Spoiler alert, I’m trying to buy as little baby gear as possible!
I go back and forth between thinking babies need a million things and thinking in reality they don’t need that much. After all, we plan to have our new baby sleep in our room for the first few months. We don’t need a fully set up and nursery and all that business (yet). Plus, babies just sort of sleep, eat, and poop for the first few months. What other baby gear do they really need?
Either way you look at it, babies don’t necessarily need all the things in the world. However there are so many items that can make life a bit easier if you it. Since Millie is 20 months old, we’re in a sweet spot. Her newborn abd baby gear is still very up-to-date and can easily be reused. At the same time, she’s still so young that for some items, we’ll simply have to double up.
I’m trying not to go overboard with buying, but definitely need a few items for the new baby. Some are needs, some are simply wants or things I prefer to upgrade. If you’re curious what we’re buying/getting for our second baby, here’s the full list. Things might be added over time, but to get us started, here’s where we are at.
Baby Gear: What I’m Buying for Baby #2
The Wave Crib by Nestig: Millie is still in her crib, and likely will be for a while. Plus, her crib converts to a toddler bed, so a second is necessary. This one by Nestig converts from a mini crib all the way up to a toddler bed. I think the mini crib will work well in our room for the first few months then can transition to a full size crib once baby is in their own room.
Newton Breathable Mattress: The Nestig comes with a mini mattress but once you make the crib full-sized you need to purchase a mattress. The Newton mattress is completely breathable which gives extra peace of mind if your baby decides to sleep face down. You should always put your baby to sleep on their back, but once they start to roll they may decide to be a belly sleeper (which gave me so much anxiety when Millie started doing this!).
Allswell Littles Crib Sheets: Millie only has a few sets of crib sheets so I needed a couple of more sets for new baby.
Miku Smart Baby Monitor: We used the Nest for Millie and it worked totally fine, it’s a basic monitor (not even a baby monitor, just a camera really). However, I had a lot of anxiety around sleep so decided that a smart baby monitor was important to me. This smart monitor reports on sleep and breathing patterns and I’m excited to try it.
Solly Baby Carrier: Even though I acquired a bunch of carriers the first time around, I didn’t have the Solly and decided it was needed for the newborn stage with this new babe. I had a similar wrap but the fabric was thick and overwhelming and I never used it. This is the one new wrap I’m getting.
Philips Avent Soothie Pacifiers: Millie didn’t use pacifiers for that long (she transitioned to being a thumb sucker), and ideally I’d just reuse hers but apparently that’s bad form and you should just buy new ones. Thankfully they are inexpensive.
Loulou Lollipop Zipper Sleepers We received a lot of buttoning onesie hand-me-downs and now I see why, no one wants them because they are super annoying! I am not buying much clothing for this baby and am primarely relying on Millie’s old clothes and hand-me-downs from friends, but a few zippered sleepers were worth getting.
Spectra S1 Breast Pump: I changed insurances so I qualify for a new breast pump (how exciting!). With Millie I ended up renting a hospital grade one that was free for a year with my insurance. It was the Medela Symphony which worked great but is definitely bulky and heavy (and costs a casual $2,000). Since I had nowhere to go, it didn’t matter. This time I decided to get the Spectra S1 which has a battery option. It’s similar to the S2 but the battery option seemed worth the $50 upcharge. The rest was covered by insurance. I’m considering a wearable pump like the Elvie or Willow but will only invest in that if I end up needing more portability (still currently going nowhere…).
Bodily Nursing Bra: I went real cheap with nursing and pumping bras in round 1. This time I’m getting a couple of new and comfortable ones since I now realize you wear these all the time for basically a year. I’m already wearing this one from Bodily because it’s made for maternity to nursing, and it’s incredibly comfortable.
Dr. Brown’s Baby Bottles: Same as the above pacifier situation, after researching it seems you should buy new bottles as to not pass on germs, even if you sterilize your used ones. These ones worked well for Millie so we’ll give them another go.
Ubbi Diaper Pail: Millie isn’t yet potty trained so a second diaper pail is a must.
Hatch Baby Sound Machine: I’ve loved this sound machine for Millie and especially that you can control it with your phone. I’ve heard that it works really well through the toddler years in terms of teaching your kid to stay in their bed. So seems worth it to get a second one.
Baby Gear: Items We’re Reusing from Baby #1
UppaBaby Carseat: We have the Mesa and I’m happy to get another use out of this. Carseats are not cheap!
UppaBaby Stroller & Bassinet: We purposely purchased the Vista knowing that it can accommodate two kids. I don’t yet have all the attachments to make it a double but will likely get those. We also now have the Mockingbird which similarly converts to a double so I may keep one of the strollers as a single and use one as a double. I love both of these strollers and plan to write a comparison review post of them soon.
Keekaroo Peanut Changing Pad: This changing pad is pretty expensive, but I really liked it with Millie. It’s soft for them to lay on and wipes clean as opposed to having to wash sheet covers. Millie is still in diapers but I find it more comfortable to change her on a basic pad on the floor as opposed to on top of a dresser since she’s bigger now and just lays down when I ask her. Thankful we can just reuse this changing pad for baby #2!
Lansinoh Breastmilk Storage Bags: I purchased a lot of milk storage bags and have so many left over because once the pandemic hit I had essentially no reason to pump anymore (Millie and I have spent approximately no awake time apart since the pandemic started, wow).
Baby Carriers: I have a bunch of carriers and will be reusing my favorites which include the Ergobaby 360, the Wildbird Sling, and the Boppy ComfyChic.
Swaddles: I also really went wild on swaddles, buying all the ones people recommended. So we’ll be reusing these and seeing what baby likes best. We have the Ollie Swaddle (personal favorite), the Muslin Swaddles from Aden & Anais, the Love to Dream, SwaddleMe, and the Zipadee Zip.
Snuggle Me Organic Lounger: I loved this pillow for Millie, it’s such an easy and comfortable spot to safely put the baby.
Boon Soak Baby Bath Tub: This tub made it semi-easy to give a tiny baby a bath, though I still found it to be kind of challenging. Hopefully I’ll have more confidence in my baby bathing skills the second time around.
Lovevery Playgym: This was a a great spot for tummy time and then additional types of play as baby gets older. We put it way around the time Millie was one and kind of lost interest but now I’ll be putting it back up. On the same note, I plan to buy this new kiddo zero new toys. Infant toys don’t get a ton of use and we’ll be using all of Millie’s for a second round.
Baby Bjorn Bouncer: This was such a favorite of Millie’s and I hope the next one loves it just as much.
This isn’t a fully comprehensive list of what I’m reusing. Essentially, anything that I bought and used for Millie I still have and will try with the second. I pretty much kept every single baby thing, hoping we’d be having a second child. I even kept items I never ended up using or ones I didn’t particularly love. Every baby is different so we may end using a lot of the same items or needing more new gear. We will see!
