Earlier this year, My husband and I sold our home and moved about an hour away from New Orleans, to Mandeville, Louisiana. Moving with a baby is tough and I am doing it twice! We are purchasing a new construction home, so we temporarily moved in with family while the house is finished.

At the time we moved our baby, Leo was only 8 months old. I knew I needed all of his must-haves ready as soon as we got to the next house. This is how I planned it.

Planning the Packing.

Here are a few things I bought ahead of time that made my life 10X easier and helped me stay organized. These are affiliate links, so if you enjoy this blog, please consider using one of my links.

4+ Weeks Out

First start packing or donating all of the things you do not need. For my 8 month old, that was baby clothes that no longer fit along with baby swaddles and baby bath towels we were no longer using. I am still planning on one more baby, so I opted to not donate, but rather pack all of Leo’s old clothing. I choose to pack the clothes in these special storage bins. They will work great in our new attic at protecting the clothing from moths or silverfish.

Additionally, my baby had grown out of his 4/5 ounce bottles so I packed those along with any toys that he didn’t have an interest in. I used the same bins and a few card board boxes to pack these.

These boxes I marked as 2nd Baby/attic with these labels. There is no need for these items to be moved into my babies new room.

3 Weeks Out

This is the ideal time to go through toys your baby is no longer using. Leo was no longer able to use his bounce chair, sit-me-up, or his bouncer along with a few other toys.

The toys he never took interest in, I did donate/sell on Marketplace, but most of the larger items, I put into contractor trash bags and tied up. I also marked these bags as 2nd baby/attic.

2+ Weeks Out

I began to pack Leo’s decor items. Not going to lie, this broke my heart. I thought ahead and purchased boxes for our entire home from Amazon. After moving so many times, that I realized Amazon delivery boxes aren’t practical, when moving and running to Lowes and Walmart every other day for more boxes was a drain on time.

All of these boxes, I kept in my son’s closet was labeled for his room. His closet was the very last thing I added to the truck. That way, his room was first to be unloaded with his crib, dresser, rocking chair, and personal items.

1 week out

Congratulations, you are near the finish line. This is when I packed Leo’s suitcase with two weeks of clothes, socks, shoes, his toothbrush, 2 spare sheets and a towel. I set aside two weeks of diapers, wipes, and packed his medicine bag with Tylenol, teething tablets, his fingernail clippers, and other necessities.

Additionally, I have already packed all but the essentials in my kitchen. One empty cabinet stored all of Leo’s bowls, bottles, spoons, puree machine, and other must-haves.

I did not downsize his kitchen items because everything was able to fit into one box. You may consider downsizing if you have a lot that you may not use or need.

The Night Before

I packed Leo’s breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I prepped all of his bottles, and packed away his kitchen box into Leo’s closet to be moved with the rest of his bedroom needs.

The Morning Of

So-close! The morning of the move, I packed all of my baby’s must-haves into my car and not the truck. I packed his suitcase, his kitchen items, diapers/wipes, Pack-and-Play, and I put all of his frozen purees into this travel cooler with loads of ice.

By separating my baby’s things into essentials, I was able to feel relieved that if the truck did not show up on time, or if something came up, I had everything he needed for at least a week.