When my (now 3 year old) son was 14 months old, we moved from Virginia,  USA to Melbourne, Australia. This was a very big move for us all, and we also had 3 teenagers moving with us as well.

Whether you are moving abroad, or only an hour away,

here are some tings to help make the transition easier for your little one, and thus easier for you!

1. Make sure your child goes to bed early the night before, he or she might not have a chance to nap during the day. If your little one is still a baby, there may not be anything you can do about sleeping!

2. Try to have a filling, nutritious brekkie ready in the morning. It will make things quicker if you can get it ready the night before and just heat it in the morning or add milk...

3. Make sure you have a survival bag packed for your little one with all the essentials, nappies, a few outfits, lots of snacks, blankie, favourite toys. You'll want your little one occupied while all the transferring of boxes is going on, plus everything is likely to be packed up!

4. Make sure you have contact information for the new Doctor/medical clinic you will be using. If your child gets sick along the way, you won't want to have to look everything up when you get to your destination. Better yet, have it already programmed into your mobile!

5. If you are moving close to family, ask them to do a bit of grocery shopping for you to save time. So when you get there, they can just bring your essentials over, like milk, bread, nappies, shampoo, etc. That way you'll have the basics without having to search through boxes.

6. If your child is mobile, it may be wise to buy a porta cot/play yard to contain them while you are unloading boxes from the moving truck. Your house will be new to your child, empty, and it will be very difficult to carry boxes and supervise a little one who is running from room to room. You'll also want the chance to babyproof before you set your little one free!

7. If you label which room your boxes belong in, they can be put into the correct rooms upon arrival without having to open and check the contents of each box. Saves a lot of work!

8. If you are moving very far away, such as internationally, make sure you get a full copy of your child's medical record to take with you. It will be much harder to get one down the road should you need it, so best to be prepared!

9. Try to get an idea of where everything in your closest town is before moving. If you can't make a trip there, look it up on the internet. After the big move, and hauling so many boxes, it's nice when you can drive straight to the closest fish and chips shop without having to find it first!

10. Remember you'll have to take breaks with your little one, so don't be hard on yourself if you can't get everything done in one day. It's a HUGE job, just enlist as many hands to help as you can, and whatever doesn't get done today will still be there for you to do tomorrow. :-)

Good Luck with your move!