As I'm expecting our second baby soon, I would like to share some learnings from my experience specifically on building a registry for baby #2. I will go in depth and share things that work for us based on our experience, preference, and budget while it is not the "ultimate" or "must haves". For me this is also another chance to get some items that truly would make my life with the newborn a little bit easier (again based on my first experience). At the end of the post, I put a summary for the "essentials" of Sprinkle registry. Hopefully this list can also help you in anyway, whether you are a first time mom or experienced moms.
First of all, come the question of should we even have a registry for baby #2? The answer is clear YES! Some considerations here:
- I have some hand me downs from our first kid that we can still reuse. However, one thing to note here is to consider the age gap between the two (last) babies. For us, the age gap between Grace and her baby sister is 4 years. This is important because some items might have a safety recommended age (like car seat for example), so we might need to repurchase.
- Disposable items! No matter what you will still need to purchase diapers, diaper rash cream, wipes, toiletries, etc.
- Completion discount. Being honest I totally forgot about this crucial piece of information. But then once I realized I need to purchase some disposable baby item anyway, I created a registry with Amazon and noticed how they offer 15% completion discount - which definitely will come handy!
- Free Baby Boxes - this is just the cherry on top for me. A couple retailers do offer free baby boxes and usually one of the requirement is to setup a registry in their website. I might do another post just to share what I got from each of these free baby boxes later :)
Baby Gear
As mentioned above, some items are better to purchase new due to safety rather than reusing. Personally, I also have a better idea of what I like and need this second time around. A couple items that I registered for from this category:
1. Infant Car Seat
Due to safety considerations, we used Orbitz Baby G2 for Grace. In general, I don't have a lot of complaints about it just that it is on the "heavier" side. I made the first time parent mistake of just reading reviews and taking recommendations from trusted friends but did not really consider our own circumstances. I'm on the petite side (a little less than 5 ft tall) so towing this infant car sear around especially in the first few weeks after the baby was born was a pure torture.
Unfortunately (or fortunately for my case =P) Grace's carseat was manufactured back in 2014 and from my research the cut off time that is recommended is 6 years. So we decided to purchase a new car seat for baby #2, and with the weight requirement in mind, we chose the Nuna Pipa Lite LX.
2. Stroller
Most parent usually will purchase a double stroller. For us, Grace is not fond of sitting in her stroller so we skipped the double stroller. We did end up purchasing a new stroller for the baby though. For Grace I used two different brands of stroller and infant car seat, so I had to use an adapter. One thing that I learned, using an adapter sometimes can be a hassle ... especially if your stroller is too tall for your body frame and your infant carseat is heavy! Due to that, this time we wanted to purchase infant car seat and stroller from similar brand and therefore we went with the Nuna Mixx stroller. Also, we registered for this Ethan & Allen stroller organization from Amazon since from past experience it has been very useful (the strap on our old one was broken so we need a replacement).
3. Baby Carrier
We purchased Ergo 360 for Grace so we'll definitely reuse that, but I was given a Baby K-tan wrap for newborn stage and sadly it didn't really work for me. I feel the material was not stretchy enough. I saw that a lot of people recommended Boba wrap, so I'm thinking of trying that out for this time.
4. Swing & Bouncers
We purchased the fisher price bouncer (which unfortunately had stopped working right now) for Grace. She was just okay with it - we had some use out of it but not a ton. That's why this time I want to try something new. I ended up purchasing a swing - also from fisher price - since I got a really good deal for it by utilizing Amazon's completion discount.
Other items that are usually included in this category are Playards and Baby Gyms but we have Grace's old Graco pack n' play and Skiphop's Baby Gym (her old style is not available anymore but this one is cute) so we will be reusing those.
Nursery Items
1. Crib & Nursery Beds
We are skipping crib since we love Grace's Babyletto Hudson Crib and it still in an almost pristine condition (Grace has been sleeping in our bed, unfortunately, for the past 4 years). However, I do noticed there are plenty of options for newborn pillows or loungers in the market right now, and so intrigued to at least try one of them. I've heard good stuff about the dock-a-tot even back in 2016, but the price point is still too high for me for a stuff that can be used for a couple months. So instead I'm trying this Boppy Lounger.
2. Mattresses
Similar with the crib, we're skipping mattress since Grace's old mattress is still in pristine condition.
3. Bedding
I'm purchasing additional crib sheets since Grace only has 3 of those and she drew a nice cartoon doodle on one of them :). My favorite crib sheets comes from Pottery Barn (look how cute this pattern is!). I just love the materials so much (organic cotton!) - although I would say the price point is on the higher side. This time we're also purchasing a crib rail cover protector, since I still clearly remember the horror when I found out that Grace has been chewing on her crib railing and might have eaten some of the paint.
4. Changing Table & Pads
For Grace I bought a dresser (in the same set with her Babyletto Hudson Crib) and it comes with a detached "changing top". I believe buying a dresser is more cost efficient than buying a specific changing table. For the pads, I disliked the popular option of buying the white Munchkin pad with different types of cloth coverings. So back then, we ended up purchasing the "peanut" KeeKaRoo changing pad which I really loved because it was so easy to clean. But since I originally did not plan to have another baby, I sold the Keekaroo pad already :( I still keep another large waterproof changing pad that my mom bought from Indonesia so I plan to just use that this time around.
Other item that is included in this category is Glider and Rocking Chair. I had the standard Ikea rocking chair last time for Grace and did not really use it, so this time I'm also skipping these items.
Feeding
Last time with Grace, I did both direct BF and pumping. So for this category, I repurchased a warmer & sterilizers, pacifiers, breast pump, feeding pillows, and bibs and burp cloths. For bottle feeding necessity, I only purchased the new nipples and planned to reuse Grace's old Dr Brown glass bottles. I also received some new bottles from the free welcome baby boxes. I'm skipping high chairs, booster seats, and other solid feeding needs since I believe I should have most of it already.
1. Warmer & Sterilizers
We used Dr Brown sterilizer and Boon warmer last time and were unsatisfied with both products. I'm trying to find a sterilizer that can also "dry" the bottles this time. We are trying a new technology that is also highly popular back home in Indonesia recently - UV sterilizer. Our choice is this one from a brand called Upang. As a side bonus, it comes in very pretty pink color that matches with my Kitchen Aid! *lol*
For bottle warmer, our problem with the Boon warmer was the size. With Grace we ended up using MAM bottles, and there were a couple instances when the bottle leaked when we warmed it up using the Boon warmer. Not sure if this was because the space in the warmer was too tight. We saw that Avent bottle warmer has tons of good review on Amazon, so that's what we're trying this time.
2. Pacifiers & Teethers
For hygiene reason, we repurchased a couple new pacifiers for the 2nd baby. My first choice is Grace's favorite MAM pacifiers, but knowing how every baby is different we also got a couple different ones - like this one from Phillip Avent. Similarly we also repurchased paci clips - the silicon type one and the normal cloth ones here. I'm skipping teethers for now but have been eyeing this one from LouLou Lollipop (they also have very cute swaddles!).
3. Feeding Pillows
I still own the Boppy pillow that I used with Grace, but sadly it didn't work for me. This time I'm adding another item that was suggested to me by a coworker 4 years ago from a brand called My Brest Friend. She said due to the design, it is much easier to hold the newborn baby steady using this pillow. I've heard good reviews on YouTube as well about this pillow, so very excited to try it out.
4. Bibs & Burp Cloths
Despite my initial belief of not needing to purchase a lot of stuffs (especially clothing related for 2nd baby), I found out that bibs and burp cloths are a bit different. For context, Grace had a really bad silent reflux as a baby so I threw away most of her bibs and burp cloths because those were stained really badly (and smelled funny as well no matter how many times I washed it). I ended up purchasing a couple new ones from Amazon to add to the small number of bibs and burp cloths that I can still reuse. I'm trying the bandana bibs style - there are so many options on Amazon but somehow I just like the patterns of this one. For burp cloths, I heard good things about Burt Bees' burp cloth but this is the one we ended up purchasing.
4. Breast Pump
I used the Byram Healthcare website to get my insurance covered breast pump (I picked the Medela Pump in Style) but still purchasing another breast pump out of pocket since I've had difficulty pumping last time and might need a "stronger" pump. My choice fell on this super popular Spectra S1 pump. I've been hearing raving reviews about this pump since it's as strong as a medical grade pump but without having the cost of one.
Diapering
Besides stocking up for diapers and wipes, some items that I repurchased from this category were diaper creams and diaper bags. I plan to reuse my old Ubbi diaper pail (which doesn't need a special trash bag btw in case you're in the market of one) and have a bunch of portable changing mats that I used for Grace,
1. Diapers
I only used two kind of diapers for Grace before she turned 2 years old: Honest and Pampers swaddlers. Honest works wonder - she rarely had any diaper rash if she's using them. Not the same story with pampers swaddlers although I love the fact that they have the wetness indicator line. So this time I'm also stocking up on some Honest diapers - I purchased a few box of Newborn diapers, size 1 as well as size 2.
2. Wipes
The same with diapers, I only used Honest and Pampers Sensitive (or Pure) for Grace so also buying similar brands for this second time. I did purchased a couple pack of Water Wipes out of curiosity though, since a lot of people swore by it.
3. Diaper Creams
Grace only used Desitin but this time I also purchased a pack of Bodreaux Butt Paste ointment just to try it out.
4. Diaper Bags
This is more like a "splurge" (nice to have) purchase for me since we don't really need an additional diaper bag. I outgrew the cute pattern/design of my old Jujube's diaper bag and really want something that's more minimalistic in design. After looking around, I chose Skiphop's Greenwich Bag in the portobello color. I really like the design and look of the bag but unfortunately it doesn't have as many compartment inside as I wish it would.
Bath Time
I only purchased the "disposable" type of items in this category initially (soap, cleansers, and lotion), but ended up buying a couple of new towels as well. Despite being a huge fans of honest diapers and wipes, we have different experience with their bath soap and shampoo. Somehow Grace was allergic to those! What have been working for her instead are Cetaphil lotion and soap, Babyganics, and Mustela. I particularly likes Mustella's fragrance so for baby #2 that's what I'm stocking up for. For baby towels, I like how cute Target's cloud island hooded towels are so I got two of those!
Another item that I considered as essential in this category is wash cloths. I really like these washcloths with bamboo materials from Amazon.
Health and Safety
I skipped most of items on this category (Baby Monitors, Baby Gates, Nail Clippers, Electrical Safety Items) but repurchased an aspirator (Nose Frida!) and a new humidifier for Grace's room (since the baby will be rooming in with us). We also purchased a new non-contact forehead thermometer to not disturb the baby when she's sleeping.
Clothing
In a similar manner with some clothing items mentioned in the earlier categories, I also found myself repurchasing a couple items because Grace's hand me downs were not in a good shape.
1. Swaddles
Grace practically lived in her swaddles for at least her first one year. I used to swaddle her around the clock but as she was getting bigger, mostly we only used the swaddle for longer night time sleep. Grace was a really good sleeper btw, she started sleeping through the night as early as 5 weeks old. The type of swaddles we used in her newborn stage vs later were different. For newborn we liked Aden & Anais muslin swaddles and then for later stage - Halo sleep sacks. Those are still in moderately good condition but I'm adding a couple new muslin ones for baby #2. I also purchased the different types of swaddles (again since different baby might have different preference) - these velcro ones from SwaddleMe and a love to dream swaddle. I'm super curious with the later since Grace was like a houdini as a baby and in a couple minutes after we swaddled her she always managed to release both her hands from it.
2. Socks and Mittens
She has plenty of socks and mittens hand me downs from big sister Grace, but based on past experience the only one type that works with Grace are these from Goumikids. The only downside was the price point - but I saw that there are some dupes in the market nowadays.
3. Hats
I only have a couple newborn hats for Grace so this time I'm in the market to purchase some more. I ended up choosing this one - I haven't opened the package and washed it, but it does seem to be a tad too big for newborn stage. Not sure if it will shrink a bit after first wash. Included in this section / category for me is baby headband. Again, not a necessity just good to have items since I plan to take newborn pictures of the baby. I purchased this one from Amazon recently and pretty happy with the materials - would definitely recommend.
4. Bodysuits and Sleepwear
I added a couple more NB or 0-3 months items since I threw away some of Grace's old ones. I have a couple considerations when purchasing NB clothing items. First of all, I care a lot about the material. H&M newborn range comes with very soft materials which I adore and some of them even made from organic cottons. I'm also particular about onesies with side openings and with build in mittens. I still remember how fragile a newborn baby feels and pushing onesies through their neck had never been a favorite activity for me. For sleepers or pajamas, I only want the zip up type :) You don't want to add another hassle of buttoning or unbuttoning pajamas when you have to wake up several time in the middle of the night for diaper changes - trust me!
Summary
To sum up this very long posts ... if I have to recommend items for building a basic baby registry for second baby, here are a couple essentials items:
1. Diapering and Bath time: Toiletries, Diapers, Wipes, etc. You also might want to get one or two new hooded towels and washcloths.
2. Clothing: Some to replaced highly used items (which might have been soiled) such as burp cloths, bib, onesies.
3. Feeding: New nipples for the bottles and pacifiers at the minimum. Personally I would also recommend some new bottles especially since bottles are heavily used items and the cost of replacing them is not that big.
4. Baby Gear: Many parents recommended double stroller, second baby monitor, second humidifiers, and also wearable baby carrier. As mentioned above, some items (like crib and infant car seat) come with recommended safety date. Check if you need to replace your old ones.
5. If you're planning to breast feed or pump - also stock up on some "disposables": breast milk storage bags, nipple cream, soothing breast gel pads, and nursing pads. I would also recommend buying additional pump parts - especially if you plan to use Medela breast pump. There was one time when one of the membrane was torn and I wasn't able to use my pump before I purchased a replacement.
Thanks for reading this very long post. I hope you found it fun and helpful just as I feel whenever I'm watching similar YouTube videos or blog post!
<3
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