What We'll Do For Babe #2 (Top 10 Baby List)

Heeeyyyyy all! It's been a bit, right? We've been busy these past 18 months. Not only have we been raising a tiny human, but we've been working to turn this rancher into a home that fits our family of 3. Er... family of 4! The projects certainly haven't stopped around here, and I still plan to post updates one day... stay tuned?

Anyway, I wanted to share a little glimpse into life with baby and how we're planning for babe #2.

Baby #1 is a life-changer. You don’t know what you need, or what your baby will be like, or what your baby will actually use so it’s very easy to go overboard with the registry scanner at those baby stores. Over time though, all parents will learn what works best for them and their baby, and most will find that they can survive just fine with out baby knee pads (yeah, that’s a thing). With baby #1, our goal was to only register for and purchase what we absolutely needed with a few wants (like a pricey play mat). But then family and friends started buying up all kinds of cute little knick knacks and we were up to our eyeballs in bibs, toys and cotton baby mits.

We feel like we have a good grip on parenthood now, and what works best for our lifestyle (famous last words??). And that means not being afraid to go through toys and gear regularly to evaluate if they serve us well. For example, I had accumulated three baby carriers (3). I have now sold all three, and am replacing those with just ONE carrier that works great for every stage of baby/toddlerhood and fits both me and my husband. That’s one of my many learn-as-I-go things… BTW, adding yourself to a local M2M sale site on Facebook will make finding a home for gently used items really easy!

We’ve pared down our baby items significantly now that we know what we will use/not use. And what we use daily serves us well. Granted, I’ve heard that what works for baby #1 won’t necessarily work for baby #2, so maybe we’re in for a little surprise? I’ll update in 12 months.

I compiled a list of our top 10 favorite items that we use and love and what we plan to re-use for babe 2.0 - that's the first portion of this post. The second portion includes a list of 10 items that we kicked to the curb. However, just because these items don't work for us, doesn't mean they won't work for you! Take it with a grain of salt ;) 

THINGS WE'LL USE/RE-USE FOR BABE #2

1. Hatch Baby Rest - We used a standard sound machine for the first 17-months of our toddler's life and it was well-used! It wasn’t fancy, but it got the job done. We found a sound machine to be a necessary item in our house to calm a tired baby and to drown out any loud noises. We will definitely be using a sound machine again. But, our needs have expanded with a toddler. We wanted to introduce our toddler to an “okay-to-wake” light (he’s an early riser), but we didn’t want to add another device to his room. Then we found this new, smart sound machine. The Hatch Baby Rest is a night light, sound machine, and okay-to-wake device in one. It can be controlled via smartphone, has multiple sound options, multiple color options, and can be set on a schedule to let your child (and your caregivers) know when it’s quiet time, nap time, bed time, and when it’s okay-to-wake. We ordered one for our toddler to test it out. We *love* it, and have added another Hatch Baby Rest on our must-have list for 2.0.  

2. City Mini Stroller - It should be required that parents don’t register for a stroller until they have a child to put in it. We already have a stroller collection, so I feel like I can talk about the pros and cons of these expensive contraptions. We LOVE our Baby Jogger City Mini GT. This stroller is the best ever, and I have only one, teeny-tiny complaint about it. It’s compact (in terms of full-size strollers), fits the infant carrier, can be folded with one hand, and lifted with one arm, can tear through any off-balanced terrain, the seat lays almost flat (good for diaper changes on the go) and can be stored in the trunk of my car with out folding down the third-row seat (with room to spare). My one complaint is that the seat has quite a recline even in the up position. I didn’t realize how great my stroller was so I ALSO purchased a travel system that expands to fit two little ones. The thing is a monster. It’s huge, and it takes up so much space, it needs two hands to open and close and has made me love my City Mini that much more. Here’s my suggestion to new moms… Go to the store and try them out. Add 20 pounds to the stroller and push it around, push it with one hand, then put that 20 lb flour sack on your hip and fold the stroller and un-fold it. Sure, you can buy the fancy stroller (because strollers are status symbols). Whatever. My advice is to get the bad ass stroller that you can actually live with. We will stick with using mainly the City Mini because it’s so functional, and it’ll be easier to wear kiddo #2 for the first 6 months while we push our toddler in the stroller. *GT model is not necessary. We like to hike, and Justin is a runner, so we thought the stroller with suspension would be a good option for us. The regular City Mini would work perfectly fine for a normal-use family. Oh yeah, and I learned that you don't take a stroller on a hike anyway! 

3.  Tula Free-to-Grow Carrier - I went through a few carriers and ended up selling the ones that didn’t work for me. There are so many carriers out there now if you like to wear your baby. Note: wearing the babe in the early days will allow you to get shit stuff done when you have a babe who won’t nap unless he’s in your arms. I still wear my toddler if he won't let me put him down. This lets me actually make dinner and keep the kid happy.

•  Boba Wrap Carrier – So.Much.Fabric. It would take a bit of time to wrap this thing up, through, and around, and I had a boatload of leftover fabric hanging from my hip. This wasn’t my jam, so I sold this… and bought...
• K’Tan - The K’Tan is basically like a double infinity scarf that is sized like clothing. It is so much easier to slip your arms through and pop baby in. This was a game-changer. I stopped carrying baby in the infant car seat, and started using the K’tan because I could quickly get it on and pop baby in. Baby’s happy because they’re snuggled up against mom, and mom’s happy because she can shop for a full, uninterrupted hour at Target. But then, Dad wants to wear baby and the K’tan is designed to fit only me (I’m size XS, and Dad isn’t)… so enter the
• Ergo 360 – We switched to The Ergo when baby was 5+ months. We can easily switch between mom carry and dad carry. Our little one never liked facing out anyway, so we don’t really need the 360 feature.  Note: You can use the 360 from birth-toddlerhood, but it requires an additional purchase of the infant insert (which is bulky and HOT) But I’m so over having multiple carriers. So… we upgraded AGAIN.
• TULA Free-to-Grow – the angels are singing for all the baby-wearing parents. This is a recent release, and oh-so-smart design. The design is for babies and toddlers from 7-45 lbs. No infant insert– just switch up the snap design (takes 20 seconds) and you’re able to switch your carrier to fit either infant or toddler, and fit either mom or dad. HALLELUAH! Consider all my other carriers SOLD. It’s about the same price as the Ergo 360 – AND requires no additional purchases (unless, of course, you need matching chew pads and paci clips)

4. Dr. Brown’s Glass Bottles - I purchased 3 - 5 oz Dr. Brown’s glass bottles and they still serve us perfectly today (our first never drank more than 5 oz of breastmilk at each meal. He still gets about 5 oz of Almond Milk for morning, nap and bedtime). In addition, we only used the level 1 nipple flow until about 12 months. I had read that a breastfed baby may start to prefer the faster flow of the bottle and begin to refuse the breast. I can’t speak to the latter, but I never had issues with this. FYI - glass bottles will also slow the flow. We still uses the same bottles for his milk, but we switched to a transition silicone sippy spout (by Dr. Browns). I hand-wash the bottles so the 3 bottles work great for us. I had a different set of bottles I used for pumping fresh milk (plastic Medela bottles that came with the pump). I would immediately transfer the milk to either a glass bottle or a storage bag. BM sticks like glue to plastic bottles so I didn’t like storing the milk in the plastic. BM doesn't stick to glass like it does plastic. 

5. Fisher Price Rock-and-Play - I really didn’t want to use one of these. But, my baby had other plans. This thing ended up being our life line for the first few months. It was lightweight and easy enough to move room to room that I could pull it in the bathroom (so I could shower), drag it into the kitchen, and place it next to the couch so I could sneak in a daytime nap.

6. IKEA ANTILOP Highchair - This is one of my favorite baby purchases, hands down. It’s practical, clean-lined, and super easy to clean. No fuss or frills about it. And the best part is that it’s <$20 and it kicks the butt of any highchair on the market. We keep this in our sitting room/kitchen area for breakfast and lunch.  The thing still looks brand new after daily use. We use a separate clip-on chair for dinner time so he’s at the table with us (Phil and Ted’s Lobster Chair – it’s a deep seat for baby and lets them enjoy being at the table with family. We also take this along with us when we travel).

7. Silicone Feeding:

• EZPZ Happy Mats: These little mats are such a great design. It’s designed to suction to a flat surface so baby can’t fling their meal across the room. Our toddler quickly learned how to remove the suction, but it still works wonders for us. We only have two, one for the diaper bag and one for home. They clean up easily, portions out his food, and we don’t have any other meal dishes.
• Squeasy Snacker Reusable Food Pouch: It took me a few fails before I finally found these. These reusable squeeze bottles are super easy to clean (a wide neck so a bottle brush can get into it), they don’t leak/spill,  they are effortless to fill and great for little hands. We fill this with yogurt, applesauce, and finely-pureed smoothies. This also saves us some cash on groceries because we buy the quart-sized applesauce and yogurts rather than the single-portion sizes. (I added Chia seeds to yogurt one day, and the Chia wouldn’t go through the filter. Purees must be finely pureed, or you can remove the silicone gasket but this will make the Squeasy more vulnerable to spilling)
• Silicone Feeding Bibs: We own two bibs. Two. One for home, and one for the diaper bag. They wash up or wipe down so quick and easily that we have no need for extra bibs. Why do they even make other kinds??

8. My Breast Friend Nursing Pillow – This thing was amazing in the early days. I loved the firm memory-foam material so baby doesn’t slip between pillow and boob, and it was nice to be able to clip the pillow around me. If I needed to get up or adjust, the pillow came with me (and so did baby). I strapped this on and could walk around while nursing. I’m assuming I’ll need to get up more often this time around (aka, chasing toddler), so I’ll be utilizing this again! You’ll need the little back support it provides too! Eventually you’ll be vacuuming while nursing your baby and won’t need this anymore… but it’s a must-have for those first few months.

9. Zutano Baby Booties - This was a late addition to our baby arsenal. Socks just didn’t cut it. They would fall off and one would always disappear. These cozy little booties keep those little toes warm and snap around baby’s ankle (with a variety of snaps for sizing) – they hold up really well to frequent washing, too. Once we discovered these, we rarely used socks (and we only owned one set in each size). Downside: they’re pricey, and the sizing only goes up to 18 months.

10. NoseFrieda Snot Sucker – Our first born would constantly get breastmilk in his nose as a newbie and it would make his breathing sound rattled. We used this from the very beginning to clear his nasal passages. And still today (more boogers, less milk). Except now we need 5 people to hold down a squirmy toddler. The Snot Sucker can be cleaned effectively and you can see all the gunk being sucked out. This and a bottle of saline spray is all you need for those congested babies.


We are re-using many of these items that we used for our first. But, because my son is still using some items (like his sound machine and humidifier), or maybe we need some disposable items (like diapers, and a pacifier) we created a list of items we plan to purchase for 2.0. I made a Amazon registry to keep track of the items we need. Not because we are having a shower (we're not), but because we will get a "registry completion" discount to purchase the items on our list (a little trick I learned). And, when my mom gets the urge to buy the baby an outfit that we don't need, I might suggest she reference this list instead. While I feel like giving someone a list is setting an expectation for them to buy for the baby (and I hate that) it will give our loved ones the assurance that this is what we really need and will really use. 

THINGS WE WON'T USE OR DO FOR BABE #2

Call me a hater... but these are 10 items that we found to not work with our lifestyle, so we also don't plan to use them with baby #2. Warning, number 6 will probably stir up some drama. 

1. Bottle Warmer - Bottle Warmers are (apparently) not magic. We used one for a while, but I didn't religiously check the water level.  Once the water level is low, the bottle warmer becomes completely useless. But, of course, you won't notice until 5 minutes have passed and you think you're pulling a warm bottle from the machine. We eventually stopped using this and microwaved a bowl of water, then placed the bottle in the warm bowl of water for a few minutes. Took the same amount of time, and removed the extra clutter of the bottle warmer from my countertop. 

2. Baby Swing - I bought a mamaroo secondhand when I was pregnant. We used it a total of one time. We never used a swing because I didn’t want my baby to get used to sleeping with motion. It was fine, he survived, and I was happy to not have a big baby item taking up my floor space.

3. Bumbo Seat – I bought one secondhand for my first-born… and I’m so glad I only paid $5 for it. I have already passed it on to a friend. My 6-month-old was sitting up unassisted and he didn't need a special seat to teach him that. 

4. Drool Bibs - Wait… we’re not using these? Let me explain. We got a lot of bibs as gifts. But our first wasn’t a drooler or a spitter-upper, so we rarely used them. For us, the cute ones were just an accessory rather than a drool catcher. We’ll keep a few bibs around just in case this little one is more leaky, but we’ll definitely be reducing our inventory.

5. Shopping Cart Cover - While I think these are ridiculous, I know plenty of moms who refuse to put their kiddo in a cart/highchair with out one of these. I know myself, and I know that I would never carry this bulky item around from store to store. I do have this infant seat cover that is multifunctional and can be used as a shopping cart cover. Full disclosure - I never used it as a shopping cart or high chair cover, but it worked great as a infant seat cover. I keep a little dispenser of antibacterial wipes in the diaper bag and wipe down surfaces rather than carry an additional item. It takes us less space, and I'm just not the mom to worry about my kiddo having contact with human bacteria. My toddler is now 18-months-old, has sat in many carts and highchairs (and probably chewed on his fair share) and the kid has been sick for a total of 24-hours in his time earth side.

6. Nursing Covers - I get it… breastfeeding for the first few times in public can be intimidating as hell. But then, your kid will eventually not like their face covered. Ditch the covers, mama, and help advocate for all the future moms who will breastfeed in public. Be strong and positive in your convictions. You are feeding your child. And if someone doesn’t like it they don’t have to look. If you want some coverage anything will work, like a blanket you already carry with you, a scarf you may already be wearing or the cloth napkin at a restaurant. Your babe will love the little game of peek-a-boo ;)

7. Infant Socks – There isn’t one baby item I dislike more than those teeny baby socks that slip off infant feet. Disclaimer: once baby is in shoes, socks are necessary. It’s just on those teeny baby toes that I say kick them to the curb. We used the Zutano Baby Booties for our pre-walker and loved them.

8. Hooded/Cutesy Towels – There's no reason to have a special towel for a baby. We like the naturally anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-microbial, and quick-drying feature of these. We aren’t a wash-the-towel-after-every-use family, so we only have 3 towels for our little one. I have 2 more towels on our wishlist for babe #2. And these should last us years to come.

9. Bath Thermometer - My wrist does a really great job of telling me the temperature of bath water. It took my dog chewing up the cutesy bath thermometer to make me use my wrist rather than the thermometer. We never replaced it, and we don't plan to. 

10. Cabinet Latches – our parenting philosophy is that we want our son to explore and be safe while doing it. So, instead of latching every cabinet and drawer, we just moved the dangerous stuff out of reach and kept the safe stuff below. We have always allowed our son to explore the cabinets and have creative play with the contents. At 18-months, he no longer has much interest in them. In fact, the only baby proofing in our home is one gate at the top of our basement stairs, and one cabinet latched (cleaning supply cabinet). Disclosure: We updated all of our electrical outlets to the Tamper-Resistant style. I still recommend either updating to tamper resistant outlets, or plugging in those little caps. 

OTHER FAVORITES - TRIED AND TRUE

Diapering

- Munchkin Premium Step Pail 

- Fawn Design Diaper Bag A back-pack style diaper bag is essential when you're wearing baby. This is functional and stylish.

Activity

- Jolly Jumper

Feeding

- Aden & Anais Burpy Bibs

- Silicone Baby Food Freezer Tray

- GrabEase Utensils 

- Stainless Steel Munchkin 360 Cup

- Stainless Steel Munchkin Snack Cup

Bathtime

- Primo EuroBath 

- Muslin Washcloths 
- Muslin Bathtowels

Misc. 

- ITzbeen

- hOme Warm/Cool Mist Humidifier and Diffuser

Now it's your turn. What were your absolute favorite new-human items that served you well? Let us know in the comments.