Moving house + new baby

A couple of really big life changes are going to be happening for us soon. I’m currently 30 weeks pregnant, due beginning of May and we’re going through the final legal bits before buying our family home 🥰 it’s all very exciting, if a little (read: a lot…) stressful!

We’re doing all we can to prepare my May 23 toddler, he viewed a couple of houses with us and actually agreed with us about which one to choose. We’ve also been telling him that there’s a baby in mummy’s tummy since our first scan, then that it’s a baby brother as soon as we knew. He seems very excited, talks to my tummy, says he loves his baby brother, and we’ve tried to prepare him for the reality of both life changes. It’s difficult with an almost 3 year old though. He’s extremely clever, understanding and emotionally aware but he is still little.

What have others done as far as childcare/nursery when a new baby or new house is concerned? I had initially thought it important to keep his usual routine of nursery 3 days a week, then with my mum or SIL on one day. But equally, want him to bond as much as possible with the new baby and not feel excluded in that time. I also had possible pnd/pna when my first was tiny, no diagnosed but not ok. He didn’t feed, didn’t sleep, was a very unhappy baby and it lasted a long long time. In the early days, I didn’t rest as much as I should, favouring getting things done around the house over bonding/resting/doing things for my little one. I was filled with self doubt, and oh so exhausted! Do we stay as a family of four at home for the first few weeks to bond all together or do I send him to nursery to keep his routine and focus on my recovery and bonding? I’m talking about literally the first couple of weeks that baby is home?

I’m a little less concerned about new house, I think it’d be better for him to be at nursery so we can unpack etc. Maybe pick him up from nursery early each day that I’m off, so he can familiarise himself with new house. Do we send him for a sleepover with family whilst we actually move (night before and maybe first night?) whilst everything is in boxes and up in the air. Or is it better to keep them involved as much as possible (within reason!) so that he can process the change easier.

So sorry for the long message, I can’t keep these things short! If you’ve got this far, thank you and any advice is appreciated ☺️

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