Alright, maybe Luvs was onto something with their famous slogan, “You live, you learn, then you get Luvs”.  Not necessarily sure the Luvs part is true, but you do live and learn after a first child (they were just practice anyway, amiright?!).  Here are some things I have found VERY helpful the second time around that we either had and didn’t use the first time or I begrudgingly purchased the second time around.  I purchased most of these items from Amazon or Babies R’ Us (RIP), so click the links for easy access (you know you want to…).  Items range from booty wipes all the way up to the Mamaroo… just kidding!  I didn’t buy a Mamaroo… those things creep me the heck out…

Summer Infant Pop N’ Jump Portable Jumper, $59.98

Our first son was born in May, so by the time he was old enough and strong enough to use a jumper we were always inside.  Who knew one of these would come in so handy?!  Our second is now 6 months old and it’s the dead of the summer and with a 4-year-old brother who ALWAYS wants to be outside, it’s difficult wrangling both of them at the same time when the baby can’t walk.  Problem. Solved.  You literally pull this baby out of it’s bag and voila!  Instant jumper.  It is very sturdy and well constructed and has a detachable sun shade for outdoor use.  It has three adjustable height settings for the tiny ones and the taller ones.  It comes with adorable toys on top that a baby would actually play with (imagine that, toy designers… ).   This jumper is also amazing if you are out and about at older siblings’ sporting events, family gatherings, just anywhere you’d like to sit your little one down to play.

Not only is this find great for outdoors, but it’s great if you don’t want to move a stationary jumper all around the house.  We have ridiculously narrow doorways in our house, so the jumper has to be left in whatever room you decide to set it up in. This is a game changer!

Summer Infant Pop N’ Play Portable Playard, $68.99

I haven’t used this find as much as the first just because of how young our baby is.  In about a month or so he’ll be sitting on his own and this will be a lot more useful out in the yard, at family gatherings, and maybe even around the house when we don’t want to put up the Pack N’ Play.

I will say for ease of use this gets a solid 10/10.  I can’t say that I would pay this price for it, though since I haven’t used it much yet (key word here being yet… I know it will be much more useful for us very soon).  I happened to find an older discontinued version online at Babies R’ Us (RIP Geoffrey 😥 ).  This version has a detachable sunshade and its colors are very similar to the Jump N’ Play above.

Member’s Mark Premium Fragrance Free Baby Wipes, $19.96 for 1,152 Wipes

As value goes, these are a winner, winner, chicken dinner. If you don’t have a Sam’s Club Membership, you can also purchase them here on Amazon for about $5 more, which is still an awesome deal.

The wipes are fragrance free, extremely thick, and are textured which cleans well.  They also seem to stay damp much longer than most wipes we’ve used in the past.

Graco Roomfor2 Click Connect Stand and Ride Stroller, $108.99

This stroller came recommended from a friend and I am SO glad I made the investment on this one.  When I finally decided having a double stroller on hand would be handy I added this to my Amazon cart.  About 5 hours later the listed price was $70.  Are. You. Kidding. Me.  I have never clicked “Add to Cart” so fast in my life.

I cannot say enough about this stroller.  It is lightweight, folds easily, maneuvers like a champ, and best of all has a car seat adapter.  This feature is what sold me.  My awesome parents bought us the Snug-Ride Babies R’ Us (*sniff sniff*) exclusive system with car seat, base, and stroller before our first was born.  I was spoiled by a stroller that functioned both a sturdy stroller with great maneuverability that also adapted to a car seat effortlessly.  Being spoiled by this system no other stroller would impress me, but double stroller sure has!

It has a rear-facing stand/sit portion for older kids (it does have straps if your little one happens to be wiggly or are a little younger than our four-year-old) and a forward facing seat or rear facing car seat adapter.  There is even still storage room in the bottom of the stroller (whaaaaaaaaaat?!).  You can’t go wrong with this one!

Bandana Bibs and Bandana Bibs with Teethers, $17.05 & $10.99

These adorable things started making their appearance around the time our oldest was about a year old, so I thought “spend more money on bibs? nope”.  This time around I splurged.  They’re adorable, functional, and hold up fairly well.

The bibs with teethers come with a warning-be sure you watch your little one while they’re wearing these because the teethers are very flexible and small, which is awesome for their little gums and easy for them to hold, but if they come off of their snap they could be a choking hazard!

MAM Pacifiers, $7.49

Ditched the Soothies this time around.  I’m a smarter, more experience mom now, remember?  Those darn Soothies are so huge they don’t stay in tiny mouths and they are hard for babies to hold in place in their mouth.  After shoving the Soothie into our 2 week old’s mouth for what seemed like the gazillionth time I had had it.  I dug into my neatly organized storage bin of baby freebies (ha… you believed I had that stuff organized? Sarcasm, people, sarcasm…) I came across a newborn MAM pacifier that looked like it might solve all of the world’s problems.  Ok, it solved all my problems at that moment in time, which is a pretty bold claim for a little piece of rubber and plastic.  We’ve been using MAM pacifiers ever since and haven’t looked back!  They come in adorable colors and are age specific so they don’t choke or have a nipple that is too large or small for their growing mouths.  Check ’em out!

Skip Hop Baby Grand Central Take-It-All Diaper Backpack, $79.97

Did we need a new diaper bag?  Nope.  Ours has lasted through the first and at this rate would probably last through a nuclear holocaust (props to you, little Skip Hop Mary Poppins bag!), but did I want a new one?  You bet.

I had my eye on the Skip Hop Baby Grand Central Take-It-All, but rolled my eyes every time I saw the price.  I finally came across one on sale one day with coupons on top of the already discounted price and scored one for (wait for it…) $30.  Done and Done.  Thanks, Babies R’ Us (dang… I’m realizing how much I actually miss this store)!

What I love about this bag is that it is stylish, lightweight, and easy to throw things in and go.  The only complaint I really have is that it doesn’t have many interior pockets, but other than that it is sturdy and does its job!

Earlyears Fill ‘N Fun Water Play Mat for Tummy Time, $12.95

Like most babies, our little man HATED tummy time.  This made it a little easier for him since he had something to actually “do” while he was on his tummy.  It served its purpose and was entertaining to try to get him to actually enjoy being on his stomach.

Muslin Canopy  Car Seat Cover, $13.99

We had a heavy weight car seat cover for our oldest child that worked great when our second was born, but now that the warmer months are here I have found it helpful to have a lightweight cover for bright sun and rain.  This one has owls. Totes. Adorbs.

Snap-Front Rompers, $10.97

Our first was born in the winter, so we didn’t have many summer clothes for him.  Since we had all winter clothes for newborn – 6 month clothing I had to go in search of easy options for our youngest.  Old Navy to the rescue!  Seriously, though… who doesn’t like a romper?  I may or may not have had a cart full of tiny man rompers that day

Nested Bean Zen Swaddle and Sleep Sacks, $32.99

We have a billion sleep sacks.  Why?  Our oldest HATED, hated, hated being swaddled.  That little guy would do absolutely anything to get his little arms free.  We eventually settled on sleep sacks that could wrap, but we could leave his arms out.  He felt warm, secure, and wrapped nice and tightly, but was able to move his arms.

Flash forward a few years to his little brother… the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree apparently.  We faced a new problem this time, however.  The Moro reflex was strong with this one, let me tell ya.  He would flail so hard in fact that he would hit himself in the face and wake himself up.  The solution?  The Nested Bean Zen Swaddle.  It seriously worked like a charm!  He actually slept through the night after using it for a few nights.  I’m sure a lot of different factors went into sleep improvement, but I know this nifty little sleep sack helped his reflexes immensely.  Fast-forward 6 months and he is still using the larger sleep sacks.  Thanks, Nested Bean-we actually get sleep!