A ll right, who stole my week? Last week I was happily thinking about how Baby #2 would be arriving in about 14 weeks. The next day, I got my pregnancy update email and poof! Just like that a whole week was gone. I thought I was 26 weeks, but I was actually 27!
Now I have less than 13 weeks left to get ready for Baby #2. Up until now, I’ve been avoiding even writing down this checklist. Now that it’s out though I’m actually feeling a little less overwhelmed. I feel a lot better to have it front of my eyes rather than rattling around in my head.
Here’s my checklist for getting ready for baby #2. If you’re doing the same, hopefully this will help you with your preparations, too!
(This post contains affiliate links to some resources and products I found helpful in getting ready for baby #2.)
Getting Ready for Baby #2 Checklist
1. Prepare my Toddler for Baby #2
Since I found out I was pregnant, I’ve made it my goal to help my toddler become a little more independent. We’ve been working on getting dressed and undressed, putting on socks and shoes, and feeding himself. Pretty much none of that is working so far, which is just fine. He’s just not quite ready yet.
The very best most wonderful thing that is working is that we started potty training last month when he was 20 months old. I’ll be talking a lot more about that next week. I can’t wait to share our very positive experience with you! Update: Here’s how I potty trained my 20 month old boy. I’m soooo glad we did this before baby #2 arrived!
One of my major concerns has been to do a better job of getting our house childproofed. I can just imagine all of the things E will find to get into while I’m sitting down nursing the new baby.
Then one of my wonderful Facebook fans suggested that I should also plan a safe place to put Baby #2 down where he or she can’t be accidentally over-loved by the toddler. I hadn’t even thought to worry about that yet.
We spend a lot of time talking with E about the new baby that is going to come live at our house. I tell him how he is going to have to share his milkies with the new baby.
Still, I know that there is absolutely no way he can comprehend the huge change that is about to occur. I can’t comprehend it either, but I am feeling more confident that we will figure it out.
2. Prepare for Another Natural Birth
I’ve done almost nothing to prepare for the actual birth so far! I spend a lot of time preaching to people about how they need to prepare if they want a natural birth, and well, it’s about time I take my own advice.
I have been reading Childbirth Without Fear at a rate of about 5 pages per day. So, I should be done about the time the new baby turns 4!
Luckily, I have been enjoying lots of beautiful, empowering, natural birth stories and doing lots of research as I work on my Natural Birth Stories book. Wow! These women are so strong!
It is helping me build faith that I can do this again.
I really need to get back on track with my pregnancy exercise and nutrition plan. I’ve been doing ok, but I know I could be doing better.
I clearly remember how much I need all the strength in my arms and legs to maintain a comfortable position while laboring and pushing. I spent a lot of time on my hands and knees and in a semi squat during my first birth.
I would also like to practice my relaxation and review my Bradley workbook with my husband.
I need to start gathering supplies for my home birth kit. This will need to be ready by the time we have our home visit from the midwives. Thankfully that’s about 10 weeks away, but I’m sure it will be here before I know it!
We will be renting a birth tub, so I need to reserve that soon. I already have a just-in-case-of-transfer type hospital birth plan, but I’d also like to make one specifically for our ideal home birth.
3. Getting Ready for Baby
The nice thing about having a second baby is that there is much less to buy. Now if only there weren’t so many more things to do!
Here’s a list of things I can think of that we do need to buy before Baby #2 arrives:
- Convertible Car Seat. I have my eye on a Diono Radian because you can fit 3 across even in a sedan. (Thinking ahead!)
- Baby Monitor
- Baby Wash Cloths. Ours are so worn out.
- Tandem Double Stroller. This can wait as we’ll be baby-wearing for quite a while.
- Postpartum Mama Cloth. This isn’t really for baby, but I will not be enduring 8 weeks in disposable pads again. Ouch!
- Bassinet. I need to measure and see if there’s anyway we can fit the Co-Sleeper in our bedroom. If not I like this Fisher-Price Newborn Rock ‘N Play Sleeper. It lets baby sleep on an incline, it folds up flat for storage, and it goes up to 25 pounds and 32 inches long which is great for my big babies. Update: We ended up using the Rock ‘n Play and loved it!
I also really want a pair of baby Robeez shoes. E never wore shoes until he was walking, but they’re so cute and impractical! I’ll have to wait until we find out the gender for that one though.
I need to wash at least the smaller sizes of baby clothes and sort out which ones might be passably gender neutral. We’re making it a little bit harder on ourselves since we aren’t finding out the gender this time.
I guess I should probably buy and wash at least a couple baby girl clothes? At least with an August baby, a diaper and a receiving blanket will do just fine for quite a few weeks. Poor BabyE didn’t wear clothes for the first three weeks he was born except to visit the midwife.
So there’s really not much we need to buy, compared to even my minimalist baby registry checklist I posted a couple years ago.
It felt so good to pack away the diapers just a couple of weeks ago, but I’ll need to find the newborn cloth diapers and wash them in preparation for Baby #2.
4. Declutter
We just did a major declutter about 6 months ago, so there isn’t a whole lot to do. I just want to maintain the progress we’ve already made.
- Tackle the pile of filing that is living on my dining room table.
- Back up and donate or recycle the old computer.
- Donate the books we decided to part with.
- Clear off the top of the dryer. I’m tired or reaching around the sewing machine to get to the knobs!
- Clear out a drawer for clothes for Baby #2.
5. Stock Up on Freezer Meals
I guess I had spent so much time learning about pregnancy and preparing for birth that I missed the part about postpartum recovery. I didn’t even put away one freezer meal before I had BabyE.
Then, the intensity of the postpartum period with my first baby took me by surprise. I didn’t cook dinner again until BabyE was 4 months old.
Luckily DH did an amazing job of taking care of us and making sure his ravenous breastfeeding wife stayed full of healthy food. That’s just not going to work this time around with a toddler and new baby that need our attention.
Update: I put away about 8 weeks worth of freezer meals, and I am SO thankful that I did! I heart Once a Month Meals! I’ll tell ya, the transition to two kids was tough, but not having to cook for a couple of months really helped!
So really, that’s not too much to get done in 13 weeks, right? Right!? I’ll be posting later to let you know how it all goes! Update: You can read the exciting birth story of my sweet Baby #2 here.
Thank you so much for this! I’m also 27 wks with baby # 2 and have a 17 month old. Oh, and we just learned the gender this morning :). Thank God my younger sis is coming to help for several weeks after! Blessings as you prepare. (BTW, really looking forward to the potty training posts. That’s on the to try list!)
How cool we’re on the same week! I hope you’ll stop back and let me know how the rest of your pregnancy and life after baby goes!! Potty training posts are coming up next week. It is going great! You should definitely try it!
I’m not sure how many meals….I just realized I should be doing the same, but even when I double baked items, I find we eat them through out the week……
I wondered what your birth kit prep list looks like?
The only way I’ve been able to do it is to set aside a morning and make a huge batch of 3 or 4 meals and put them directly in the freezer. Then I make something different for dinner. Otherwise, it always just disappears as left overs.
what does your birth kit list look like?
Oh good question! I’ll have to dig up my list from the last birth. I’ll try and post it this week.
This is a great checklist. I can’t wait to check out many of the links you provide as well. I had a similar checklist and had gotten about halfway through it when our house was flooded and we had to go live in a hotel for a month… Then I ended up on bedrest for most of the rest of the pregnancy so much of the organizing I had done was undone by the home repair process and none of the meal prep got done at all. Thankfully my sister-in-law came to visit and help out just before the birth!
Oh wow! What an adventure! I hope you’re settling in well with Baby #2. You’ll have to share all your wisdom with me now that you’re a veteran mama of two!
LOL… I certainly wouldn’t call myself a vetran yet, but we are getting the hang of it! This one isn’t a high needs baby like Eli was so that makes everything easier than I was afraid it might be. Ironically now with the newborn I’m getting better sleep than at any other point over the last 4 years! The main challenge for me is when they both have immediate needs.
Hi! This is a great share. I haven’t got my first child yet. I’m having a hard time conceiving. I kind of got envious. Share some more of your story.
the decluttering – big one for me if we have #3. we moved overseas so i don’t have a lot of the “stuff” but I know that it isn’t all about the gadgets, just a few will do, but centering and being ready!
Congrats! I did a lot of the same stuff you have planned – going from 1 kid to 2 was a much bigger change than I thought it would be, though! Looking back, I would have done more to encourage the firstborn to learn certain things to foster independence. Little things – buttoning pants, washing hands, stuff like that. It has gone pretty well though!
This is a great list! I think I did all of these things. I also had such a hard time keeping track of what week I was. It turned out to not really matter though since Little Sister was two weeks late, and it was better for me to not even think of where I “should” be. :-)
Great list! Your little ones will be about the same age difference as mine (21 months). I would prepare yourself for your 1st to backslide a bit on anything you’re working on and not feel bad about it. I wanted to wean my older daughter off the binkie, but waited until the new baby was 4 months old so she didn’t associate having her precious binkie taken away with the new baby. Also, make sure you have help with cleaning and getting a breath for yourself because it’s a ride in the beginning with 2 so close in age. As far as freezer meals go, start making double batches of dinner now and freezing the second half. That way you’re not creating a ton of extra work, but you’re stocking your freezer up. Let the unimportant stuff slide and just focus on enjoying your growing family. Enjoy!
This is a great list! I also spent time on http://www.swapmamas.com TRADING for the items I need! Free to sign up. All you pay is the postage and the other Mama pays postage, so you can get stocked up QUICK with most of the time NEW, QUALITY items! I love it and have been a member for over 5 yrs! Melissa Carr sent you :)
http://kckidsdoc.com/dear-fisher-price.html
Just a word of warning regarding the rock and play. We used this briefly with our daughter and she did indeed develop a “flat” spot.
Thanks so much for your kind shout out! Prayers for a safe and healthy delivery! :) Great job with all your planning! So smart!
great list, especially the freezer meals! I found I had more energy when #2 came (had to be the “mom” thing) but having ready to eat meals still was a wonderful thing!
Baby #2 was a fun recap of #1 for us. It was so nice not having to do almost anything but review!
Hey guys, I am a new mother and I’m desperately to get my three month little one to sleep through the night. Currently I am lucky to get four hours rest per night. Thanks
Firstborn needs the most attention when preparing for baby 2. Often overlooked by parents who are (understandably) overwhelmed by all the other stuff that needs to be prepared. So glad you’re already thinking about that. And, yes, it’s important to keep the newborn safe from the loving gestures of the older sibling. In fact, as the kids grow, safety at home will become the most important consideration when you have more than one child, since together they can create so much more havoc!
Thankfully, my two have grown to be best friends and mostly only have good adventures together. Watching siblings grow together is so amazing!
Nice blog. Really helpful for a new mom. A new mom always confused about the essential this what baby needs. It must a proper guideline for the new
From a guys perspective, here’s a few ideas based on my own experience:
1. Who watches #1 when #2 arrives? If you live in a city without family nearby, you’re in need of a solid plan.
2. Check that breast pump battery. My wife uses a modela freestyle and the battery is pretty much useless. I’ve ordered a replacement of just the battery.
3. For me, home projects were all wrapped up 2 months ahead of time. This includes crib setup, building a backyard play set for #1, and recessed lights in #2’s bedroom.
4. Automate your life, form better habits. I found a few ways to cut down the morning routine by about 20 mins to clear up more time for 2. My wife isn’t “working” anymore (drastic understatement, she works more than ever) and I work from home so any extra time I can carve out really helps.
5. For both of us we took every opportunity to socialize with friends beforehand, anticipating that it may be more time than usual before we see them next.
6. Front load classes if you can. I took on a swim class every Monday at 3:30p with #1 that ended before #2 was here, which was much easier and also really fun.
7. Do some personal maintenance. Go to the dentist for a cleaning, get that physical exam, see the eye doctor, and anything else that will be difficult to juggle after with 2.
From a guys perspective, here’s a few ideas based on my own experience:
1. Who watches #1 when #2 arrives? If you live in a city without family nearby, you’re in need of a solid plan.
2. Check that breast pump battery. My wife uses a modela freestyle and the battery is pretty much useless. I’ve ordered a replacement of just the battery.
3. For me, home projects were all wrapped up 2 months ahead of time. This includes crib setup, building a backyard play set for #1, and recessed lights in #2’s bedroom.
4. Automate your life, form better habits. I found a few ways to cut down the morning routine by about 20 mins to clear up more time for 2. My wife isn’t “working” anymore (drastic understatement, she works more than ever) and I work from home so any extra time I can carve out really helps.
5. For both of us we took every opportunity to socialize with friends beforehand, anticipating that it may be more time than usual before we see them next.
6. Front load classes if you can. I took on a swim class every Monday at 3:30p with #1 that ended before #2 was here, which was much easier and also really fun.
7. Do some personal maintenance. Go to the dentist for a cleaning, get that physical exam, see the eye doctor, and anything else that will be difficult to juggle after with 2.
Thank you so much for the advise! I just found out I was pregnant. I have a 2 month old and by the time baby #2 comes he’ll almost be 3! I’m so scared about not being prepared enough and not getting my 2 year old ready for a baby and 1000 other things.
I was so on the freezer meal train this time( currently 37 weeks pregnant). Yesterday I went down stairs to add to my collection a few more meals, and my freezer was not running. You can not imagine my sadness. Did not care about the money but the time spent, to save it later was crippling. So now I have a choice to try again or just go with the flo. So disappointing.
Oh no! I am so sorry this happened. That’s the worst! Do you have any friends or family that would start a meal train for when your baby comes to bring some meals? I am sure it wouldn’t be as many as you had prepared, but maybe it would help a bit.