7 Musts for Your Second Baby Registry That Will Save Your Sanity
As a second-time mom, I thought I was covered as far as the baby must haves. Sure, those newborn essentials were a little well-worn, but I had what I needed to survive the newborn phase.
But when my second child arrived, I realized my mistake.
Because suddenly, I had a newborn and an older kid to wrangle:
- When the baby went down for a nap, I spent every ounce of energy, creativity, and patience I had to keep my big kid quiet.
- When they were both awake, that was when my big kid needed something like a snack or help using the bathroom.
- If we ran out of an essential like diapers or wipes or mom’s emergency chocolate stash, jumping in the car to run to Target wasn’t as easy as before – because now I had to line up two kids’ schedules and moods.
And so when I was in the trenches with two little ones, I realized some baby gear that seemed unnecessary the first time around was now absolutely essential.
Since my second baby was born, I’ve gone on to have two more babies, so I learned through trial and error what you really need on your second baby registry for welcoming another baby into the mix when you have an older child.
7 Musts for Your Second Baby Registry That Will Make Your Life Easier
Below, I’m sharing my lessons learned so you can beef up your own second baby registry. These second baby must haves will make the transition from one child to two as easy as possible for you.
By the way, if you haven’t started your second baby registry yet, I loved the Amazon baby registry†. You can add any product from any site, plus it’s super easy to share it with friends and family.
1. The Cushy Closer
Of all these second baby must haves, this one has been the biggest lifesaver. We’re still using ours with our fourth baby, and we have several in the house.
So what’s the big deal about The Cushy Closer?
When the baby goes down for a nap, you’ll want her to get good rest so she doesn’t end up overtired and fighting sleep the rest of the day. But your older child isn’t quite self-aware enough yet to know what “be quiet” means.
You can say it until you’re blue in the face, but they just won’t get it. Expect them to do everything at normal (loud!) volume, from talking to shutting doors. You’ll soon realize that your older child doesn’t shut doors so much as slam them, and that’s where The Cushy Closer comes in.
This genius invention fits around a doorknob and the latch in order to cushion the sound of the door closing.
Before we got these little contraptions for the kids’ rooms and the bathroom door, the big kids would wake up the baby during every single nap. Now, the baby sleeps through the doors opening and closing, and the big kids don’t have to deal with a grumpy mom snapping at them. Win-win!
My Pick: The Cushy Closer
2. Eyes in the Back of Your Head
If you didn’t get a baby monitor with your first baby, you’ll definitely want it on your second baby registry. That way, you can take your (loud!) older kid outside or in another part of your home while your baby sleeps.
Even if you already have a baby monitor, you’ll want to consider upgrading to a monitor that supports two cameras.
Here’s why: When you’re trying to put baby down for a nap, that’s when your older kid will decide to grab a dining room chair, drag it to the kitchen, and climb up on the counter to get into your secret chocolate stash. Or worse: Get into something dangerous like knives or cleaning solutions.
Add a baby monitor with two cameras to your second baby checklist, and you can set up the extra camera to watch your older kid while you’re getting your baby down for a nap. That way you can focus on getting your baby calmed down and rest assured knowing you’re keeping your big kid safe, too.
My Pick: Infant Optics DXR-8 Video Baby Monitor plus the Add-On Camera Unit
3. Fresh Burp Cloths
When I went to pull the burp cloths out of storage, I got an unpleasant surprise: All those baby spit-up stains had yellowed from age, and my formerly cute burp cloths looked pretty nasty.
You’ll have those things thrown over your shoulder the vast majority of the time, so add new burp cloths to your second baby registry. That way, you won’t feel like barfing if you catch a glimpse of yourself in the hallway mirror wearing a ratty old burp cloth.
Bonus for the brand I’m using this go-round: They double as bibs later on when baby’s ready for solid foods.
My Pick: aden + anais Burpy Bib
4. An Easy-On/Easy-Off Baby Carrier
With two kiddos to manage, you’ll often find yourself in situations where they both need you at the same time. For example, your baby may be fussy at the same time your big kid needs help using the bathroom.
In those situations, you’ll want a baby carrier that’s easy to put on and take off. For my first child, I loved the Moby, but with my second baby I realized it wasn’t quick enough to put on when my big kid needed me, too.
I’ve used both the Baby K’tan Baby Carrier and the Ergobaby Adapt, and I loved both. What I appreciate about the Ergobaby Adapt is that unlike similar carriers, it works from newborn to toddler and doesn’t need an extra insert to work for the newborn stage.
My Pick: Baby K’tan Baby Carrier or the Ergobaby Adapt
5. Double Capacity
If your big kid still rides in a stroller, consider adding a double stroller to your second baby registry.
As an alternative, you can put your baby in your carrier like the Ergobaby Adapt and keep your big kid in the stroller. But you may find that you don’t appreciate the feeling of having an 11-pound turkey strapped to your chest while pushing forward with both arms.
We fell in love with the UPPAbaby Vista Stroller because both kids fit comfortably without the stroller needing to be double-wide. (Trying to fit a double-wide stroller through narrow areas is certainly no fun!)
And if you end up having another little one later on, you can actually fit three kids on the Vista with their PiggyBack accessory.
But if you have bumpy roads or hilly areas in your neighborhood, you may want something a bit beefier like the BOB Revolution Flex Duallie Jogging Stroller. Just beware that if you go with this stroller, you’ll need to get an adapter so the baby’s car seat can snap in during the first few months when baby can’t sit up unassisted.
My Pick: UPPAbaby Vista Stroller or BOB Revolution Flex Duallie Jogging Stroller
6. Endless White Noise
To help drown out the noise of your big kid while your baby is sleeping, you’ll want to add a white noise machine to your second baby registry.
Bonus: Babies are used to a constant whooshing sound from when they were inside your body, so white noise is something your baby will love anyway. But no need to get a separate gadget – just get a white noise app and stick your phone in a sound dock. (This sound dock is what we have.)
You can find free white noise apps, but this specific White Noise app has 40+ different sounds to choose from. This is perfect because if your baby doesn’t like the popular brown noise or the research-proven pink noise, she may like the sounds of a rainstorm. Or a cat purring. Or a Tibetan singing bowl. Plus, you can get more sounds for free from the White Noise Market.
My Pick: Logitech Portable iPod/iPhone Speaker Dock and this White Noise app
7. Non-Chewed Books
Odds are your first kid did a number on all those brand new baby board books you had the first go-round. If any titles in your baby book collection have been chewed on, slobbered on, and/or torn to pieces, go ahead and add a replacement to your second baby registry.
You’ll be happy you did for three reasons:
- You can feel good about reading to your baby from the start.
- When you need to entertain both kids at the same time, you can grab a big stack of books and go to town.
- If your first baby’s library had any boring or mind-numbing books, now’s your chance to recycle the chewed-up versions and replace them with high-quality baby board books you’ll actually enjoy reading.
My Pick: The Best Baby Board Books That Will Delight Your Baby (And You)
Want More?
Check out Baby Must Haves: 25+ Surprising Essentials for Baby’s First Year for more tips on which baby gear you’ll need.
Your Turn
What baby gear do you recommend for a second baby registry? Leave a comment below to share your tips!
We loved our co-sleeper for those early months. My dad made ours, it was patterned after the wooden arms reach one. There are really affordable ones that do the same job.
Robin, I’ve heard really good things about co-sleepers. It’s cool to hear your dad made yours – I wouldn’t have thought to do that but it doesn’t seem like a super complicated project for someone who’s made stuff before!
Grovia Magic Stick baby ointment! Also SwaddleDesigns swaddling blankets, they are very light for the summer. The Summer Infant Swaddleme swaddling blanket with velcro was indispensable too.
Anne-Marie, swaddling blankets, good call! I can’t believe I left those out above, oops. I’m going to pick up one or two of the SwaddleDesigns blankets for sure. And funny you mention Grovia – I think that’s the diapering direction we’ll go & I like the idea of getting their ointment since it shouldn’t cause a problem with laundering the diapers.
More swaddlemes is definitely something we’ll want the 2nd time around. We had 2 with the 1st baby and they were so effective we bought another set, but if he was burpy he’d go through 3 of them in one night and we don’t have time for that kind of laundry now that we’ll have a toddler and a newborn!
Since little man will be keeping his convertible crib and carseat, we’ll need new ones for baby number 2.
I like my mei tai carrier, because I thought the moby was too complicated too. Great list!
Kelly, glad to hear I’m not the only one who didn’t love the Moby! I’ve never tried a mei tai carrier – what brand did you like?
Don’t forget the Lansinoh! My babies are 8 and almost 10 now, but it works for chapped lips too! Congrats on the new baby coming and best to you getting sleep early on! kg
Kerry, good call. :-) That’s a definite essential!
I’m trying this brand this time because I’ve heard such good things about it: Motherlove Nipple Cream. Hoping it works just as good as lanolin – I really like the idea of the organic ingredients since the little one will most likely be ingesting some!
Do you have any recommendations for double strollers that are affordable for a low income family? The one you suggested looks wonderful but that’s almost the price of our rent and we only have one income. I’d like to have a double stroller but it’s so hard to find one that doesn’t require a bank loan. Haha
Hi Rachel, we always have good luck finding gently used items like this on Craigslist for a HUGE savings off the sticker price. Hope you were able to find something! Congrats on your newest little one :-)
The evenflo pivot stroller can have two seats plus a ride on board. Starts at 299$
ABout to have a third baby, our first girl. Having a different gender has caused me to register for different things. We also got rid of a lot of things. But, the must-haves for baby #3 are new bottles/whether for formula or pumped milk, new onesies and gowns, new pacifiers, new sheets, swaddles, and a new infant car seat and base since our last one expired.
Dear God you are brilliant! The Cushy Closer! I never would have thought about it and am now running to Amazon to get 3! Thank you Thank you!
So glad that one helped, Emily! The Cushy Closer has been a life-saver for us :-)