How to move house with small children

Moving house is time consuming and stressful at the best of times, but throw in a small child and things get even more difficult.

I recently moved house and due to special circumstances, my husband needed to work on the new place doing repairs while I packed up all our stuff and got things ready. Packing up an entire house and all our fmaily possessions was a huge task on my own, especially with a two year old 'helping out'. I did, in fact, end up pakcing the smae boxes several times over, as the second I turned my back, my son was playing unpack and pulling everythign out again. Needless to say, not an ideal situation with a moving out date to meet.

I decided I had to come up with ways of keeping him busy so i could get things done.

I managed to clear some shelves and pack smaller items while he was distracted watching cartoons or drawing pictures. I also found that taking him to the park or for a long walk in the morning tired him out and meant that he napped in the afternoon giving me an hour or two to get some serious packing done.

Out of the house playtime was a good idea once most stuff was packed too as the house was no longer 'play friendly'.

When it came to packing up our clothes, I gave him his own bag and a few pieces so he could play pack whilst I did the real packing.

You'd also be surprised at just how long a two year old with happily play with a box. My son spent hours sitting in one, pushing it along and putting toys in and out of it.

Have you moved house with a small child? Any tips of your own to share? What about with a baby or old children? Share your experiences in the comments section.