A house of their own: That is the dream of many young families. Parental leave can be used optimally for a construction project or the move into a home of one’s own. But how can families with young children make this happen as stress-free as possible?

Many Hurdles Pave The Way To Home Ownership

Many young families dream of owning their own four walls. Often, however, this dream is seemingly out of reach. Due to rising real estate prices, fewer and fewer families in Germany can afford to buy their own home. Even initiatives such as the “Baukindergeld” (child building allowance) have so far done little to change this situation. If, on the other hand, your family is one of the lucky ones who can afford to buy their own home, there may be other hurdles to overcome. Because time is also a big factor here

Many new parents don’t have enough capacity to build a house, let alone the necessary energy between all-nighters, diapers & co. Even if you decide to buy a property that’s virtually move-in ready, moving in with a toddler is a challenge. But that doesn’t mean you should let it deter you. In fact, parental leave in particular is a unique opportunity for this.

Building A House And Moving During Parental Leave: Why Not?!

Most jobs offer the option for both parents to take parental leave after the birth of a child. For this various models are available such as parental allowance or ElterngeldPlus. Of course, this time off from everyday working life is primarily intended so that mother and father can spend intensive time with the child and grow together as a family. Nevertheless, many parents use the additional free time to finally tackle all those things for which there is no time in normal everyday life. This also includes the possible construction as well as the move into a home of one’s own.

To build the own house, brings many advantages with itself: It can be arranged according to the own conceptions and offers the possibility of saving by own contributions a quantity money. In addition, the plot of land can be freely chosen. If it has not yet been surveyed, however, the right surveying office still has to do its job. As a young family, when choosing a suitable plot of land, you need to consider various aspects can be taken into account and find the perfect “finished” house is almost impossible. Afterwards, the house may be beautiful, but the plot is too small or not suitable for children. Or the plot seems perfect, but the house is not big enough, too dark, too angled, ..

So there are many good reasons to build your dream house on your own and parental leave is the optimal time for this.

Building Or Renovating A House: Organization Is Everything!

Regardless of whether you want to buy or build a house, such a project is guaranteed to put multiple burdens on the whole family. After all, even if the property is ready for occupancy when you buy it, there is usually still work to be done, such as painting walls, installing a kitchen, furnishing the children’s roomand making the rooms childproof. In most properties, one thing or another still needs to be renovated. If a completely new house is built, this takes an average of 39 weeks for a solid house. It’s faster with a prefabricated house, which can be raised in as little as twelve weeks.

With a baby or toddler in the house, however, one parent is always involved in looking after the child. Good arrangements between mother and father and the right organization are therefore essential if you decide to move into your own home. It doesn’t matter whether you end up building a house, a prefabricated house, an existing property or another object.

Step By Step Stress-free Moving With Toddler

Either way, the move is coming at some point. Sometimes the new home is just a few blocks away. For the child, this means a change in habits and routines. Depending on how far away it is, to a greater or lesser extent. For small children, however, at least the burden of changing schools or kindergartens is removed. This is the second reason why it makes sense to move when the child is as young as possible, for example during parental leave. But how can the move to your own home be as stress-free as possible for the child as well as the parents?

• Depending on the age of the child, it makes sense to explain to him or her what will happen early on before the move. For this, children’s books are ideal, in which it is about topics such as moving, building a house & Co
  
• Talk positively about the move so that the child develops anticipation. Perhaps you can go with him in advance also nice often to the house, explore the area in peace, play in the garden and thus take him the strangeness
  
• Find something at the house, in the garden or in the immediate vicinity for which the child is excited: This can be a playground, a new friend who lives just around the corner, a dog that you will acquire in the new home or new toys that are waiting in the garden. The possibilities are almost endless, but anticipation is the quickest way out of the pain of separation.
  
• Should it go further away, this is often particularly large. Then a farewell party can also help to ease the pain of separation. This can be designed similarly to a child’s birthday

party, for example with a theme, delicious cake, a bouncy castle in the garden or lots of great gifts for the new home.

fotolia.com © puhimec #265476284[/caption ]

• • Next, involve the child in the moving preparations. After all, it should feel part of the family and will notice the parents’ excitement anyway. Distraction is therefore the best strategy. For example, give him a suitcase to pack his toys. If the move is preceded by home construction or renovation, feel free to involve the child in an age-appropriate way here as well. Perhaps you can build a sandbox in the garden together or paint the wall in the child’s room brightly
    
  • On the big day itself, the best thing you can do is hire a moving company. This is the quickest and least stressful option for a move. However, you will be busy and have little time for the child. Therefore, if possible, trusted people such as grandparents will take care of the child on

this day. Otherwise, organization is again the key, i.e. the mother takes care of the child and the father coordinates the move or vice versa

• • The first night in the new home is often chaotic. There are still boxes everywhere and the kitchen may not yet be functional. If possible, the familiar child’s or parent’s bed should already be in place, where the child will sleep. Probably he will not want to be alone the first night. Establish as much normality as possible and read the same bedtime story as always or make the child the same tea to fall asleep
    
  • If none of this is feasible yet, you can deliberately make the night an “adventure.” Stay up late and sleep on an air mattress with mom and dad? Fortunately, many toddlers are enthusiastic about that.
    
  • The nursery should then be the first room to be finished. The sooner normality and routine

set in, the faster your child will get used to the new surroundings and everyday life in their own home. Nevertheless, the arrival will take time and during this time it is especially important to be there for the child as parents

• So finish as much as possible in the house before the move, so that you have time to rest, settle in, play & co afterwards, instead of just running back and forth between furniture assembly and other to-dos.
  
• If you’re moving nearby, the child is welcome to go back to daycare as usual the day after or meet up with best friends to play in the new garden. In this way, everyday life remains as normal as possible despite the new surroundings and the child quickly realizes that the move does not mean anything bad. If the previous friends live too far away, you should help the child to reconnect socially as quickly as possible
  

But don’t forget: the most important attachment figures at this age are mother, father and any siblings. The motto is to be there for each other. Then the move will be as stress-free as possible for everyone involved.

Picture sources

Cover photo: fotolia.com, © Oksana Kuzmina #144695113