2 Under 2 Must-Haves
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I think I assumed when I was pregnant for the second time, that I would be able to reuse everything from my first born and I wouldn’t have to buy a thing. That was the case for a lot of items, such as clothes, shoes, or sleep sacks. But, there were definitely items that I needed to buy, specifically because I was going to have two that were so close in age and it would make life a whole lot easier. I love saving money when I can, but there are some things that made a bigger impact on my daily life once I had two babies versus one. If you are about to have your first baby, I would start by checking out my past blog post, “The Ultimate Baby Registry Guide,” to help guide you in collecting all the things that you’ll need before your baby arrives. If you are a seasoned mom, about to jump into the world of taking care of multiple kids that are fairly close in age, you’ll want to read this! Though these things may not have been the only purchases I made to prepare for baby number two, these are my favorite, must-have items in this season of life.
Wagon
Yes, there is a lot of well deserved hype over getting a double stroller when you’re expecting another baby, but what I found was the most useful, long term was getting a good wagon. Don’t get me wrong, we did have a double stroller as well, which was useful when we did go out and use it, but we didn’t actually use it that often. A double stroller that allowed us to transfer our baby to the stroller while in their car seat came in so handy if we needed to go somewhere during naptime. But to be honest, this did not happen a lot. In the earlier stages of having two under two, I found it easier to wear my youngest in a baby carrier, while pushing my 1 year old in a lightweight umbrella stroller. By about 6-7 months, my baby outgrew her infant car seat and started sitting up on her own. Coincidentally, it was about the same time that my son grew out of the stroller seat (he’s a tall little guy). So, a little more than halfway through the first year of having two under two, our double stroller was obsolete and we ended up upgrading to a wagon. The Veer is one of our favorite purchases when towing around multiple kids because it’s sturdy, can withstand all kinds of terrain, easy to set up, and easy to hose down when it gets dirty. We still use it now that the kids are a bit older! Get a double stroller if you must, but in my opinion, I would save the big bucks for a wagon!
Another High Chair and A Small Table
Unfortunately, we needed another high chair. Yes, our son may have been able to fit on a chair with a small table. But, at 1 year old, he still could benefit from sitting in a high chair, where he can be strapped in and focused on eating rather than being fully able to roam around during meal times. Having a high chair available for both of my children to use at the same time allowed us to eat together as a family. I’ve never looked back and wished we had done anything different because we knew that both children were secure and safe while eating their food. Preventing the headache that comes with transitioning your child out of a high chair too early outweighed any benefit of saving money by not buying a separate high chair for our daughter. We ended up buying the Graco convertible highchair so that we could anticipate using it as a kitchen helper stool long after my daughter outgrew her highchair. I don’t believe the model that we bought is still available, but Graco does come out with new and improved models that you can check out. Eventually both children grew out of their highchairs and transitioned to a small wooden table we bought at IKEA.
Baby Carriers
If you didn’t already have a wrap or baby carrier from your first pregnancy, this is the time to get one. I definitely used our ergo baby more when I had 2 babies than when I just had one. The Ergo Baby 360 was easy to strap on all by myself and had a lot of support when I was carrying my daughter around. I baby wore her a lot around the house as well as the few times we left the house. It was one of the things that helped me get anything done around the house while also looking after my son when he was little. Another plus about wearing your baby is it feels like a long snuggle. And who wouldn’t want to snuggle their baby while going about your day?
Sleep Environment Aids
What I mean by “sleep environment aids,” are another Hatch sound machine and black out curtains if you are able to have both children in separate rooms. Having this equipment will make for successful sleep training, which I found was a major part of how I balance life with two under two. My toddler was still going to need these two things to have successful naps and night sleep when I was postpartum with my second baby. And, your newborn is going to need their own set of these supplies in order to learn how to sleep well and block out the noise outside their room when sleeping. Trust me, everyone (including you) will sleep better.
Baby Monitor
We already had a really good experience using the Infant Optics baby monitor with our son. Since our son was still so young when we had a newborn, we still felt more comfortable with him sleeping in a separate room if he had a monitor. Luckily the Infant Optics Baby Monitor features the ability to monitor more than one baby with multiple cameras. We only had to buy a new camera for our daughter and our existing monitor was able to be programmed to toggle between the two separate rooms. How convenient is that?!
Another Convertible Carseat
Fortunately, we could get away with reusing our newborn baby carrier car seat, but with the kids being so close in age, we definitely needed to get a second convertible car seat. My son was already using the Nuna Rava Convertible Carseat and it is so high quality and has pretty high weight and height limits that he wouldn’t be moving out of that thing for a long time. I like to think of this as a positive because the car seat was on the pricey side, so it feels more worth the money if he gets to use it for a longer period. This meant that we needed to buy a convertible car seat for my daughter when it came time. And of course, since we loved the Nuna so much, we had to buy another one!
Bonus “Wish I Had” Section
Like we all know, hindsight is 20/20. This is my shoulda, coulda, woulda section, now that I’ve experienced the two under two life and know better. I wish I had invested in a wearable breast pump. With all of the running around I did trying to keep up with a toddler while trying to establish a good milk supply, it would have been a little easier when I didn’t feel like I had the time to just sit in a corner and pump. The second thing that I wish we would have just gotten was another crib. As my daughter started to grow out of her bassinet, I knew it was approaching time for her to move into her own room and in her very own crib. The only problem is that my son was still using it. So, we decided to move him into a toddler bed early, at the ripe age of 2. This ended up affecting all of our sleep for a while, until he got used to his new set up and the new rule that he needed to stay in his room when it is nighttime. If we had gotten a second crib for my daughter, I like to think that we could have avoided that sleep regression and we could have eased my son’s transition to a toddler bed.
When taking care of two under two, you’ll have your hands full. What you decide to buy for your second baby really depends on you and your lifestyle. Are you a homebody or do you love going out on daily strolls? Hopefully my lived perspective on what items we felt were helpful during our time in the trenches help you decide on what you want to have available to you.
