My Newborn Must-Haves for Baby #2

With my first baby, I painfully poured over reviews to find the best stroller, bassinet, swaddle, and bath tub.  I bought everything under the sun from all the major retailers.  With my second baby I have really focused in on only a few things that you won’t find in any big box store…

1.     Dockatot – this is at the top of my list for a number of reasons.  My 1st reason being that sleeping through the night is not only good for everyone involved, it is imperative when you also have a toddler running around in the morning.  I know that this maternity leave will be way different from the first and having a baby that sleeps will make everything so much easier…I also love the mobility of the Dockatot from room to room, a must-have quality for baby gear!

2.     The Ollie Swaddle – I found out about this swaddle a little while after my first child turned 6 months and was no longer swaddling and I vowed that I would scoop this swaddle up for baby #2.  I love that it is made of moisture wicking fabric to reduce the risk of overheating.  The reviews tell all with this one – when it comes to babies sleeping for long stretches since birth or even though the night - parents swear by it.

3.     The Puj Tub – I realized pretty quickly that having a toddler and newborn wasn’t going to be easy and I am pretty determined to still spend as much time with my toddler as I can so we have decided to combine bath time by bathing my toddler in the tub and the newborn in the sink using the amazing Puj Tub.  Don’t be deceived by its looks – it is made from soft foam that cradles and comforts baby while allowing parents to stand (AMAZING!!!) during bath time.

4.     Nursing Necklace – after a few months of breastfeeding, babies will start to claw and pinch at your neck and your face making nursing a daunting task.  With Baby #2 I invested in some stylish nursing necklaces from The Vintage Honey Shop to give baby something to focus and grab onto while nursing and even babywearing (which I plan to do a lot of).

5.     A Nursing Cover/Carseat Cover/Shopping Cart Cover/Scarf from Covered Goods – I cannot wait to use this one!  The 4-in-1 versatility makes it an absolute must-have.  I dread nursing in public and hope that the Covered Goods cover with the 360 degree coverage will make this task a little easier as I know it will be something I won’t be able to avoid with an active toddler running around.

6.     Binxy Baby Shopping Cart Hammock –I thought I would just want to be home during those first few months after having a baby but it was easy to get cabin fever and sometimes you just need to get out of the house.  My favorite place to go other than for a walk in the stoller was a therapeutic trip to Target.  Since you should never prop the infant carseat up on the shopping cart and putting the carseat in the shopping cart then leaves no space for much needed purchases – the Binxy Baby Hammock cradles the baby (or the carseat) making shopping with a newborn no longer a stressful outing.

Simplify, simplify, simplify is my motto for Baby #2.  We don’t need a ton of different bassinets, strollers, and baby seats.  Just a few key items to make life with a newborn and a toddler a little bit easier…

...this post was originally written for The Vintage Honey Shop

for the 1st time mom...a few things I wish I knew...

As I prepare for baby #2 due in a few short months I can't help but think of how I will do things differently and how I will get through those first few months with a new baby...

here are a few things I wish someone had told me...

Slow Down...you don't need to have dinner ready, the dishes done, grocery shopping complete. Take it all in, nap when baby naps, and just remember what a million people have told you is absolutely positively true, it goes by so unbelievably fast.  You will blink your eyes and suddenly have a toddler and you won't remember how clean your house was those first few months but you will sure as hell remember those long snuggles on the couch.

Everything is a phase...thank god this one is true.  Not sleeping through the night, teething, biting, not drinking milk, not wanting to read books, only eating orange foods, hating diaper changes...it is all a phase.  Nothing lasts too long and before you know it you are on to the next thing.  When you are in the thick of that phase you can't imagine it ever ending...but luckily...it does.  

They just need you...you will buy tons upon tons of fancy toys, diapers, books, swaddles, everything under the sun.  And in the beginning, especially in the beginning, they really just need you.  Hold them before you put them back in the bouncer, snuggle them before you invest in another playard.  You really only need a few things those first few months, don't go overboard...the stuff is nice to have, but none of it is truly necessary.

I see new moms in my neighborhood, exhausted as they push around their fancy strollers and I secretly am envious of each and every one of them...I am secretly dying to be snuggled up on the couch with a newborn...and I promise myself everyday that I will take in every moment with my next baby those first few months, because before you know it...the newborn phase is over.

bath time with baby...

Bath time (or Bath, Bath, Bath as we call it in our house) we realized early on was essential to creating a routine with Mason and signaling bedtime which ultimately led to sleeping through the night.  

Bath time starts out as a harrowing and daunting task with a newborn that can't even hold up their own head.  Thankfully we found an infant tub with a sling type apparatus that allowed Mason to just sort of lounge during his bath and made our lives so much easier.

The sling tub lasted for months and was amazing, when Mason started to grow out of it around 7 months old and also started to sit up we moved to the Munckin blow-up Duck tub which we had a love-hate relationship with.  We loved that it only took a few minutes to fill up and was padded on all sides but Mason could not keep his cool around this bright yellow thing.  He attacked the head, constantly kicked, and was always trying to catapult out of the back of it.  We were elbow deep in this thing just trying to keep him from injuring himself.  

Then, at around 11 months old, we graduated to the regular bath tub and it was an incredibly calming experience.  He was not as distracted as he was with the duck bath and just hung out, played with a few toys, and splashed a little here and there.  For the first time, bath time was not stressful for either of us...I just wished we put him in the regular bath sooner...

At now 14 months were are teaching him (daily) not to stand up while  in the big boy bathtub but with the addition of about a thousand toys we are managing...

My must-haves for bath time:

• 0-7 months or longer - Summer Infant Tub - this was AMAZING!
• Washcloth Mitt - one that you put your hand through - makes life so much easier!
• Johnson's Baby Bedtime Bubble Bath & Wash - great Lavendar scent helps baby fall fast asleep
• Honest Company Shampoo & Body Wash - love the smell and love that we can use it as a body wash and shampoo, never dried out Mason's skin and is great for adults too!
• Skiphop Bath Kneeler & Elbow Rest - some of the best money we ever spent.
• Oversized Bathmat - now that he is in the big boy bath helps him not to slip and slide all over the place
• Shampoo Rinser - any will do - we have this one from Munchkin
• Hooded Bath towel(s) - Love the oversized ones that will last for years
• Toys!!!  Mason loves this tugboat from Green Toys and of course the squirt toys like these
• Toy Catcher - I love this one from Munchkin that also works as a scoop!

I was meant to be a mother of newborns...

I can honestly say that I miss having a newborn in my life.  Yes, life with a newborn equals long days, the loss of any time or structure, wearing the same sweatpants for days on end, very few of showers, and even less sleep...but oh was it amazing.  

I loved being a mom to a newborn.  The snuggling, falling asleep anywhere, naps at all hours, long walks, the way the top of their head smells, the tiny fingers and toes.  They are the most amazing little creatures as newborns and truly cannot survive without you.  You are there to completely and utterly keep them alive and nourish them into babies...it is the most selfless, rewarding, & exhausting part of being a parent, those first 3 months...when you give up all personal hygiene to make sure they are dry, fed, snuggled and happy.  

My heart aches when I drive by the hospital, I ache to be giving birth to a newborn again, going through the long awaited drive to the hospital, the labor, those first few days at home...I feel a deep and embedded sorrow and sadness in knowing that that first time is over for me....those first few weeks with my first baby.  I sometimes ache to be pregnant again, knowing what I know now, and awaiting the arrival of sweet, sweet, newborn.

I have somehow forgotten about the days covered in spit up, waiting for my husband to finally come home and relieve me so I could shower, the fits of crying, and the sleepless nights...there are days where I would trade all of my sleep for a year for just one week again with Mason as a newborn...

I know the next baby will be different, having two children will bring on a whole new world of challenges and the days of snuggling a newborn will turn into only minutes found throughout the day...in a way I feel like I will always be trying to recreate that first experience with our first baby, being so clueless, overly cautious, and fascinated about every little moment...I look back now and realize we seriously had no idea what we were getting into and I would do it all over again in a heartbeat.