5 Tips for Building a Home with Babies

Congratulations on your decision to build a home! Whether it’s your 1st or 3rd, not only should you be excited, but you should be proud of this amazing gift you’re creating for your family.

My husband and I recently built our 2nd home while bringing our 2 year old and 6 month old along for the ride (they were 3 years old and 18 months old by the time we were finished, but don’t get me started on that!) If you’ll also be bringing your sweet babes along for some house hunting or the various meetings and appointments that require you to focus on making big decisions and signing paperwork, here are a few must-haves to make it a little easier to do business with babes:

1. Patience

Duh, right? But it’s true. Hopefully you won’t need it because your sweet cubs will be little angels, but most likely you and everyone else around you will need to leverage this skill if things start to go south. Tell your sales counselors upfront that you’ll be bringing little ones with you so that they’re prepared as well. This is life. People have kids and not everyone has (or is comfortable with) a babysitter, so as long as there are no “rules” against it sometimes a home buyer’s gotta bring their mini-me…I mean, you want this money or not? 🤷🏾‍♀️

2. An Entrapment Device

Don’t you dare leave that house with a baby carrier, or a stroller, or in our case both. The last thing you want to have to do when making important decisions is stopping to chase your kid around the room or the building, trying to keep them from playing dominoes with granite samples or how many gummy snacks can we shove into the printer. Isaiah wasn’t even a year old for the majority of this process, so sometimes I kept him in the stroller, but most of the time I kept him nice and snug with me in a soft baby carrier – he could hear my heartbeat and the warmth of my sweet little guy kept me call each time I watched the dollar signs increase as we made selections and signed on the dotted lines. He was actually a breeze to have along the ride. 🥰 (add pic of him with me for design selections)

3. Entertainment

Alianna on the other hand was a fresh 3 year old and ready to make this a challenge. Thankfully she was in preschool for most meetings but when she was with us entertainment was a lifesaver. Cool with your kids using tablets? BRING IT. They have a favorite toy that is small and relatively quiet? BRING IT. Can story books or coloring books keep them quiet for hours? BRING ALL THE STORIES AND ALL THE COLORING BOOKS WITH ALLLLL THE CRAYOLAS. I’m not kidding. Literally pack a bag with some of their favorite activities so that they can stay entertained and you can take care of business. (I love these water pad tablets because they can color without making a mess. These are Anna’s absolute favorites. We must have bought twenty of them in the last year) Honestly, if you’re not typically a tablet parent but you have one or you don’t want people to judge you…just bring the tablet. Who cares. It’s one appointment and this is an emergency call for a little extra screen time. Also, you shouldn’t worry about what other people think of you, but sometimes that’s hard and if that’s the case here just remember once you’re house is done you won’t ever see these people again…nor will they ever think about how you let your babe watch 2 Disney movies during that appointment you had that one day…seriously, no one cares. Do what you gotta do mama!

4. SNACKS

This may be another obvious one, but the key here is what KIND of snacks you pack. If you’ve included sticky lollipops, sheddy (this made-up word made it past proof-reading because I like it) cheese puffs, and crumbling cookies in your snack pack just go ahead and put those back in the pantry. Imagine the disaster of having to clean orange residue from each of your babes fingers and outfits, the hell that will ensure when one of them drops their lollipop on the floor and can’t have it back, or the embarrassment of realizing the stroller is surrounded in cookie crumbs and you didn’t happen to bring a broom and dustpan with you so you’re just going to leave it there? Don’t put yourself through that. If the stroller doesn’t already have one, put in a quick order for a tray so they have a snack-ready surface and pack low color, mess-free options that won’t require rigorous clean up — apple slices, grapes, Puffs (a favorite mess-free for the smaller ones! Actually Anna still likes them too), and spill-proof cups to wash it all down are some great options. The mess-free options tend to be a little healthier too —win/win! At closing they offered me popcorn and after one bite Isaiah wanted to try too. It was his first time trying it and turns out he loves it! Kept him well-behaved for quite awhile as we finished up this crazy process. God bless snacks!

5. Tantrum-Control

Now there’s an oxymoron if I’ve ever seen one. 😂 (If anyone has the secret to controlling tantrums, PAH-LEASE share it with the rest of us who didn’t realize that was possible). Thankfully, in the entire year this took place we only had one tantrum errupt during a meeting. The best thing we did which you can also try to make it less disruptive to those on the design center floor or to keep the sounds of your toddler’s cries from ringing throughout the model is to take a break. While one of you stays with the sales agent, the other (usually the one who the toddler isn’t mad at) can take the screamer for a little walk outside for some fresh air, and then maybe back in to walk around the model home. You could even take them into the model’s backyard to play outside for a bit (wish we would have thought of that!) The key is distraction, and fresh air helps too. Divert their attention from whatever it was they were so upset about, get them some sunshine, and hopefully they return ready to help mommy and daddy close on the new house. 🙂

I also have to add that if you’re like us and don’t have family nearby that can just take your sweet babies for the afternoon while you take care of business (boy do we miss that!!) but you have friends (or an amazing realtor) who are willing to do the same, THEN LET THEM!! Especially if they offer without you asking! Our daughter was in preschool for most of our appointments, but we had several friends offer to take care of our son for a couple of hours if we needed it, which I found so incredibly thoughtful. My husband and I are bad about accepting help outside of family when it comes to our babies, not because of trust (if they are our friends, chances are we trust them with our littles!) but because we would hate to think of our kids giving them a hard time once we drop them off. Well, actually my husband is fine with it. He doesn’t worry about things like that, so I guess that’s just me. 😅 But it is a fear. I think it will be easier for me to let go of that fear as they get a little older and farther removed from tantrum stages, but don’t be like me and let fear keep you from getting some help. This is an important process and a great time to lean on the support of others who would like to contribute. Give your friends some practice with little ones and give yourself a little break from being super mom! I’m still learning too, but it’s okay to ask for and accept help. ❤️

Hopefully you found a little nugget that makes the process easier for you, and best of luck to you on your journey to creating a beautiful new home for your family!

Follow my family on Instagram as we navigate the chaos of raising cubs @cubsandchaos. 🤎