How to Survive Baby #2 | Utah Family Photographer

We recently welcomed our second baby into our family. It’s been such a wonderful blessing to have her with us. She’s been such a sweet baby and has already brought so much joy to our family.

We (especially me) have all adjusted to having a newborn much more easily this time around. I struggled with postpartum depression and anxiety after my first baby was born HARD. It was an incredibly hard adjustment for me for the first time around. To be honest, I was really nervous to go through the newborn stage again and to experience the depression and anxiety I had felt with my son, so I made a few changes in how I would handle a newborn this time. Here are my for How to Survive Baby #2:

Invest in Your Sleep (and in Baby’s)

My first baby was NOT a good sleeper durning the newborn stage. He had colic and reflux and was up non-stop. Because he was my first, I didn’t know that his sleep pattern wasn’t normal and I didn’t know how to get him to sleep better. Because he was up so much of the night and I didn’t sleep, falling into depression was a lot easier for me than it could have otherwise been. When you’re not getting the proper amount of sleep it can be more difficult to process things in life. I quickly became overwhelmed with changes at work, my husband’s school schedule, and our colicky baby. This time around I knew that I wanted to make sure I did everything I could to avoid postpartum depress and anxiety and sleep was one the biggest things I needed to protect.

We got an Ollie Swaddle and a Dock a Tot in exchange for me taking pictures of the products. A sleep swaddle and a Dock a Tot were both on my “must haves for baby number 2 list” because I wanted to try something (anything) to make this baby sleep.

Our Ollie Swaddle has been HEAVENLY. Lu Lu absolutely LOVES it. She sleeps so much more soundly when she’s cocooned in it and she can’t break out of it with her tiny newborn reflexes. The swaddle Velcro’s and has an elastic tie at the bottom, so it can grow with her. We just love it – I can’t recommend it enough!!

I decided I wanted a Dock a Tot to help baby number 2 sleep no matter where we were. We love to travel and camp, but one problem that we consistently had with my son was that he would not sleep well in a new surrounding. He wouldn’t sleep in a random pack and play, which made the first few days of vacation miserable for everyone until was so tired he had to fall asleep. My thought with the Dock a Tot was that it’s portable, so we could take it with us when we went on vacation or camping and it would be the same, familiar space that baby is used to sleeping in.

We even took our Dock a Tot to the hospital because my son slept horribly in the basinet after he was born, plus, having to get up to get the baby out of the basinet RIGHT AFTER giving birth is so painful. Having her on my bed, in the Dock a Tot was WAY easier and more comfy for everyone. It was so great to bring with us.

Lu Lu has loved snoozing in the Dock a Tot. She mainly naps in it durning the day – which I love because it’s a safe spot that I can leave her in and know she’ll stay put. I also love being able to take naps along side her and not worry about all the scary stuff that can come with co-sleeping. I’m excited that as she grows and sleeps in the Dock a Tot more, we’ll be able to take it with us and have her sleep no matter where we are.

WASHABLE (everything)

Because my son had colic and reflux he ruined a lot of stuff. I’m taking outfits, rugs, even our COUCH. He just threw up so much that not everything could be saved. After having him we invested in things that could be washed. We got a faux leather couch, for example. One of the things I was most excited about finding for baby this time around was our Lorena Canals Rug. If you haven’t heard of Lorena Canals Rugs they are literally WASHABLE rugs. Like, you can throw it in the washer and clean it. How amazing is that? They are perfect for families with kids or pets. As soon as I heard about them I wanted one. I was able to get one for baby girl’s nursery in exchange for photos and I love it. It’s so soft and such a pretty color. It was the perfect addition to her little space, plus, I know the moment she spits up on it I can throw it in the wash and it will be as good as new.

Buy All the Swaddles

For my first baby, I didn’t think I’d need a lot of blankets or swaddles. This time around, I knew better. With a newborn and infant you go use swaddles constantly, and if your kids are messy like mine, you use multiple in a day. This time around we purchased Little Unicorn Swaddles, Copper Pearl Swaddles, and Cloud Island (Target Brand) Swaddles. I have honestly loved them all!

I love the Little Unicorn Swaddles and the Cloud Island ones because they are just SO stinking cute. There are so many pretty patterns to choose from and they get softer with every wash. Another bonus – they’ve been SO great to photograph!

We also got a Copper Pearl swaddle (along with some bips and burp cloths that we were gifted). The swaddle has to be the softest and most stretchy swaddle ever. It’s SO great to wrap Lu Lu up tightly in. I just love it and can’t recommend them enough!

Grocery Pick Up

…and when you can’t, Binxy Baby Shopping Cart Hammock

You know something that no one EVER tells you about having kids is how hard it is to grocery shop with them. Every part is hard from parking and getting them out of the car, to getting them in the cart (why aren’t shopping carts made to hold car seats?), and so forth. I’m come to reallllly love grocery pickup. I use Smith’s Pickup. Essentially, I order all my groceries online and then Smith’s picks them for me. Then I pull up at my designated time and they load my groceries into my car. It’s like a drive thru for groceries. It’s life changing (that’s not an exaggeration).

As much as I love grocery pickup, however, there are times when I just need to go into the store – maybe I’ve forgotten something or I want to compare prices or whatever – sometimes it just can’t be avoided. But taking TWO kids to the grocery store is hard because there just isn’t room for both of them in the car with baby’s carseat. Luckily, I heard about Binxy Baby Shopping Cart Hammocks. They are little hammocks that attack right to your grocery cart for baby to “hang out” in while you shop. Or, you can even put your car seat in them without taking up all the cart space. These little hammocks make shopping with littles much easier!

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