16 Must Haves for your Second Baby Registry
Third trimester has finally arrived! I am now in full on baby prep mode. I don’t have as much time to nest, organize, and prepare the nursery like I did with my first. However, I do fill those little pockets of time between chasing my 2.5 year old around to do pregnant mom things like facebook marketplace items for the nursery and create a baby registry.
Our second baby is a boy, yay! Which means we will have 2 boys, almost 3 years apart. Our first was born in mid fall and our second will be born mid summer. I am very grateful that “baby sprinkles” or baby showers for baby #2 are now a common thing. I’ve been surprised at how much I actually still need for baby #2, despite already having a baby a couple years ago.
In this post, I’m sharing 16 newborn must-haves for second baby, as well as items that I wouldn’t die without, but would make things *much easier* if I have them for our second born. Feel free to add these items straight to your registry or shopping cart as I will have everything that I mention linked for your convenience. In full transparency, I will earn a small commission on the items you purchase through the amazon and r.style links. After reading the post, let me know in the comments below what items you couldn’t live without, and what items make your life easier with your second baby.
16 Must-Haves for your Second Baby
- Diapers – Diapers are a no brainer. My personal favorite are pampers swaddlers, but honestly we shop Costco’s diapers 99% of the time. They are so affordable compared to other brands and we’ve never experienced leaks with them.
- Wipes – We also shop Costco’s wipes 99% of the time for my toddler and plan to for baby #2 as well. They are mostly water, don’t irritate my son’s skin, and are affordable.
- Washable Bibs – I love this cute washable bib from mushie and have it on our registry for baby #2. Once baby starts eating solids, mealtime is messy. You’ll definitely want a bib that has a pocket to catch all the food and that you can wash easily in the sink to use for the next meal. If you have a toddler who is still wearing a bib at meals like mine is, then a second bib for your second baby is a must.
- Pacifiers – Even if you still have pacifiers from your first baby, you do not want to reuse them. The rubber and silicone breaks down over time from use and heat (like in the dishwasher). I took a look at the pacifiers we used with our first son because I saved them thinking I’d reuse them. They look cloudy, deformed, and just plain not something I want to put in my newborn baby’s mouth.
After some research, I found that these itzy ritzy sweetie soothers are raved about among moms as baby’s most loved pacifiers. I tried bibs, frigg, nuk, mam, and philips avent pacifiers with our first baby and the only pacifiers he *sort of* used were mam newborn. When reading through the itzy ritzy sweetie soother pacifier reviews, a lot of parents also said their baby wouldn’t take many of the common above named pacifiers but the sweetie soothers were the only pacifier their baby loved. So, I’m giving them a shot for our second baby. I’ll update you in a future blog post or youtube video to let you know how our baby likes them.
- Soft cozy sleepers and matching clothing sets – I want our baby to be comfy and I want dressing him to be easy in those first few sleep-deprived months. I’m stocking up on soft cozy sleepers and cute mix and match sets that will make dressing our baby boy easy.
For mix and match clothing sets, I love what H&M has to offer. I have a lot of their color coordinating onesie, short, and pant sets on my registry.
For sleepers, I’ve been a huge fan of Burt’s Bees onesies since our first son was a newborn. I have several in each size ranging from newborn to 4T and will definitely be reusing the ones we already have that our son has outgrown.
I also was recently sent a couple adorable jammies from Pax and Lucy that I want to share with you all. As soon as I felt the fabric of these sleepers, I knew they were different from anything else I’ve ever used for our son. One of the things that sets Pax and Lucy apart is the fabric they use. It’s called Tencel Modal and it feels *amazing*. It’s the most buttery soft, breathable fabric I’ve ever felt and it’s stretchy for long-lasting wear. Pax and Lucy is a family owned and run company so you can feel good about supporting them! I highly recommend checking them out for the coziest sleepers ever.
- Split screen monitor – We still have a monitor in our older son’s room. He can get out of his big boy bed so we still like to be able to keep an eye on him at night. Because we’re still using a monitor for him, we need a second monitor for baby #2. I’d prefer it to be a monitor that has a split screen feature so I don’t need to carry around 2 separate monitors after bedtime. I tried to find a monitor in the mid-price range that had great reviews and decided on the VAVA dual baby monitor with split screen. We’ll see how it works for us and I’ll update y’all on this as well in the future.
- Sound machine – Our toddler still uses his sound machine from Hatch. We love that it has a nightlight and I can control the light and sound from my phone without having to sneak into his room. Since his is still being used, we are adding a second hatch sound machine to our baby registry.
- A Second Pack and Play – Depending on how far apart your first and second born are, you’ll need a second pack and play/travel crib/cot for your child to sleep on. We have this travel light playard by dream on me on our registry because it will work better for our older son since he’s taller, and will use our pack and play for our second baby.
- Legendairy Milk Sunflower Lecithin Capsules – These were an absolute life saver when it came to breastfeeding and preventing/clearing clogged milk ducts. I never got mastitis, but I did have clogged milk ducts in those first few months of breastfeeding. When I took the sunflower lecithin capsules, the clogged duct would disappear within 24 hours. I started taking one capsule daily after that and never got a clogged duct again. I’ve heard the same thing from many other moms so I know this wasn’t just my experience.
- Tiny Kind Sage Burp Cloths – Burp cloths are an absolute must for feeding baby, especially in the first few months. Our son had reflux so he would projectile milk after most of his feeds from 0-6 months old. While I could reuse the stained and well-used burp cloths from our firstborn, I thought it would be nice to add one set of fresh burp cloths to our registry for baby #2. I decided on these cute and soft burp cloths from Tiny Kind.
- Diaper Pail Refill Bags – If one thing is for sure, you’ll have lots of dirty diapers in your future with your new little one. For our second baby, we will be using our diaper genie diaper pail that we already own, but we will be needing more diaper pail refill bags. I really like these knockoff brand diaper pail refill bags from Amazon.
- Kyte Baby Blanket – My older son has a pottery barn kids blanket and a knit blanket from Nordstrom that are his two absolute favorites. He calls them his “lovies” and I think the world would end if we lost one. With that being said, I knew I wanted to get a super soft, well-made baby blanket for our second son as well that he can grow attached to over time the way our toddler has become attached to his blankets.
Everything by Kyte baby is *so* soft, and their baby blankets are no exception. I’m excited to have this blanket by Kyte Baby for our newborn. The blanket also comes in so handy on cooler days when you don’t quite need to put a coat or extra layer on your little one but a baby blanket is the perfect amount of extra warmth to keep them cozy.
- City Select Baby Jogger Double Stroller – After doing a lot of research on double strollers, I decided on the city select baby jogger double stroller . I snagged a gently used one off facebook marketplace for $200 when they usually retail for $700-$800+ for the double stroller. It’s in great condition and I’ve loved using it so far with our older son. I also added the city select graco car seat adapter to our registry so the double stroller will be compatible with our newborn carseat.
- Ergo Embrace Baby Carrier – For our first baby, I used the lillebaby complete carrier. While it wasn’t bad, it was also not the best. I had a realllllly hard time buckling the back buckle when I needed to put it on by myself in the parking lot before baby wearing for errands. It was also really big and bulky to wear with such a small baby during those first few months.
So after doing some more research, I decided the Ergo Embrace newborn baby carrier would be a better fit for those newborn months and even a bit beyond. Then once baby brother is older and has outgrown the embrace carrier, I can switch to the lillebaby carrier again. The Ergo Embrace is specifically made for baby’s first months. It’s cozy soft and hugs your baby literally in a warm embrace, just like the name states. I think it will be a much better fit for baby wearing when baby #2 is a newborn.
- Snuggle Me Infant Lounger – With our first son, we used the Boppy lounger when I needed a comfortable place to lay him down for a bit. But sadly, the Boppy lounger was recalled and the company asked owners to completely discard the lounger for safety reasons. I’ve heard amazing things about the Snuggle Me Infant Lounger, so I figured it would be a wonderful replacement for our boppy lounger for baby #2.
- Ollie Swaddles (2) – For my firstborn, we used swaddle me swaddles and love to dream swaddles. My baby hated the swaddle me swaddles and they didn’t provide much room for movement in his hips/legs so I didn’t love them either. He really liked the love to dream swaddles because he was able to suck on his hands as he fell asleep and loved doing that. So, I’ll be keeping the love to dream swaddles and see if our second born likes to have his hands by his face as well.
I also purchased two of the Ollie Swaddles because they come highly recommended by Cara from Taking Cara Babies (my favorite baby sleep lady ever!!!) and pretty much every mom I talk to. I like that they are so soft and allow much more movement within the hips and legs but keep baby’s arms snug by their side. If our second born likes a more traditional swaddle instead of the love to dream swaddle with his hands by his face, I think the Ollie swaddle will be a great fit. I bought 2 so that if one gets dirty in the night, I still have another on hand to use. I learned the hard way with that one 🙂
Extras That Just Make Life Easier
This section is not “must-haves”, but they are items that just make life easier with a baby!
Momcozy Universal Stroller Organizer – The city select double stroller I chose does not come with storage or a cup holder for the parent, so I thought this stroller organizer would be great for holding my keys, phone, and water bottle when out and about.
Puj Sink Bath – I didn’t love the summer infant baby bath we used with our first son, so I’m going to give this Puj sink bath a try for easy quick kitchen sink baths that don’t break your back as you’re trying to bend over the tub to wash your baby. Once baby brother is older, I plan to bath him in the angel care baby bath in the bath tub at the same time with big brother.
Pacifier Clips – These pacifier clips by itzy ritzy simply just save the hassle of constantly losing your bub’s binky. If the paci is clipped to baby’s outfit, it won’t get lost. Easy peasy!
Electric Nail Filer – We had this electric nail filer with our first baby and absolutely loved it. It worked so well and I never had to worry about accidentally clipping his precious little skin. Sadly the nail filer stopped working after about a year, but it’s super cheap so it’s worth it to me to buy another one for baby #2.
Woolino 2-24 Months Merino Wool All Season Sleep Bag – Instead of buying 8 million different sleep bags in all the different sizes and for summer and winter, just buy 1 all-season sleep bag that will last you 2 years. Thats what we did for our son, and it was worth every single penny. It’s a more expensive upfront cost (around $99), but it actually ends up being less expensive then buying a 0-6 month sleep sack for winter, then a 6-12 month sleep sack for summer, then a 12-18 month sleep sack for winter, so on and so forth.
New Washcloths – The washcloths I used with our first baby are super worn and kind of crusty for lack of better words. I want clean, ultra soft washcloths to use on my babies so I added this set of washcloths by Burt’s Bees to our registry.
New Baby Hooded Towel – The baby hooded towels I purchased for our first son were low quality and didn’t absorb water at all off his skin. I’m adding this better quality hooded towel to our registry that I think he, and myself, will find much better this second go round. Of course you don’t need a baby hooded towel, but newborns are *so tiny* so a smaller towel is just easier than using a large adult sized towel to wrap up your little one.
Baby Toiletries – We’ll use all the same baby toiletry items we use for our 2.5 year old such as Aquaphor diaper bag rash cream (the absolute best!!!), Honest shampoo/lotion, frida baby tooth brush, and Tom’s swallow-safe anti-fluoride toothpaste.
Mushie Changing Pad Covers (2) and Mushie Crib Sheets (2) – I love everything by Mushie; it’s all so cute!! I’m simply adding mushie changing pad covers in neutral and sage and mushie crib sheets in neutral and sage to the registry for color coordination purposes with our second baby’s nursery. His nursery is sage green, cream white, and natural wood. Our first born’s nursery was navy blue, white, and dark brown. So the crib sheets and changing pad covers I used with our firstborn don’t match the color scheme at all in second baby’s nursery.
Dreft Infant Laundry Detergent – Once again, not a must-have by any means, but I like to use infant laundry detergent especially in those first few months as baby’s skin is so ultra soft and sensitive. For my family’s clothing, I still use sensitive, fragrance-free laundry detergent, but to be honest the Dreft laundry detergent scent is so delicious and nostalgic to me from using it on my first born’s clothes that I just have to use it again for second baby. 🙂 And it’s perfect for their sensitive, precious little skin.
Kyte baby Hair Brush Set – You have to use a hair brush if your baby/toddler has hair, so you might as well get a cute little hair brush heirloom set like this one from Kyte Baby. I love this little wooden set and will totally keep it in a baby memory box once my babies are grown up because it’s beautifully made and really precious.
That was quite the list!
Phew! That took some serious effort but I think this list will be really helpful to both first time and second time parents as you create your baby registry. Let me know what you think, what are your favorites, and what new item are you excited to try?! Thank you genuinely for taking the time to read this post today and I hope to “see you around” again on my blog for more motherhood and lifestyle content.
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