The Things We Need, Will Change, and Will Use Again for Baby #2

I’ve been asked to do a follow-up post on our baby registry from last year: what would I keep, what would I change, what I highly recommend, etc. Tada – here it is!

I spent hours researching and putting our registry together when I was pregnant with Henry, and I’m happy to say it mostly paid off. If I had to register all over again, it would look almost 98% the same. There are a couple of items we really didn’t need (the grass drying rack – it got moldy so we just use a towel; the baby gloves were never used – we relied on baby pajamas and shirts with foldover sleeves).

So let’s cut to the big question.

The Short List of What I Would Change from Our Original Baby Registry

  1. bouncer – if registering again, I’d get the Babybjorn
  2. play yard/pack-n-play – I’d get the Babybjorn (again, not sponsored, just great products)
  3. baby monitor – I’d likely get a Nest, Nanit, or Hive

I explain the reasons why below.

 

Now I know this is now old news but yes… we’re having another baby boy this fall! Similarly to wanting a follow-up registry post, people have asked to see what we’re using again for BabyBrother.

The answer is – just about everything! In terms of gear, we went with neutral, non-gender specific colored items in whites, greys, tans, black with the plan of using it all for future siblings regardless of gender. Clothes are another story so that is nice we already have a closet full of boy clothes!

So as I said, we’ll be using the majority of stuff we already have with a few new items needed and a few pieces I’d change from our original baby registry list as mentioned above… I share all the details below!

 

Here’s the rundown and my review of our baby registry 13 months later!

 

If I Could Register All Over Again…

Things I would change are underlined and italicized. Links to all items can be found in my Baby Registry blog post.

1. BOUNCER (I’d change): With Henry we used this Bloom bouncer, and we liked it well enough… only complaint isn’t specific to this product but most bouncers and it has to do with the straps. They are a bit more complex than I’d like to deal with to get the baby strapped in safely. If we were registering again, I’d probably opt for the BabyBjorn bouncer since you can easily plop the baby into the seat – nothing has to be harnessed and clasped – and the baby can make it bounce on their own. Plus it comes with toy attachments (all awesome features). Not to mention it has 5/5 stars from almost 800 reviews on BuyBuyBaby’s site! We might be borrowing or buying one one of our own this time around!

2. STUFFED DOLLS: LOVE and would get again. Henry sleeps with his Sebastian lamb every night (he has the large size) and knows him by name. Already got BabyBrother this one.

3. STROLLER: LOVE the UppaBaby Vista – would get again. Would also get the white again although they now have a marled blue/grey and light green option that are both super pretty and would be strong contenders. We need to buy a second rumble seat and attachment pieces to convert to hold two kiddos (which the Cruz doesn’t do and why we opted for the Vista and I HIGHLY recommend Vista over Cruz unless you live in a city like NYC or San Francisco with lots of small restaurants and shops and crowded streets). Just ordered this snack and drink tray attachment for Henry, and we use this carry-all parent organizer.

4. WOODEN/MONTESSORI TOYS: LOVE – came to rely on the Lovevery Baby toy subscription kits. Highly recommend! Also loved our Lovevery Play Gym (and play kits) – this is my go-to shower gift and I recommend to anyone who is expecting to register for this item! 🙂

5. PACK-N-PLAY (I’d change): There were definitely features we liked about the pack-n-play we had – it has a bassinet attachment which Henry slept in the first month or so in our room, and it was very easy to open and close w/ one hand. Downsides were it was super heavy and took up a lot of space both in our closet and in our car trunk. We didn’t know any different and were fine with it until my brother introduced me to the Babybjorn Travel Crib Light that his family has sworn by for all three kids, and it is SO lightweight and compact (even fits in a large suitcase!) and durable and the foam mattress is really really soft. Henry slept amazingly in it when we used theirs, so we ultimately ended up getting one for ourselves which we took to Florida and always take to grandparents’ homes. And now my mom is buying one for her home since we’ll have two babies napping there the next couple of years. I recommend this to EVERYONE and have heard others sayy the same. I recommend getting from BuyBuyBaby using one of their 20% off coupons since it’s a pricier purchase!

6. HIGH CHAIR: Unrelated but I’m often asked about our high chair – we got the Inglesina counter/table attachment high chair with tray attachment and swear by it. It’s been so great having Henry up next to where we are preparing meals. It wipes clean so easily or can be thrown in the wash (the latter of which we haven’t had to do – a wet wash cloth w/ some soap does the trick to wipe clean). And it travels so easily to grandma’s house or even restaurants! Highly recommend.

Originally had the grass DRYING RACK (did not need). It worked until it was moldy within a couple of weeks… would skip this altogether. Laying bottle items on a towel next to the sink works just as well and you switch out a new hand towel at the end of the day… easy peasy.

7. NIGHTGOWNS: Nightgowns for that first month are ESSENTIAL. They make frequent changes much easier. Truly any brand works but I love organic cotton and bamboo options that are light and stretchy.

8. BABY LOUNGER: We went with the SnuggleMe Organic baby lounger and loved it. Henry napped it all the time the first couple of months.

9. WIPE WARMER: We ended up getting a large wipes warmer in January for Henry as he was crying during his morning changings every day… poor dude. We realized in the cold months, his wipes got really cold, especially over night! And that sucked having on his tiny toosh first thing in the AM. He stopped crying almost immediately when we made the switch. We love having this, highly recommend, and will definitely be using it for our fall/winter baby! Would definitely recommend this over a normal wipes dispenser, which I’ve said I do no understand the point of.

10. BABY MONITOR (I’d change): We had registered for and received what looked like a really great baby monitor that had a monitor (for babysitters/care givers) and phones (so we could check in from work)! The picture is amazing and it has 360 swivel and tilt function but unfortunately it disconnects regularly and the monitor itself rarely worked we had to reset it so many times and finally gave up.

We actually ended up getting a less costly video baby monitor so that Henry’s nanny and babysitters would be able to see him. We also take this with us when we travel or go to grandparents.

11. CARSEAT: We went with the Mesa carseat (in the Henry colorway of course) because it works with the Uppababy Vista and we liked it! It was a bit heavy but I tested out the super lightweight Nuna Pipa Lite and it didn’t feel much different. BabyBrother will be using this now that H has his bigboy carseat.

12. SIPPY CUPS: I never got the exact sippy cups from my original babylist post… Henry uses a variety from Munchkin (the classic) and Dr. Brown’s line – he loves the one with the straw and just started using the 360 no spill training cup.

13. CHILDHOODS CLOTHING: Love this brand. Anything we got him for he wore to death and BabyBrother will wear also!

14. PACIFIERS: There’s honestly no way to know which paci your kid will like (or if they’ll like them at all) so I wouldn’t change what I registered for. That being said –  Henry ended up loving the standard Philips Avent ones you get from the hospital and once he was a little older (3-5 months?), he started using these pacis from Ryan and Rose and loves them + they’re super cute. Charlie’s favorite is this brand. I highly recommend trying ALL THE PACIS if your babe doesn’t immediately take the one you have. Sometimes it’s about finding their favorite and if you do–it’s sooo worth it. Going to bed. Car rides. When they’re sick. All of it.

15. STROLLER INFANT INSERT: This stroller infant insert worked great! Really affordable. Would get again.

16. INFANT BATH (different from registry post): We actually ended up getting the 4Moms infant tub with temperature reader which I LOVED – we did not get the Puj which I listed in my original post once I realized we didn’t have a sink it would fit in. We were very happy with the 4Moms tub but it appears to be discontinued. Once Henry outgrew the infant tub, we started using this Duck temp reader for every bath that flashes if the water is too hot.

17-28. LOVE THEM ALL. STILL RECOMMEND. Using all of Henry’s for baby brother: organic muslin burp cloths, Baby Book, Boppy pillow, Ubbi diaper pail, Moses basket, Mori zip-up pajamas, Keekaroo changing pad, teethers, Comotomo bottles, hooded baby towel (and wash cloths).

22. BIBS: Gathre’s leather pocket bibs are AMAZING. Wipe clean, catch everything, fit around the most giant of necks. Another favorite of mine to gift.

29. INFANT-TO-CHILD HIGH CHAIR: This Cybex 4-in-1 convertible high chair is new for BabyBrother (c/o) as I love that it offers the newborn feature so we can keep our lil one docked as we spend so much time in the kitchen cooking and feeding Henry. That way he can be up high with us and not on the floor in his bouncer.

30. DYSON HUMIDIFIER: We sleep with our Dyson cool mist humidifiers on every night in the winter (which this year last 7 months). Love, recommend.

 

NOT PICTURED:

33. WINTER CARSEAT COVER/BUNTING: A must-need for anyone in a cold climate… infants can’t wear anything bulky in their carseat so we used this carseat bunting cover that zipped over him when we carried him in and out of the home during the longest winter of all time. Will definitely be using again.

34. ACTIVITY CENTER: Used this one and just converted it to the play table.

35. PLAY MAT: Got the grey and white mat from Wander and Roam and we really like it!

36. CHANGING STATION BASKET: I used the Quinn collection from PBKids. Really like it. Think it’s super pretty!

 

Which Brings Us to the Things We Need to Get for BabyBrother

Nursery furniture – I am so excited to be partnering with Crate & Kids on BabyBrother’s nursery! Will share the plans soon! I actually started on the design before hearing from the brand and had already pulled a number of items from their store so it worked out perfectly.

Bassinet – we never quite got this right with Henry. I mean, he slept and slept safely but… our plan with Henry was to use the Moses basket with the Jolly Jumper stand. We did use that but mostly kept it on the first floor of the house. Because I had a c-section carrying anything yet alone a bassinet up and down the stairs was not an option the first month+. So we set up the pack-n-play bassinet in our room which took up a ton of room and couldn’t even fit next to the bed so up and down and back and forth all night got old. THEN we started using the Uppababy bassinet. Then the Jolly Jumper stand broke. So we used the UB bassinet on a giant bench next to our bed… which also took up a ton of room. So yea. We need a new bassinet. Likely renting the Snoo or buying a used Snoo. But also love a lot of the features of this bedside bassinet – especially the reflux tilt since we needed that with Henry.

Travel sound machine – an essential for baby sleep as Henry will still be using his.

Bottles and bottle nipples – we donated Henry’s Dr. Brown’s newborn bottle set when he switched to Comotomo. We have three or four of the 8oz Comotomo bottles but I cannot find the 5oz. for the life of me so we’ll likely get BabyBrother a new one and some fresh replacement bottle nipples!

A couple new clothing items  – so this is pretty amazing having another boy – we need very little on the clothing front. At least I think… BabyBrother is being born at the opposite time of year than Henry (October versus May) so fingers crossed we can get a lot of use despite their sizes being different for winter and summer months. I want to get him some new things, of course. Mainly looking at Mori since that was our favorite pajama brand – this footed zip-up is our favorite. Would never recommend pajamas with snaps. I just need to go through all of Henry’s clothes and sort them and see what we’re working with!

 

See my picks for favorite baby toys here and here!

 

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