Family
Moving with kids: who watches them on the day, which room goes back together first, and what the reviews say about family moves
On moving day one adult watches the children while the crew handles open doors, dollies, and the ramp, and their room goes back together before the rest of the house. Family-move reviews in this window, 170 of them, sit at a mean of 3.32, with 41.8% at one or two stars.
Anthony BaleMoving industry professional, author and writerReviewed 23 September 2026
Someone has one job: the children
The person on kid duty does not load boxes, sign papers, or chase a missing lamp.
Assign one adult the kids. On moving day the crew is busy with doors, dollies, and the truck ramp, so a parent or sitter stays with the children and stays out of that path. The person on kid duty does not load boxes, sign papers, or chase a missing lamp. If you need a sitter, book one before the eight-week checklist is half done.
Keep the routine they already know. Meals, naps, and the usual show stay on the same clock even when the house is a maze of tape. Let them pick one stuffed animal and one job that is actually safe, such as sticker labels in a closed room. Expect some acting out. A move is a lot of strangers in the place they sleep.
The survival bag
The bag stays with the adult who has the children, in the car
Pack a bag that never goes on the truck. It holds snacks, wipes, a change of clothes, chargers, any medicine, and the comfort item that would ruin the night if it rode in a carton. The bag stays with the adult who has the children, in the car, not in the moving day checklist pile by the door.
Add a small kit for the baby or toddler. Diapers, formula or the usual cup, a familiar blanket, and outlet covers go in that same bag so baby proofing starts the hour you walk in. The crew will leave doors open while they work, so the kit is for your hands, not for a promise that the house is closed.
Their room last out, first in
A familiar bed on the first night matters more than a full kitchen.
Pack their bedroom last and rebuild it first. The bed, the lamp, and the two or three things that make the room theirs come off the truck before the kitchen boxes. A familiar bed on the first night matters more than a full kitchen. Use the first night checklist so that room is the one you finish.
Tell the crew which room is the priority. Mark that door so boxes for it are not buried behind the sofa. If you hired packing help, say the kids' room is packed last and labeled so it is unloaded first. A room that looks like itself by bedtime is the whole win.
School calendar versus peak season
Family dates land when everyone else wants a truck, so those dates cost the most.
Peak season and summer break are the same weeks. Family dates land when everyone else wants a truck, so those dates cost the most. If the school year can absorb a move, look at the peak calculator and the booking window guide before you lock a Saturday in July.
Visit the new area before the boxes do. A walk past the school, the park, and the grocery store gives them a picture that is not a stack of cartons. If the move must sit in summer, book early and keep the date off the last week of break so you are not unpacking into the first day of class.
What family-move reviews say
The tip pages miss that gap: a kids plan still sits next to a damage claim when a bed arrives broken.
Family moves score lower than the full set. In reviews since the start of the recent window, 170 reviews from 131 movers show a mean of 3.32 against 3.95 overall, and 41.8% are one or two stars. These are self-reported and skewed toward people with something to say. Haulest is not a carrier, and the desk reads these reviews every week.
Damage shows up often in these reviews. 32.9% mention damage, and the median price typed for the whole move is $4,110. The tip pages miss that gap: a kids plan still sits next to a damage claim when a bed arrives broken. The interstate median $4,500 is context for a later year, not a price for your house.
The first week
The dishwasher can wait. The night light cannot.
Put the room back, then the rules. Sheets, the usual lamp, and the night light go up before you chase kitchen boxes. Baby proof the outlets and the stairs the same day, because open doors from the move do not close themselves. The how long a move takes guide is about the truck, not about how long a child needs the room to feel normal.
Keep meals and bedtime boring on purpose. Same cereal, same bath, same story, even if you are eating off a box. Let them choose the wall for a poster so the room has one decision that was theirs. The dishwasher can wait. The night light cannot.
Before you hire
Four checks before a deposit
Written estimate after a look
Interstate movers must give the booklet and a written estimate after a survey or a full description. A $499 ad is not an estimate.
FMCSA Protect Your MoveLegal name matches SAFER
USDOT on the paper, the truck doors, and the census. A different name is the walk.
USDOT / Companies House lookupWalk from cash and blank paper
FTC: unregistered interstate, huge deposit, cash only, or a blank contract. Photograph and leave.
FTC: hiring a mover110% on a COD non-binding job
Pay up to 110% plus agreed extras and they must hand over the load. Not a cap on extras you signed.
US interstate rules
Reviewed 23 September 2026 by Anthony Bale. Numbers on this page carry their own dates.
Ask out loud
Questions people ask
- Who watches the children on moving day?
- One adult has that single job and does not load the truck. The crew moves through open doors with dollies and a ramp, so the children stay with a parent or a sitter booked ahead. That adult also keeps the survival bag.
- What belongs in the survival bag?
- Snacks, wipes, a change of clothes, chargers, medicine, and the comfort item stay in a bag that never goes on the truck. For a baby or toddler, add diapers, the usual cup or formula, a blanket, and outlet covers. The bag rides in the car with the person watching the kids.
- Which room should go back together first?
- Pack the children's bedroom last and unload it first so the bed and a few familiar things are up before the kitchen. A room that looks like itself on the first night is the point. Mark the door so those boxes are not buried behind the sofa.
- Why are family move dates so expensive?
- Peak moving season overlaps the school summer break, so family dates are the most expensive dates. If the school year can take the move, shift away from that overlap and check timing before you book. A summer date should be reserved early and kept off the last stretch of break.
- What do reviews of family moves show?
- Across 170 reviews from 131 movers, the mean is 3.32 against 3.95 overall, and 41.8% are one or two stars. 32.9% mention damage. The median reported price is $4,110 for the whole move as typed, and $4,500 is the interstate median for a later year.
- What matters in the first week?
- Set their room up, baby proof the outlets and stairs, and keep meals and bedtime on the old clock. Let them choose one small thing, such as which wall gets a poster. Some acting out is normal while the house is still a work site.
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About Anthony Bale
A moving industry professional, author and writer. Anthony has been at different positions in the industry for the last 10 years, gaining significant knowledge on the relocation process. He himself has moved 6 times already, which helped him explore the other side of the moving process.
At Haulest he writes the US cost, hiring, and rights pages, reading the licensed review file every week so the numbers on the page are the numbers people reported.
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