Making a Baby Registry as a 2nd Time Mom

Surprise, surprise! Our family is expecting a new baby, due in the fall of this year.  This is my 4th pregnancy, so I feel like an old pro at how to survive the ups and downs of pregnancy. It will also be my 3rd delivery, so believe it or not I feel somewhat prepared for that battleground too. However with only one kiddo at home, I’m feeling somewhat flustered in terms of how to best prepare our home and the nursery for this new arrival. So come along for a few minutes and walk with me as I plan out what’s going on my baby registry as a 2nd time mom.

Here’s the thing about creating the ultimate baby registry that covers absolutely everything you could ever want or need. You can’t do it. I promise you, no registry is going to be perfect. You will still spend endless hours running to and from Target, and Amazon Prime is guaranteed to be your best friend and saving grace in the first few months of life with a newborn. But… do enough Googling and Pinterest browsing and yes, you can definitely start to see common items emerge as must have items on your baby registry as a 2nd time mom.

My Past Experience with Baby Registries

When it comes to my experience creating baby registries and preparing for life with a newborn, it’s a little atypical. As a first time expecting mom, my husband and I were both working, we were making great money, and we had no kids. We were living the DINK life and it was pretty spectacular. So for starters, I wasn’t really concerned about how costly it would be to welcome a new baby into our home. I decked out the entire nursery well in advance of her arrival, and picked out top of line items for our must have pieces of big baby “gear”. Plus, I totally bought into the idea that “newborns don’t need a ton”. So besides a well stocked closet, I didn’t actually buy a lot pre-baby.

I had resigned to the idea that we needed a bunch of staples like bottles and burp clothes and adorable onesies, but most other things I figured we’d just Amazon as needed. So my baby registry was relatively slim, and stuck to just what everyone claimed were the essentials.

We never brought our first daughter home from the hospital, and thoughts about what we did and didn’t need from Amazon never crossed my mind for many more months.

Until I was pregnant again, and we were expecting our second child. This time around, I thought: aha! It’s another girl, so we can pass everything down from big sister in heaven to this new little babe. Plus, we just had a shower last year, so… no registry this time around.

Well, Gemma came home and holy heck.

I immediately learned you do need a ton of stuff in those early newborn days and weeks. You just don’t know what you will or won’t need until you’re awake at 3am with a screaming baby. I can’t tell you how many trips I took to the grocery store, Target, and Buy Buy Baby. And yes, our Amazon Prime membership definitely came through big time.

It took a few months to settle into a routine with Gemma, and to feel like I had all the pieces and parts I needed to make life at home smooth sailing with a baby. But we got there. And it was pretty great to finally feel like I had things under control!

My Favorite Online Baby Registry

Now here I am. It’s two and a half years later, and we’re expecting a boy. Hand me down purchases from our first pregnancy like car seats and plastic bottles are going on three or four years old, and it turns out I wasn’t quite as good at getting gender neutral items for Gemma as I thought I had been.

So baby registry here I come. I’m not expecting a shower or sprinkle, but a few close family members have already asked what things might be helpful this time around. And as a result I am creating an actual baby registry. It’s helpful to keep track of everything I want to buy, and lots of stores offer good perks to purchasing things off of a registry.

My favorite program from creating an online baby registry is Babylist. I like being able to aggregate items from all over the web, and I think it’s neat that Babylist does the heavy lifting of comparing prices across different stores so your friends and family can pick the place that’s selling an item for less!

How I’m Making a Baby Registry as a 2nd Time Mom

Now, let’s get to the good part. What the heck am I actually putting on my baby registry as a 2nd time mom?

Let’s start by talking about what’s not going on my baby registry this time around: no clothes, no car seats, and no toys or books.

I’m also not getting any new places to “put” baby. We are already well stocked with a Pack n Play we love, the world’s best baby bouncer, and carriers up the wazoo. We have a Baby Bjorn, a Moby wrap, a baby K’tan, and an Ergobaby carrier complete with the infant insert. On top of that we’re moving Gemma into a big girl bed, so we are all set with a crib, a clean, comfy mattress, multiple changing pads, and a changing table.

The only ‘station’ I considered buying this time around is a Dockatot, since I seriously regret not buying it before. But a girlfriend is coming in big time and letting me use hers!

For starters, I’m Saying No to Baby Clothes

Shall we back up and talk baby clothes? Let me explain why I’m not putting any baby clothes on my registry. This might sound crazy, considering I’ve been pregnant with 3 girls in a row, and this time it’s a boy! But, I’ve learned from experience that baby clothes are stupidly overpriced, and you go through sizes so quickly in the first year of life that most items don’t even get worn! What a waste.

I’ve sorted through our bins and bins and bins of used clothes from Gemma, pulled out all the white onesies, sleepers, and gender neutral clothes that we can reuse for our little guy, and guess what? I’ve stocked his entire closet for the first year from… garage sales and consignment stores. For so cheap. 

As a 2nd time mom I might not have everything figured out. But I do know what kind of clothes we do and don’t need, about how many of each, and how much of each size. So I feel GREAT about spending not a whole lot, on a big old closet for little dude. 

What Made the Cut for My Baby Registry as a 2nd Time Mom?

Without clothes, what’s left? Here’s a look at exactly what did make the cut for my baby registry as a 2nd time mom.

• A double stroller and all the necessary stroller attachments
• A set of new bottles, and different flow nipples to get us through the first year
• Tons of new pump parts/accessories, pump cleaning products, and nipple supplies
• New pacifiers, new Wubbanubs, new teething toys (and this amazing, safe, teething gel)
• Everything to restock an infant’s “medicine cabinet”, since we’re past the shelf life of most items. I’m going to buy a new infant thermometer (gotta go up the bum), a Nose Frida (be sure to buy the set that has the saline spray), Windi, gas drops, regular gripe water and gripe water for nighttime
• New bath time essentials like our favorite bath sponge and a new hooded towel
• A few new gender appropriate sheets, blankets, and and changing pad covers
• Diapers and wipes (the practical person I am can’t help it)
• A new diaper pail
• A second white noise machine

That’s it my friends! Under 40 items. Nothing fancy. Many of which are super small (like a pack of pacifiers), and most of which I intend to buy myself. 

For those of you who are handling multiple kiddos at home, tell me your lessons learned! What am I missing? Is there something else I should be buying before bringing home baby #2? What were your must haves on your baby registry as a 2nd time mom?