The good thing about having a very active 16 month old is that there’s NO time to think about being pregnant. This is both a good and a bad thing. Good because if I think too much I start to worry how I’m going to cope. Bad because I’m finding it really hard to put my feet up, relax and enjoy being pregnant.
At some stage I’m going to have to get the newborn car seat back from my mum’s house as well as the new baby clothes we left there when Edward outgrew them. I need to pack a hospital bag too. I also need to save money which should be easy as we have everything Edward needed and what would a new baby need that we didn’t already have? My thoughts at 22 weeks pregnant are:
Double prams
Every double buggy I’ve seen has been quite ugly and cumbersome. My plan is to encourage Edward to walk so when the time comes he can use a buggy board attached to the Bugaboo. If this doesn’t work out then we will buy a double pram. I’m secretly hoping for a Phil and Ted’s (even though I know how heavy they are – not good after my planned c section!).
Sleeping arrangements
Second baby will sleep in our lovely moses basket for the first 6 months whereupon he/she will be transferred to Edward’s cot bed. By this time Edward will be over 2 years old and hopefully ready to move into a bed. This seems to make more sense than buying another cot bed. I’m hoping if we involve Edward when we buy his new bed he won’t feel too ousted by the new arrival.
Digital monitor
This would be a complete luxury item! The digital monitor we currently use hasn’t been calibrated properly and is a couple of degrees out and it took us over 12 months to realise…. I’m on the lookout for something to replace it with.
Changing Bag
A good changing bag makes me feel good and with two dirty bottoms to change I will be needing a super bag. I do love my Orla Kiely changing bag but it would be nice to treat myself to something new. I’ve heard Pink Lining are good – any suggestions?
Bouncy chair
Last time round we used a really simple bouncy chair a friend gave us. It did the job but was very simple (literally fabric over a metal frame!). We were also given a large newborn rocker which Edward loved but it took up too much floor space. We’ve passed both items on so this time round I’m hoping to get a vibrating bouncy chair which does both jobs.
Baby gym
Again we were given a second hand baby gym which Edward loved exploring and we’ll definitely be re-using it.
Steriliser
We definitely need a new steriliser. When I had a look at Edward’s old one it was covered in mould.
Weaning
Edward has been able to climb out of his lovely Stokke Tripp Trapp for the last couple of months despite it having the Baby Set on it. I think he’s too little to use it without the Baby Set so I’m contemplating getting some kind of booster seat for him to use at home. That way we could buy the Tripp Trapp Newborn Set and get more use out of it with Second Baby. I can only imagine we’ll be spending more time at the table with our crafts and it would be lovely if the Second Baby could be there too!
Clothes
I’ll be re-using all of Edward’s clothes, especially the 0-6 months as most were in a neutral white or lemon. I’ll only have to worry if it’s a girl!
The only other product I’ve seen that I really want is a giraffe dream blanket from aden + anais. I’ve loved these from afar for years but they always sell out too quickly in our local baby shop. This time I will make sure I get one before the baby arrives and it will be their special blanket. If Edward wants one too I will happily get him one as well.
In theory I shouldn’t have to spend too much money on Second Baby. Edward grew so quickly that most of his things have plenty of wear left in them. He ever outgrew his toys quickly so fingers crossed we can spend our money on other things.
Any advice is appreciated from the parenting community. What does or doesn’t work? Any essential products for a second baby that I haven’t thought about, etc 🙂
My only bit of advice (feel free to ignore it if you will because I know how irritating well meaning advice can be) is to be careful about letting Edward see that the new baby is using things that he considered ‘his’.
While it’s a brilliant life lesson to let big bro learn to share it can be quite upsetting for them to suddenly have this new baby in the house who gets lots of attention from everyone and also gets to use all the things the older child considered theirs.
I recently experienced this when without thinking I used a muffy flannel to clean up Daisy after her dinner. This had been folded up on a shelf for ages and I completely forgot that when I was trying to encourage Piper to use it I told her this was her special rabbit flannel.
Although Piper is brilliant at sharing it broke my heart when she said to me, ‘is that my special rabbit?’ I said ‘yes sweetie but I just needed to borrow it for Daisy for a minute’ and Piper said ‘it’s ok, she can use it, but is it still my special rabbit?’
She sounded so sad, as though everything that used to be hers was being taken away. Since then I’ve been ultra careful to buy what I can new (or second hand but just not second hand from Piper) and for the big things I’ve said to Piper before we needed them for Daisy ‘When you’re a big girl you won ‘t need your….whatever. What shall we do with it?’ Then dropped lots of little hints so she suggested giving (whatever) to Daisy.
Thanks so much for your comment. I hadn’t really thought about how Edward would feel when he had to share his things. I think I’ll be giving my list some more thought!