Moving is a stressful endeavor for everyone involved. It requires a lot of preparation, coordination, and physical work. While the prospect of settling into a new home is exciting, most people dread transferring their things from one location to another. This process can be draining for anyone but moving while pregnant is considerably more exhausting. Not only do you need to make sure your items are transferred to your new home, but you need to do it safely while minimizing risks or pregnancy complications. However, with a few alterations, it is possible. To make sure that you’re doing everything you can to stay healthy and avoid injury, here are 10 tips for moving safely while pregnant.
Prioritize Your Health and Safety
Many women don’t want to be seen as delicate during their pregnancy, but there are certain things that you should avoid doing to protect the health of you and your baby. This is especially true in regard to moving. Before doing anything, book an appointment with your doctor to discuss potential risks and any complications. Women who have an increased risk of preterm labor or other complications should enlist outside help and avoid actively participating in the move.
You should also consider how far along you are. If you’re still in the first trimester, your belly is unlikely to hinder your movement but nausea from morning sickness might. Avoid lifting anything heavier than 18 pounds. In your second trimester, once you pass the 20-week mark, avoid lifting anything heavier than 13 pounds. However, this is likely the best time to safely move if you’re pregnant, as you’ll likely have more energy, less nausea, and the ability to move freely. Regardless, never overexert yourself. Once you reach the third trimester, it’s not recommended to help actively move. Don’t feel guilty for having others do the work—keeping your baby safe is your only job right now.
10 Tips for Moving While Pregnant
Once you’ve met with your doctor and gotten the green light to participate in the moving process, it’s time to get to work. Moving is stressful for everyone, let alone a pregnant woman dealing with changes in hormones, nausea, and fatigue. Be patient with yourself and incorporate the following tips to keep you safe during your move.
1. Declutter and Donate
Before you start packing up your belongings, take some time to go around and declutter. Get rid of things that you no longer want and try to make some extra money off your clutter. You can use the three-box technique for each room to create distinct piles for items you want to keep, things you can throw away, and belongings that are in good enough condition to donate or sell. Doing this prior to moving means you won’t have to pack and move unnecessary items—thus simplifying your transition.
2. Write Things Down
The best way to make sure that you don’t forget to do essential items is to write everything down. Write down important dates, utility transfers, ongoing to-do lists, and an inventory for boxes. This can help you stay on top of everything you need to do without adding stress to the process.
3. Prepare a Moving Day Bag
You’ll want to have a bag that’s filled with all of your essentials for moving day. This should include all of the pregnancy items that you need, some easy snacks, prenatal vitamins, clothes, toiletries, important documents, and anything else you think you’ll use while you’re unpacking your new home. If your due date is close to your moving day, make sure your hospital bag is packed as well to ensure that you’re ready for anything. Keep both of these bags close during your move so you can easily access the things you need.
4. Practice Safe Lifting
How you lift various boxes makes a different, regardless of if you’re pregnant or not. However, when you’re pregnant, this is even more important as your body is flooded with hormones that loosen ligaments. This can increase your risk of injury, so don’t lift anything heavier than 18 pounds—13 if you’re over 20 weeks—and make sure you use the proper form to avoid straining your back.
Do not try to lift anything too heavy, especially when you’re further along in your pregnancy. This includes helping lift corners of heavy furniture. While you might think that you can help, it’s simply not worth the risk. Delegate this task to others.
5. Continue a Healthy Lifestyle
Moving is often a time where our health takes a hit. Once the kitchen is packed up, it can be difficult to eat healthy. Take out becomes the norm, but you still need fuel to give you strength and help keep your baby healthy. Make nutritious snacks easily accessible by prepping them ahead of time. You can also prep healthy freezer meals that can be quickly made in the crockpot while you pack up the rest of your kitchen. Take some time to do this before boxing everything up so you can continue getting the right nutrition for you and your baby.
6. Hire a Cleaning Company
Part of moving includes cleaning. You’ll need to prepare your new home for your arrival and do a final clean of your old home after everything is out. Since many cleaners have toxic chemicals that can be harmful for pregnant women and developing babies, consider hiring a cleaning company. This allows you to completely remove yourself from potentially dangerous situations. If you don’t want to hire a cleaner and would rather save some extra money, make sure that you wear protective gloves and try cleaning with natural products. Avoid ammonia and bleach at all costs and look for paraben-free cleaners that don’t have formaldehyde or questionable chemicals.
7. Enlist Extra Help
Hiring movers is the best way to get things done easily and quickly, but if you’d rather tackle the move on your own, friends and family are great assets. Depending on the stage of your pregnancy, you may need more help than you think, so don’t be afraid to ask. Enlist help for decluttering your home, packing boxes, packing the moving truck, moving, and even unpacking and cleaning.
8. Listen to Your Body
Always make sure that you listen to your body. If you start to feel over-exerted, take a break. If something feels too heavy, leave it for someone else. Moving is both physically and emotionally demanding, so give yourself a break. Stay hydrated, nourish your body, and get plenty of rest.
9. Create a Plan for Your New Home
To improve the efficiency of moving day, try to create a plan for your new home ahead of time. This allows you to delegate where the furniture will go, which boxes go in which rooms, and therefore, greatly reduces the need for rearranging all of the items throughout your home. If you’re hiring professional movers, try to label the boxes so they know what to bring upstairs and what to keep downstairs. A great way to do this is by using a color-coded labeling system for corresponding rooms in your new home.
10. Wait to Buy Baby Gear
Finally, wait to purchase baby products until you’ve moved into your new home. Unless your baby is due within a week or so of your move, there’s no point in buying everything, packing it up at your old home, and moving it into your new place. Not only will this increase your time and energy spent on moving, but it can increase the price of professional movers. The less you have to move, the more money you save. Once you’re in your new home, assess what you need and enjoy your time setting up the nursery.
Safely moving during your pregnancy requires a lot of energy. Make sure that you take precautions about any risks and always listen to your doctor’s advice regarding pregnancy complications and physical activity. To help streamline your move and make things as easy as possible, The Lock Up Self Storage offers both long- and short-term rentals in facilities across the country. We have a variety of units to fit all size requirements and budgets and take ongoing precautions to help protect against the threat of COVID-19. The well-being of our customers is always our top priority. Feel free to call us for any questions or clarifications on what we’re doing to provide you with the best service possible while staying safe and healthy. All of our units are climate controlled and surrounded by top-of-the-line security features to keep your things protected. To learn more about our self-storage units at The Lock Up, give us a call today at 1-866-327-LOCK.
