One of the greatest things about preparing for a second baby is that you’ve probably already got most of the gear you’ll need. Since Watson and his sister will only be about 21 months apart
One of the greatest things about preparing for a second baby is that you’ve probably already got most of the gear you’ll need. Since Watson and his sister will only be about 21 months apart and not many new and improved models and technologies have come out in that time, we feel pretty content with what we already have. Regardless, though, there are still plenty of things we have needed to stock up on to prepare for baby girl’s arrival. I’m sure I’m forgetting some things, but here’s what we’ve got so far..
Even if having the same gender, you’ll probably still need a good bit of these because they get stained and dingy so quickly! Watson’s sweet little infant gowns and footies that I hoped to save are yellowing and have spots all on them. The good thing is that this is a fun thing to buy and pretty inexpensive, especially if you shop smart! But I’ll admit that I’ve splurged on some nicer newborn/0-3 month pieces because y’all, I just couldn’t help it. They are only that tiny for a short time, so I want to make the most of it, and the pricier things just feel a million times better. I bought a few Kissy Kissy gowns, these footie pajamas in the pink and the cornflower blue, and some of these sweet Magnolia Baby pieces, too. I think we’ve got about 5-6 newborn gowns/footies and 5-6 in the 0-3 month size. And don’t forget about little onesies! These are all we let Watson sleep in when he was born since we swaddled him tight every night and he was born when the weather was warm. These from H&M are beyond precious and I think the buttons are a game changer vs going over the head. I have a couple of these in the newborn size and then a few basic white ones in 0-3 months.
If you have another child that will still need a stroller, then it’s time to find a double stroller! To me, a good stroller makes all the difference in keeping your time out of the house a little more stress-free. And if you’re expecting a second child, then you already know that anything that can make your days easier is worth its weight in gold. I’m a bit of a stroller freak and researched them until no end when I was expecting Watson. We decided on the UPPAbaby brand and bought the CRUZ Stroller and the MESA Carseat for him. We absolutely loved them both because they are lightweight, sleek, and they work together as a travel system with no adapters required. (I actually wrote about them both in my ultimate baby registry post.) But, the only drawback with the CRUZ stroller is that it doesn’t have the second seat option like its big sister, the UPPAbaby VISTA Stroller. And that’s something we need now.
So, we decided to get the VISTA, along with the RumbleSeat, which is the second seat that easily attaches to the stroller with these handy adapters. I like that the double stroller has the width of a single, so going through doors won’t be an issue. I also like that the RumbleSeat can easily be removed or added in a click, so you’re not stuck with a double stroller if you decide one day that you don’t need it anymore.
The pictures above show the VISTA with just the one seat, obviously. But once we put on the RumbleSeat, it will look like any of these configurations below. There are so many different possibilities for seating arrangements, especially when you take into consideration that the MESA Carseat will snap in with no adapter required. The pictures below show the VISTA stroller with all the options you can do with the bassinet, the main seat, and the RumbleSeat.
Other reasons I love the VISTA Stroller?
See?
We still have all of these, but I just felt like the new baby deserves her own fresh ones. I guess this is just personal preference. We bought our favorites— these bottles and these pacis, which are truly a newborn size and don’t overwhelm those tiny, sweet faces.
I really like Honest diapers, especially for newborns because of the safety aspects of them. And I love their wipes, too. Also love Water Wipes, which have a little more wetness to them and are made up of something like 99.7% pure water. I don’t want a single bad chemical touching my baby’s fresh-to-the-world bottom, so I’ll bring all of my own supplies to the hospital instead of using what they provide. We use Beautycounter baby products, like the baby wash, the oil (instead of a lotion), and this balm that is incredibly multi-purpose. One of our friends gave us this Tubby Todd travel kit, which I’m super excited to try! Smells amazing.
Newborn hats, socks, mittens, bibs, burp cloths, shoes, etc. All of those things that are probably in bad shape from baby #1! I really like these baby socks and am a huge fan of Hemming Birds for the beautiful handmade bibs and burp cloths. Yana has the sweetest designs and they are so soft!
You probably already have a crib from your first baby, but don’t forget new crib linens if needed! Maybe some new changing pad covers as well. (We are doing this changing pad for baby #2 that doesn’t require covers. Score!) Also, how about new baby towels and wash cloths? Swaddles? We were pretty covered there since Watson had a lot, but we love the designs on these sweet Aden + Anais muslins, so we have a couple new ones of those.
Depending on how old your other child is, you might need to invest in an additional camera for your baby monitor—if it has the mulitple camera capabilities. We have just started using this Project Nursery monitor, which allows you to buy additional cameras, if needed. I love the wi-fi feature, so we can check in and see how the babies are sleeping straight from our phones, even if we are away for dinner.
A few other randoms //
Check out my “Best Baby Items” blog post to see everything we really loved for Watson when he was a newborn!
