To think I barely need to buy anything for second baby?

[GrahameSylvia]

Second baby is on the way, a while to go yet but I like to be prepared.

What (if anything) do I actually need to buy? To add context the toddler will be 22 months when baby 2 arrives and we’ve kept most of the stuff.

So far I am thinking, a very light collapsible push chair, for when the toddler gets tired legs, and the baby is in the current pram (although planning to use carrier a lot). A second car seat.

Is that it or am I being deluded and there are actually lots of things I will need to buy / re buy?

Your advice please parents of two with small age gap.

I had the same age gap. I needed a double buggy as ds1 refused to walk. I didn’t have a sling though. What about a buggy board?

Also be prepared for clothes. Ds1 was short and round where ds2 was very long and skinny. So the babygros had stretched on ds1 tummy.

A buggy board is a good thought. I’ve tried one on our current pram though and the only way to not to constantly step on it is to extend the handle to maximum and push the buggy with my arms out like a zombie.

I bought DS2 a couple of new outfits that were just his, and more muslins as he is a sicky baby and DS1 wasn’t but otherwise I don’t think I’ve bought much as they are both summer babies so clothes are all fine.

I was wondering this too... 2nd baby due march when DD1 will be 25 months.
Maybe a double buggy?
Couple of bits of clothes just theirs? But otherwise not much

I got a few nice toy & outfits so baby had something that was just theirs, but already had everything I needed. I also replaced the highchair that we got as an (unasked for) hand me down, and had already disliked for 3 years.

Has or will your youngest moved to a bed? If not you might need a second cot.

We've barely bought anything so far. New car seat but only because we dropped the old one from loft while taking it down 🫣 That's about it. Our age gap is a bit bigger so no double buggy. Same sex so we can reuse all the clothing.

I did buy a second mirror for the car so I'll be able to see both kids at once!
And a new changing mat because ours is a bit sad.

Hoping to move DD1 out of her cot before baby is 6 months, but baby will be in next2me in our room for a few months at least.
Car seat - DD1 is now in one that goes up to age 7 so new baby can have the old infant one, but when they outgrow that DD1 will still be in hers so we'll need another one then.

Double buggy perhaps with that age gap?

Car seat, I'd buy the 22mo an ERF if you don't have one already.

Watch out for clothes sizing/season suitability.

New bottle teats because toddler had trashed them.

I ended up getting a double buggy as by 7 months DD got too heavy to be in the sling for me to carry her whilst pushing then 28 month old DS for his nap in the single buggy. I had a buggy board but as well as the nap issue, DD didn't like DS standing in what she saw as her space and used to kick him, and DS got jealous of DD being able to sit down and used to get upset. The double made life so much easier, I bought it 2nd hand and we kept using it for long days out for years.

The second baby can be different to the first one so you might need different things for that reason. DD was very unsettled and I ended up buying various things in the vain hope they'd help...

I also ended up buying quite a few bits for my toddler in the hope they'd keep him self entertaining while I sorted out the baby.

As already mentioned above we got DS a new ERF car seat when DD was born, and she had the infant seat.
Also got a secondhand double buggy, which was a worthwhile expenditure IME. It was very well used.
I got new muslins because the old ones were grubby.
Didn't bother with new outfits initially, as knew we would get gifted some bits.
Changing mat was falling apart, so we got a new one of those.
I can't think of anything else. We reused as much as humanly possible.
Age gap of 2.5 years.

I’d get a second hand double with that age gap. I carried mine a lot but was still really useful to have them both in the buggy at times. We needed to replace a lot of clothes and bedding as DD1 had awful reflux and things were stained. That was pretty much it for us.

Ugh never could cope with a buggy board.
My oldest was 20 months when second came along so I got a double buggy where you could still have one side almost flat. It was great. I couldn't keep either in a sling for very long as both around 10lbs at birth and my back couldn't take it.
Other than the car seat I can't think of anything that you'd need right away.

DD1 was 26 months when dd2 was born and we got a double buggy. DD1 loves the sitting next to her sister and holding her hand and it's easier than carrying the baby and pushing a buggy.
We had to get a new high chair as we have the stokke steps that converts into a seat so dd is still on hers and we got a new mattress for the bedside crib as ours had been sat in the garage since dd1 last used it.

Other than that, some new sleepsuits, vests & muslins and new bottles and that was it really

Same age gap - we bought a double buggy and it was a godsend and my eldest was still napping sometimes when we were out.
I bought my eldest a toddler bed so I could pass the cot down.
Nothing else was needed but I bought myself a new changing bag because I was bored of the old one and more baby outfits he didn't really need!

We had the same age gap and tried not to buy much. We hadn't planned for another one and had literally just sold or got rid of lots of the more expensive items.

We bought a new car seat but he's currently using the old infant seat that attaches to the travel system. Had to buy a new Moses basket as I gave the stand away as our handle on the basket snapped. This led into us buying a snuzpod instead of a basket and a shnuggle basket/rocker for downstairs.

Had sold our mamas & papas fancy rocking swing for a fiver so had to replace it. Bought an ingenuity swing and he HATES it. Such a waste of money. He also hates the bouncer chair we'd kept.

We overbought clothes for our first so were praying for another girl - of course it was a boy. Second baby was almost entirely ignored in the way of gifts etc and every one of the few pieces of clothing bought was in 3-6 months. We'd expected newborn stuff so had to go and buy more. Haven't used any of the 3-6 months clothing as it was all seasonally inappropriate.

Didn't bother with a double pram and instead got a buggy board which is frankly a pain in the arse to use.

I would 100% recommend a double buggy. I have 3 DC with about 2 years, give or take, between each and the double buggy has been the best purchase. In fact, we got ours free off marketplace and I'm so glad we did! Lots of our friends use buggy boards and quite frankly they look like a pain in the arse even before you factor in a tantrumming toddler, so I'd really say a double is worth it. Look secondhand - as I say, ours was free if collected that day and was in great shape. If you drive and plan to take it out, check it folds down enough to fit in the boot is my main advice.

I’ve just had DC2 and DC1 is 24 months. We’ve bought hardly anything.
DC1 needed a new car seat anyway as was getting too tall so DC2 has gone into DC1s old one. We got an extra mirror for the car as they’re both RF still.
we haven’t bought a double buggy but are open to the idea, we’ll see how it goes. Currently DC1 prefers walking but we’ll get one if that changes.
We haven’t bought any more clothes as we had fairly gender neutral stuff for DC1 so it will work for a while (and we’ve been gifted a load of clothes as well)
I got a new sling as we had an ergobaby carrier for DC1 which we’ll probably use for walks and things but wanted something comfier for around the house so got a fabric one which I’m glad about.

I was in a similar situation a year ago. I bought a double pram, but we barely ever use it. The older one (18mo gap) just scoots around instead.

I had a 22 month gap too. We were out all day every day and a double buggy was a must. Being able to get places walking at a decent speed and having somewhere they could both nap. I couldn't have done without it and I'm a big sling fan.

I had 16 months between DCs 1 & 2.
The only things I bought for DC2 was the double adapters and extra seat for my pram (which proved pointless until DC2 was past the baby stage, because he was an adamant sling baby and screamed in the pram at every attempt), nappies, a few boyish clothes to break up all the neutral colours I’d kept from DC1, and that’s pretty much it!
I already had a few good quality slings, and I bedshare and breastfeed, so a sleeping place and feeding paraphernalia were irrelevant

Another who ended up buying a second hand double buggy.

Plenty about though as they don't get used for long in this scenario (obviously different for twins). Just really, really useful when the older one is having a trop / refusing to walk / you need to get somewhere quickly / by a really busy road / needs a nap when you are out and about / needs to sit somewhere, perhaps while eating or something / is just a bit tired.

And another vote for the second hand double pushchair. I got one where the baby goes in the back and can lie flat and toddler sits at the front (rather than a side by side one). Only used it for a few months and it was massive but meant we could get out and about properly. I could get on with the buggy board, it kept collapsing.

*I couldn’t get on with the buggy board….

Can you still get prams with toddler seats? We found this so good with ours. It meant that DS2 (and later DD) could sleep comfortably in a proper pram while we could chat to DS1 (and later DS2) as we had the pram/seat rear-facing.

We also had the issue that DS1 was born in September and DS2 in March, so all his little outfits were for winter and would have been too warm for DS2 in the summer months.