most importantly, you must be in a rush and feel stressed as various things would be inconvenient for you. You may hire professional movers to reduce your stress, but what about your kids, how will you manage them amidst all the chaos?
A house on a moving day might have several traps for the kids, you must take care of this and reduce the chances of accidents. Don't worry, if you are clueless about child-proofing your house, we have created a detailed guide for you that might help you resolve your problems.
Moving with kids can be one of the most challenging tasks on a moving day, here's what you need to do and make the process smoother:
Make use of baby gates
It's very important to keep your child away from the spot, while the movers are continuously coming in and out of your house, lifting heavy furniture, boxes, or other such items. Here's what you need to do:
- Make use of safety gates that would restrict the entry of your children into specific areas where the movers are working.
- We recommend you keep the kids engaged in one place until the professional movers complete the task of loading all your items into the moving truck.
Create a child-safety zone
It seems an outstanding idea to create a play zone for your kids, where you may keep their toys, blankets, playpen, or any other fluffy items. This will help you keep them in a safe corner of your house, and you can find them easily amidst all the mess. Also, you can keep your child safe from moving day accidents, which they may sustain if they roam around the heavy moving boxes, furniture, or other large and heavy items. Perhaps this will give you peace of mind and let you concentrate on other important aspects of your move.
Though your child would be busy playing with their toys, they might need your attention sometimes. Don't forget to give them meals at the proper times and ensure they take a proper nap, otherwise, their health might get affected.
Tip: We suggest you hire a babysitter if you can afford it, as they will keep a close watch on the child while you are busy packing and moving your possessions.
If you are moving with older kids, possibly you can let them help you in packing the belongings or give them some other simple work to do. In this way, they will feel involved in the complete process and have some fun at the same time. However, if you are moving with teenagers, there's nothing much to worry about, instead, you can concentrate on the other aspects of your move.
Keep the chemicals unreachable
While packing and moving your belongings, make sure you keep the various cleaning supplies and chemicals out of the reach of children. This may even include your toiletries, liquids, detergents, medicines, or other hazardous things.
Tip: We suggest you make use of child-safety locks or lids to keep such products out of reach of the children.
Remove all sharp objects
Most likely you would need scissors, knives, box cutters, or other sharp objects during the moving or unpacking process. However, it would be wise to keep them in a safe place away from your kids as it might lead to serious injuries.
Move the furniture first
If possible, consider moving the furniture first to your new house as this might prevent your kids from harming the furniture or even hurting themselves.
- First, disassemble your dressers, cabinets, or bookshelves, pack each of their parts separately and keep them out of reach of your child.
- Second, wrap a moving blanket around your chairs and couches before you load them into the moving truck.
Keep all the outlets and loose cords in a secure place
- Consider protecting any electrical outlets you have with a cover, otherwise, it might lead to electrical accidents.
- You must wrap any dangling cords of the electric chargers, lamps, or other devices as it might cause you to slip amidst the rush of your move.
- Take care of the above before the arrival of the professional movers at your location.
Avoid stacking the moving boxes
To child-proof your house, we suggest you don’t stack the boxes on top of each other, instead you should spread them across the floor. Here are a few steps that you must take to ensure to keep your possessions as well as your kids safe:
- Avoid placing the boxes with fragile items on the top as they might fall and break. Moreover, you must keep them away from your kids in a different room.
- Don’t place the heavy boxes in a high position or on the top of other boxes as this might fall if your kids bump into them while running around the house. It would be a good idea to keep such boxes below the lighter boxes or on the floor.
How do child-proof your kitchen and bathroom on a moving day?
The kitchen should be on your priority list, while you are child-proofing your house for the moving day. Here are a few tips to keep your child away from potential hazards:
- It might take some time to unpack your kitchen, we suggest you keep hazardous objects like knives or any breakable items in a cabinet until you find a proper place for them.
- You may use a knob-protector to keep the knobs of your stove tamper-free and use a door lock for your oven.
- Make sure to lock any low cabinets if you have used them to keep hazardous items like chemicals or cleaning supplies.
- You can store any small appliances with electrical cords either at the back counter near the wall or in the top cabinets.
If you have small kids at home, possibly you need to child-proof your bathroom as well. Here are a few steps that you need to take:
- Make sure to put a lock on the doorknob of your bathroom. However, if your child is potty-trained you skip this step, instead, you should focus on other aspects of child-proofing your house.
- Don’t forget to put packing tape over the lock as this would prevent your child from accidentally locking themselves inside.
- Ensure you put locks on your bathroom cabinet as this will prevent your kids from opening them and getting hold of hazardous products.
- You should lock your water heater at 120 degrees Fahrenheit to prevent boiling water from coming out of the faucet.
Moving with kids isn’t an easy thing to do, you need to struggle a lot to make your moving day successful. Childproofing is the best thing you can do to keep your kids safe and secure on a moving day. We have discussed enough childproofing strategies in this guide, that will help you ensure a smooth transition, and prevent your child from getting injured or from damaging your valuables.
Of course, you can hire a professional mover and concentrate more on childproofing your house, instead of focusing on packing or moving your belongings.