As much as possible, we’re trying to reuse the baby stuff we have from last time; I’ve dug through all of Clayton’s clothes and pretty much put only the ones that say ‘handsome like daddy’ into storage! Otherwise we’ll add bows and make it all work. But are some things that need adding so here’s what I’ve purchased or have on the list to buy pre babe!
With everything we get for baby, I have high standards for them being non toxic as well as eco friendly. Much of what we bring into our homes for a new arrival can actually be filled with chemicals and toxins. Some of it is unavoidable but a lot of it can be avoided so that’s what I’ve been going after here. We also don’t have an infinite budget so you’ll see some places I’ve swapped ‘perfect’ for ‘the best we can do’ to adjust to real life!
You can find my whole Clean Living Baby Shower Checklist HERE but these are my key additions and changes for round 2!
CRIB
I managed to find a perfect crib for Clayton on a second hand site, and we were gifted a great mattress. Win win. This time round I couldnl’t find a second hand perfect one so I chose to invest the money in a good mattress, and get a simple second hand wooden crib for $40. The mattress is the most important part to me and I went with a coconut fibre filled, chemical retardant free one from Babyletto.
BASSINET
There are a few great bassinet options in this price range, Babyletto have great ones but THIS from Monte was the one I could find second hand and it equally ticks all the same boxes.
CRIB MATTRESS
As I said above, I think it’s more important to fork out on a good mattress than a good crib frame. And honestly given the hours they spend in it, I think it’s one of the most important items overall to source well. The same brand Babyletto make a very non toxic, natural mattress at (as these items go) an actually ok price. They have a pure core and a coco core option – I’m going for the coco core but the pure is a slightly lower priced option.
BOTTLES
In general I try not to store anything in plastic, whatever claims to ‘clean’ it
might have (BPA free etc) half for health and half as an eco choice. But either way glass is a way better option so I’m option for glass bottle from Natursutten. I first discovered the brand for their all natural rubber dummies/pacifiers and they use the same all natural rubber for the teets on the bottles.
ONESIES
Organic and ethically sourced clothing is really important to me (read more HERE) , but especially in these first days, organic is a must for me for my babies. It doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg and these are my favourite simple onesies and what I’m stocking up on! On Amazon, or at the Lov’dbaby Shop.
CRIB SHEETS
We were gifted a few for Clayton but I want to invest in a couple more for the second crib as we’ll be keeping Clayton in the same mattress size for a while. THESE ones from Burts Bees are a great organic cotton, GOTS certified option that’s budget friendly.
BREAST PUMP
A sweet momma friend gifted me her amazing Medela pump three days post partum (when it was much needed!) last time, but I needed to replace a few parts so I’m cleaning it up and making sure it’s all ready to go. I have to confess to having been a pump and dumper last time for the first few months, after that I started saving and donating my milk and it was the biggest honor that I want to do it again! Read a great post from Danielle Walker HERE on healthily pumping and storing breast milk.
DIAPERS
We’re going to be cloth diapering again, and we’re set up with everything for that, but at the hospital we’re have disposables ready, and I like to keep a stash at home in case other people are doing diaper changes. With Clayton we used Honest diapers which are a good eco and non toxic option (although I don’t personally like the subscription service), but THESE ones from Bambo Nature are actually much better on all fronts – eco/biodegreadable/toxin free. They don’t win on price, but given we’re not doing disposables for the most part I don’t mind.
SOAP
We can talk later about how much of a crunchy mama I’m going to be this time round, and whether we’ll be bathing baby first thing… but I know one thing I regretted last time was that I had no idea they were going to bath Clayton with soap right out of the womb and I had no idea what was in the soap. This time round I’ll be taking our favorite soap for the whole family, in the baby version: Dr Bronners Castile Baby Soap. I’ll just take one soap and we’ll all use it for showers, hands etc.
BABY MONITOR
The video baby monitor was my slightly obsessive safety blanket last time. (“Jared zoom in, is he breathing, can you see? No but are you really looking? Let me see.”) So when a friend told me to uplug it I thought she was crazy…. until I did a little research. You can do your own reading but it’s all about the wireless waves so close to the baby, and after reading a lot myself, I’m trading the video one in for a very simple, one way communication, analogue sounds only system. Happily this health move comes with a much LOWER price tag!
REUSEABLE NURSING PADS
I never invested in reusable nursing pads last time and always meant to so I’m getting them off the bat this time! And when I’m done with them for nursing pads they can be used for face cleaning. Win win.
Check out everything else we loved for the early months on my Clean Living Baby Shower Checklist HERE! Or if you’re like me and loved reading birth stories pre birth, you can read our not-quite-how-I-imagined-it start to labour and the next two days of it HERE!
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