18 months apart. Any tips? Must haves?

[SunnySideUp2020]

I found out I am pregnant with baby #2 and my first is only 9 months!
Anything that made your life much easier during pregnancy and after when having the 2 under 2?

Anye stories and tips
are welcome!

Thank you!!

Put your older one in nursery a couple of afternoons a week! Get used to a lot of crying but also double the laughs 💕

Batch cook and stock your freezer, and switch to online shopping if you haven’t already.
Use white noise for naps
If you didn’t get a bath seat for your first, then make sure you definitely get one for your second. It means you have your hands free so that you can wash both at the same time.
Save yourself from traipsing up and down the stairs and get a changing station for every floor of your home. Buy a really cheap changing mat and stash it underneath the sofa.
Get a good Thermos mug - the chances of you finishing a hot drink before it cools down to room temperature are slim to none.
Put together a ‘busy box’ with some toys which will occupy your oldest when you’re feeding your baby.
Use a sling. It’s a life saver.
Even if you already have a baby monitor, you’ll want to consider upgrading to a monitor that supports two cameras.
Consider getting a high chair which supports a newborn so you can put the baby in it without worrying about your eldest poking its eyes out. Useful when you need to pee.
Instead of having one enormous bag where everything you need ends up at the bottom, get two smaller bags - one for each child.

Wow thank you so much @Fivemoreminutes1 for taking the time to write this down. Super helpful!

Bath seat definitely, don’t let the big one wash the small one’s hair 🤭

Place to stash the baby in basically every room, so you’ve always got somewhere safe to put them when dealing with the toddler.

I found that the baby got into a really good routine because she was fed (to keep her quiet) in a dark room while I put her brother to bed - so she observed a nice early bedtime pretty much from birth.

If the older one still naps then employ all your tactics to get them to nap at the same time, and then nap yourself.