How to move home safely with young children

Moving house is a stressful experience at the best of times. Moving house with young kids in tow, however, means double the levels of stress as you try and keep the little ones free from accidents and injury. Below, using our experience as estate agents working all over the South of England, we detail the top tips for moving house with young children in a safe and secure manner.

Gate the stairs
If you have children under the age of two, it’s advised that you install safety gates on the stairs in your new home. If possible, this should be done before the child enters the house. This may seem like an over-the-top measure, but on moving in day the kids are bound to be excited and eager to explore their new home, making the scope for accidents greater. Distracted by the move, you may not be able supervise as closely as normal and the safety gates will help to give you peace of mind.

Familiarise yourself with the local area
This helps your children get used to the new roads and the volume and speed of traffic on these roads. If your young ones are changing schools as a result of the house move, a rehearsal school run is a good idea to get them used to their new surroundings.

Make the garden child-friendly
Whilst you unpack and settle into your new home, the garden is a good place for the kids to burn off all the excess energy that kids have. However, it’s a good idea to check the garden is child-friendly first, before allowing them to roam freely. They may be able to stray into the gardens of your neighbours or onto the street. If so, it’s important to secure these areas. If the garden includes a pond, it’s important to make it safe as soon as possible as babies and younger children can drown in as little as 5cm of water.

Check those windows
Inspecting all the windows in your new home, even those on the ground floor, is something you should try and do as soon as possible. If they open wide enough for a child to fit through or climb out of, it’s recommended that you fit a catch or window lock to prevent accidents from occurring. If your new property has a balcony, fitting a lock to the balcony doors and windows is also highly recommended.

Be careful with the furniture
Whilst you might just see it as furniture, toddlers and young children can see it as a potential climbing frame. Even if you haven’t yet planned out the room and decided where your furniture is going to go, it’s a good idea to keep it well away from windows until you do. Once you have placed everything in its final position, make sure to secure it in place, more so if it’s a cabinet or table.
For advice on selling your property, please get in touch with us on: 0844 809 9931. To find out the value of your property, check out our fast and easy to use instant online valuation tool.