Transitioning to Two Under Two: Routines, Products, and Thoughts

Hey Everyone! 

In my last post we announced we were expecting Baby #2. 

Well, he is here! 

Meet Kyler Holman! 

Kyler was born on October 25th, surprising us by coming two weeks early! Weighing in at 7lbs 3oz and 21.1 inches long, he has been a super chill bundle of joy! 

Now, almost six weeks later, we have settled into a somewhat routine and have mostly adjusted to life with two under two. 🙂 

I thought that it would be super difficult to adjust, but Kyler is a unicorn easy baby, so I’ve been so blessed with a smooth transition! He doesn’t have the eating struggles his sister had, he is a good sleeper, and is so content the majority of the time! 

So, I’m sure you all are dying to know: What have I done differently? 

For starters, one thing we have done differently is that we are not solely bedsharing. With our first we ended up bedsharing (follow the Safe Sleep 7!) due to survival. Brielle (our first) had oral ties and really struggled nursing, so she was a terrible sleeper and nursed 24/7. That was a rough few months! If you are in that season of life right now, just know that you are SEEN. Nursing is such a selfless sacrifice, and it’s HARD but oh so rewarding, both in the bond you create and the benefits your baby reaps from your milk! Kyler is has a much easier temperament than Bri, and so he will sleep (most of the time) pretty good stretches in his crib for both naps and night. However, if we have another more high needs baby, we will definitely bedshare again if necessary! When done safely, it’s a LIFESAVER! 

Another other thing I’ve done differently is that I’m not a slave to the clock. We have more of a go-with-the-flow routine and I feed on demand, put him down when sleepy, and let him dictate more of his schedule. It’s been a lot less stressful and I feel like I’m more in tune with him than I was with Bri. We also haven’t swaddled, didn’t introduce a bottle till recently (at three months), worried about creating a milk stash, or tried to make him take a pacifier (he did end up doing well with one for bed time and naps). We’ve also been able to use more holistic remedies for gas and tummy upset. 

The biggest thing though that we have changed is in regards to diapering: we have cloth diapered him from week 2! We don’t bother with cloth for the first week, cause those poops are NASTY! However, he had a reaction to every disposable diaper we tried, so we ended up just using cloth. I’ll be honest, I don’t love it cause newborns need a LOT of diapers and I end up having to wash them every other day, but It definitely saves money! We have been using the Esembly diaper system, and its worked really well for us! We have very few accidents, and he hasn’t gotten a rash at all, which is a huge blessing. They are definitely a little pricey up front, but the quality and performance are fantastic! I haven’t tried any other cloth diaper brands to compare, but I highly recommend Esembly if you are looking for a no-fuss, EASY intro into cloth diapers. 

Other than those things, we haven’t really done much differently!

Favorite Things

Every parent has a list of things they did use, didn’t use, and wish they had for each baby and what they deem necessary and unnecessary, both for postpartum recovery and for baby, and I am no different! This is not an exhaustive list, but here are the big ones: 

The things I DO use: 

• Snuggle Me Lounger: I wasn’t sure I would use this, but oh my word it has been the best! He LOVES snuggling in it and slept sooo well! (Yes, I know they aren’t supposed to sleep in it, but he’s not rolling and closely supervised. I’m being safe, I promise! We did transition out of it for sleeping at around the 11-12 week mark) 
• Earthley’s Infant Tummy Relief: Poor little guy has some pretty bad gas and often struggles with spit up and tummy issues. This stuff is AMAZING, and it’s completely all natural with no harmful additives or crappy ingredients. Highly recommend it! 
• Diaper Changing Table & Pad: We didn’t have one for Bri (we just used her bassinet lol), but since we had a dresser that was changing pad compatible, we went ahead and got one and it was the BEST idea ever! It has made changing diapers sooooo much easier, and he actually LOVES it and has fallen asleep on it more than once when I was taking to long lol. 
• Real Disposable Underwear: Definitely not glamorous, but soooo handy! I just used the store brand with Bri, but I think using the organic Rael ones (they don’t have all the nasty chemicals!) with Kyler really helped my recovery. Recovery with Kyler was worlds better than with Bri, and I think these were a big reason for that! They aren’t cheap, but you really only need one package, and then you can go back to regular pads. 
• Earthley’s Postpartum Balance: this has really helped balance my hormones and cut down on the mood swings!
• Wishgarden’s AfterEase: second baby afterbirth cramps are no joke, but when I remembered to take this,  it took the edge off and made them either almost unnoticeable when I took it preventatively, or bearable when I took it reactively. 
• Homeopathic Arnica: I used this instead of Tylenol/Ibuprofen and it was soooo much better, both for me and for baby!
• Newborn sleepers: We only had two cause I wasn’t sure how big he’d be, but we ended up going out and getting several more cause they are just so much easier than onesies and pants!  If/when we have another, I’m gonna have 10 of them with maybe one or two cute outfits, and he/she is going to live in the sleepers. It’s just so much easier, and all they do is sleep anyway! If it’s a winter baby I will get several short sleeve onesies to layer with the sleepers. 
• Crib: This time my child actually sleeps in it!!! Lol. So I’m really glad we have it, but some babies may not tolerate a crib. My first sure didn’t! 

The things I wish I had had:

• Little Sleepies: Super stretchy bamboo may not be the most non-toxic option on the market, but these pjs last FOREVER and eliminate the need to buy new sleepers every 1-2 months that first year.
• Postpartum nursing pjs: I don’t have actual winter postpartum nursing pjs, but I wish I did! It would make nursing at night sooooo much easier. I had actual pjs for my first, but she was born in warmer weather, not colder, so they are the wrong season. Do yourself a favor, and buy a few pairs of comfy nursing pjs if you are breastfeeding!
• Nursing bras: I got nursing bras with my first child, but I haven’t replaced them and wish I could. Fun fact: Your breasts STILL grow even more with subsequent pregnancies. I thought they wouldn’t since I was still nursing my first, but nope, they definitely did. And now nothing fits. Just get the bras, ladies!
• Cute but comfy pants: I really struggled with my body postpartum this go round. With my first I lost the weight quickly, and went back to my pre-pregnancy size relatively quickly. It’s been much harder this time, and I wish I had gone ahead and gotten a few pairs of cute but comfy pants I would feel confident wearing in public.  
• Longer, looser shirts: I was in a short top/high waisted jeans phase before I found I was expecting Kyler, so all I had to wear postpartum was high waisted jeans and short shirts, which were NOT flattering on me, lol. All I wore that first month or two was leggings and a long shirt, so I wish I had more longer, looser shirts. Once I was able to squeeze into my jeans, I found myself preferring a long shirt side tucked into my high wasted jeans, as opposed to the short shirt. The long shirt was just more flattering and I felt far more confident!
• Second baby monitor: We toyed with the idea of getting a second monitor, and we want one but still haven’t pulled the trigger. When Bri is down in her room and Kyler is down in ours, it would be nice to have a monitor for each kid, especially since Kyler is soooo quiet and hard to hear, even when he is upset.
• Freezer meals: we were going to and didn’t, and then wished we did! Just do it. Do the freezer meals. You’ll thank yourself later.
• Side-car compatible bed/crib: If you are going to get a crib, do yourself a favor and make sure its sidecar compatible, which means that you can connect it to your bed and basically just have an extended sleep space. That way, you can easily see how baby is doing, baby can sleep on it’s own surface, but you don’t have to get up to nurse or put the pacifier back in.
• House cleaning service: Hear me out on this. One of the things that stressed me out the most both in the weeks leading up to and directly following Kyler’s arrival was housecleaning. With a toddler and two dogs, I felt like the house was always a disaster, and so biting the bullet and hiring a house cleaning service would have been so much nicer. If I was upset or grumpy, it was almost always cause the house was a disaster, so if I had just hired the service I would have been a much more pleasant mama!

The things I did NOT use:

• Onsies/pants: Those first four weeks he basically lived in sleepers. I did have several onesies cause I layered them under his sleepers, but unless we went out somewhere, he just wore the sleepers all day long. So get onesies specifically for layering if you have a winter baby, but except for maybe two or three outfits, skip the rest!
• Fancy outfits: See above for reasoning, lol. Seriously though, it’s the same idea. Have one or two really cute outfits for photos, but then just get the sleepers. The money you save would allow you to spend more on said sleepers and get the ones from Little Sleepies that will last you forever! For example, my now-22-month-old wears some 2T and mostly 3T clothes, but she can still fit into her 6-12 month Little Sleepies! Kyler, who is now 3 months old, wears 3-6 month clothes, but can still fit into his Newborn Little Sleepies, and even the Preemie one!
• Perennial ice packs: It might be nice to have a few on hand for the first 24-48 hours, but after that you want to do more heat than ice to simulate blood flow and speed up healing. You definitely don’t need a huge box of them!

Wrapping it Up

And that’s about it for the big stuff!

The main thing to remember is that every child is different, and what you didn’t like for one kid you may really like for the next, especially if you are talking different genders.

What are some things that YOU wish you had done different? Things that you DID do different? I can’t wait to hear from you!