What items are needed for the second baby? « Back to Group Discussions

[roses25]

So what items do you feel are needed for a second baby?

Here's what I've thought of so far:

*Breastpump (I rented one last time around)

*New soft washcloths & working bibs

*A winter carseat cover (I had a summer baby last time)

*A king size bed might be nice but not necessary (I have a queen and it's just myself and my 2 year old

*Maybe an extra swing and bouncer for the babysitter as I provide the toys and often she watches my 2 yr. old at her house vs. my house. 

*Pack N' Play?  I had a pack n' play with my first baby and sold it because it was a wasted piece of equipment.  My baby prefered the sling, the bed, and we had a swing and bouncy seat.  Do you see a pack n'play as being more important with a newborn and a 3 year old when the baby gets here in order to keep newborn safe if I have to get something done? or Will I still find it wasted like the first time?

*A couple cute boy and girl outfits.  The gender will be a surprise this time.  I have several gender neutral neborn clothes and many boy clothes. What if I am surprised with a girl? Would you just take the children out shopping for girl clothes?

What do you find necessary when you already have had a baby before?  We do cloth diapers, so I have all of those items from newborn up to 2 or 3.

Carolyn

[1babysmom]

We bought a king bed before #3 for that reason too!  The four of us in the queen was doable, but we saved up (for a year LOL) to buy a king and it was SO worth it.  There are often 5 of us in the bed now but at least it's more comfy!!

I did the PNP for the "keep other kids away" reason as well.  I don't know how effective it was, but it worked.  With DD2 we just got a regular one from family, but with DS I went and bought a smaller, travel size one from Craigslist.  I MUCH prefer it.  It doesn't take up as much space and is SO much smaller collapsed!  But we keep it by our bed for naps, because with the other little ones running around, I wasn't comfortable with baby on the bed alone (we co-sleep).

That's what we do about clothes.  Now we have some of each, but before DS, I just figured if I had a boy, we'd take care of clothes later.  They don't wear much in the way of outfits anyway in the first couple of weeks so I figured I had time.  (or if you have a shower afterwards it will probably be taken care of...apparently I'm the only person in the world who has only had one baby shower ever LOL because it seems a lot more common to *at least* have one with each...but oh well....)  I DID go and buy a handful of boy items at about 34 weeks because I had a strong feeling he'd be a boy, so that made me feel a little more prepared.

I did buy a few more diapers (of the kinds I already loved) and purged the ones we rarely used, but I've tried to buy just a couple new ones for each baby as a treat, since we don't really buy anything else for them (since we don't have any need).

[esma2175]

My DS is 8, so I have gotten rid of most of my baby things (Read: I have kept our crib, highchair, and some special toys)

I have a list of things that I want:

Breast Pump (manual)

Crib sheets

Sheet protector

Maya Wrap

Small Travel swing

Food Mill

Car Seat and Cover

Stroller (that has the ability to have the child facing you or facing away from you!!)

A few bottles for dad to feed while I can sleep.

Cloth Diapers/wipes

Cute Diaper Bag, which I think I'm just going to sew myself, so it is exactly what I want!

WE had a lot of things with DS that we didn't really use or need, so I'm trying to eliminate all the extra baby clutter:

Changing table (just used a mat on the floor)

Several bouncers/baby holders~ one Yes, Several = overkill

Bottle warmer

Sterilizer

Bassinet

Cart Cover

As for the Pack N Play, My Parents live close and have a very inexpensive one for when DS was little and spent the night at their house.  I don't think I would have a use for it, but it depends on your older child.  I would put the new baby in whatever you have, and when you feel up for it, go get some pretty girly things, if it turns out to be a girl!

[broodymama]

I never used the PnP with my first, but it was handy for my others.  Gave me a safe place to put the baby down for a minute while I was fixing lunch or cleaning up the disaster-of-the-moment or helping one of the little ones go potty.

[BradyMom]

Gosh, I haven't started to think of this yet.  Too focused on the labor part.  But I do have a thought on your bed dilemma.  Why not just purchase a twin to put next to your queen?  Might be a cheaper option.

[OkiMom]

When my youngest was 2 months old we moved from Japan back to the states so I got rid of most of our baby stuff. The stuff we did keep has keep in storage since April of last year (long story full of military stuff no one wants to know about ) so I'm not sure of the condition of whats there. My husband, being a worrywart, wants to replace whats there except for the really special items, because hes worried about the safety issues. I'm more worried about mold issues and if Ill be able to get the clean again after sitting in storage for so long. Usually I strip and clean my baby stuff every 6 months, even when not in use, to keep it clean and make sure its still functional. Oh and I'm somewhat anal about only clean items being near my children.

The items I KNOW will be good (or better be):

Moses basket (I loved loved loved this with my son, I used it more than anything else)

1 bouncy seat (brand new, used maybe 2 times so as long as I can get it clean from storage it should be good)

Some diapers although most were used through 3 children so are on their last leg

the car seat we have here

Items that might be good:

an exerciser- was brand new with my second child, don't know how it fared shipping

clothing- as long as its not moldy/yucky. I don't know what the storage unit is like that our household goods were stored in

Items we will need because either we don't have them or got rid of them before moving.

Single stroller- the house we are suppose to be moving into is a 10 minute walk from the library and I don't baby wear after around 20 weeks (not comfortable for me) so Ill need one for my son

swing- never had one but I need a safe place to put him/her down when I'm homeschooling my oldest two

pack-in-play- another safe place to put him/her down

co-sleeper, mainly because I don't think my youngest will be ready for his own bed by the time the baby comes and I won't kick him out if hes not ready

diapers- to supplement what we have, Ill probably make these

baby gates- to coordinate off the kitchen so I can take care of the baby without worrying about the toddler, my son gets into things ALOT more than his sisters did, or I just have less patience with it.

monitor- so I can put him down for a nap and still hear him.. the house we are hopefully renting is a lot bigger than anything we have ever lived in before (by several hundred sq ft) so I'm worried about being able to hear him/her if I'm in another part of the house or I stepped outside with the girls.

a second nursing pillow cover

Would like to have but not "necessary"

a few outfits that are new just for this baby

a rocking chair/Ottoman.. Ive been waiting one for years and never spent the money on it

Hopefully we move into a house soon so I can get our stuff out of storage and see what we still have that is functional!

[1babysmom]

I think I want to get a moses basket this time, too!!  I remember my baby brother using one and I just think I'd like one and it would be useful for me.  The other thing I "need" to buy this time is a calin bleu sling, so I have a lighter one since October has times where it's still too warm for my other wraps.

[broodymama]

OkiMom, we have some stuff that has been in long-term storage since 2005 and I don't even want to think about what kind of condition it's in!  

I bought a Moses basket off Craigslist before DS2 was born, I really liked it for those first couple weeks!  I'm glad I never got around to giving it to Goodwill, I still have it in our bedroom.

[~Caitlyn~]

I want to CD this time around... so, I'll need to buy those... I might need to buy some neutral onsies... we're waiting to find out the gender this time, and our little girl was 'showered' with loads of pink... so, just in case we have a boy. 

-co-sleeper or bassinette

-neutral onsies

-Cloth diapers - (this is a lot to figure out - luckily I have 9 months...)

-shower sling? (has anyone tried this?)

...I have to be forgetting something? 

[OkiMom]

Red- do you even remember whats in that storage unit? I have to admit I don't remember most of whats in the long term storage we have had since 07. I remember a few things but mostly I draw a blank.. I am looking forward to getting back all the children's books I left in storage, I can't believe I listened to the person who told me that you don't need books for a child until they are 5 or 6.

[UnderTheOldOakTree]

I want to get a moses basket too.  I really wanted one with DS but didn't get it.  Seems like it would be really helpful for the first weeks/months.  

We have all of DS's BG pocket diapers but the velcro is going on most of them so I either need to replace it or put snaps on them.  I also am thinking we'll do some pre-folds with wool covers (which I'll make) this time around.  I guess I'll also need some little t-shirts as opposed to onsies to go with the longies.  

I probably need new tubing and the like to to with my breast pump too.  I had big time supply issues (IGT) last time around so I'm anticipating needing to pump a lot again.

I'll probably need to get my ds a little rocking chair to replace the one he has now.  It has a kick-stand that turns it into  an infant seat so we'll want if for this baby.  It was wonderful when DS was a baby and I needed to get a shower or what not.  I'd really like to make a new cover for it.  Maybe my mom can help me with that next time she visits.

I'd like to get a new ring sling.  I have a water sling (that doesn't do so well out of the water)  and a heavily padded one that I was never a fan of s.  I borrowed a pocket sling with ds but I don't think it's something I would choose to purchase myself so a non-padded ring sling seems to be what I want this time.  Also I didn't have my ergo till DS was well past the newborn/infant stage so I never had the insert for it.   I also still have my spc wrap which I loved with ds so I'm guessing that will get a good bit of wear too.

Catilyn, you mentioned a shower sling.  I did try my water sling in the shower once  but I was very very uncomfortable with it.  I was convinced that my slippery little ds was still going to slip out and fall.  scary scary scary!  It was wonderful for the pool and the beach though.

With this babe I'm holding off on buying a big crib till we think we'll really use it.  I have a mini crib that ds slept in a good bit (he usually started in the crib after nursing to sleep  and then came to our bed when we went to sleep) up till 7-8 months.  I still have the mattress for the standard crib.

We also might need a new jogging stroller once this baby is a bit bigger.  We never used the travel system stroller that came with our carseat, but our third hand jogging stroller has been used almost to death.  Again that's not something I anticipate needing for a while though.

I'd also like a new diaper bag. The ones I had with ds just did not last and now I just use a large purse, but with a new little one I think I need something that lets me be a bit more organized.

I might get or make  a couple of little girl outfits too just in case if we don't find out.  I'm going to try to make a fairly gender neutral layette this time though to use for at least the first few months.

All in all I'd say it's a lot less to get than the last time around.

[nettlesoup]

The only things I can think of that we need are a breast pump and a moses basket. We still have everything from when my daughter was a baby, which is handy!

[OkiMom]

Got all our stuff back from storage and almost all of the baby stuff is messed up. At least teh moses basket is useable (they broke the canopy but I never used that).. UGHS.. I have to basically start from scratch.