When we found out our 2nd baby was on the way, I already had a list of baby gear products that I knew I wanted have for this go-round! Since my first baby was 3 and a half when our baby girl was born, there were a lot of new products out there that didn’t exist (or I didn’t know about!) when my son was born. Now that our little girl has been with us for over a month and we’ve had a chance to test out some new baby items with her, I wanted to share our favorite baby gear for a second child with you all! These 7 baby gear items are ones that we use almost everyday and we wish we had them for our first child! Most of the items I’m sharing are budget-friendly, which was important to us, with only a couple being splurges that we use enough to be worth the cost. If you are a C-section or breast feeding mama, some of these baby gear items will be especially useful for you!

This post contains affiliate links, you can read our full disclosure here. In exchange for my honest review, I received a DockaTot, Binxy Baby hammock, and Ollie swaddle compliments of the brands. 

Baby Gear for a Second Child – 7 Essential Items I Wish I’d Had for Our First Baby

The DockATot

Since I had our baby via C-section, getting in and out of bed at night to pick her up out of a bassinet for feedings was so painful! If you co-sleep with your baby or are a C-section mom, I highly recommend getting a DockATot! The DockaTot can be used as a co-sleeper or for playtime and comes in two different sizes – the deluxe dock is for ages 0-8 months and the Grand Dock is for agest 9-36 months.  I have heard great things about using the Grand DockATot to make transitioning to toddler beds easier!

We got a new king size mattress before Lucia was born and there was more than enough room in our bed to put the DockATot in between my husband and I at night. We felt safe knowing that that the DockATot would keep us from rolling over on her in the night (the biggest reason we  never co-slept before) and that Lucia was sleeping in a safe place. The DockATot has been tested for breathability, which is a big deal for products being used with new babies! Lucia felt snug in the DockATot and I really think that it helped her sleep longer! Since we brought her home she has consistently slept between 4 to 6 hours a night! Click here to see the DockATots and all the fun cover options they have available! 

Binxy Baby Shopping Cart Hammock

The Binxy Baby hammock for shopping carts has been a lifesaver for us! I would have loved to have something like this when I had my first baby. I remember all those shopping trips with his car seat taking up all of the space in the cart and I had to stuff the groceries around the seat. The Binxy Baby hammock solves that problem because it keeps the shopping cart free for groceries! It has been safety tested, fits in most standard-sized grocery store carts, and can hold a baby or car seat up to 50 pounds in weight.

The hammock is also super easy to use! Just throw it in your diaper bag on the way out the door, unroll and attach to your cart at the store in just seconds, buckle your baby in, and start shopping! Lucia loved using it for her first Target trip! Click here to get 10% off and to see all the cute patterns that the Binxy Baby comes in!

The Ollie Swaddle

The Ollie Swaddle is so good, ya’ll! It is the only swaddle you’ll need for your baby and definitely worth the price! When Iker was a baby I tried a couple different swaddles (this one and this one to be exact!) and I wasn’t in love with either of them! This one looked like it was too tight around his neck, which made me so uncomfortable that I never ended up letting him sleep in it! The other one wasn’t convenient at all for diaper changes and as he got bigger, I had to buy a new one in a bigger size.

I love the Ollie Swaddle so much because you don’t have to unswaddle your baby for those middle of the night diaper changes! You simply undo the elastic that is below the baby’s feet and you’re all set, no loud velcro to take off and put back on! Also, when you swaddle your baby in the Ollie, the swaddle goes below their shoulders, so it’s not tight around the baby’s neck like some of the other swaddles out there. This is so important to me, because I can’t sleep if I’m the least bit worried about something possibly being unsafe for my child.

The Ollie swaddle is also one size fits all, so no need to buy another one (unless you just want a back up!). It fits the tiniest baby to the biggest! Once your baby starts being able to roll, or if he or she doesn’t like their arms to be swaddled, you can keep their arms out an still be able to swaddle them, which is also a feature I haven’t seen in the other swaddles I tried. Click here to get 10% off an Ollie Swaddle and to see all the colors they come in!

Graco Uno2Duo Stroller

We just got this stroller and it is so amazing for the price! We snagged the single stroller for a great price on Amazon Prime Day! This really is the best stroller for a baby and a toddler due to all of the different combinations of seats and the standing board option for a toddler. We had a Graco car seat for my first child, so we didn’t need the travel system and we opted for the single stroller instead of the double since our son is almost four.

When your baby is still small enough to fit in an infant car seat, the stroller seat can be moved to the 2nd seat position to make a double stroller or your older child can stand on the standing board on the back of the stroller. The seats can be configured in so many different ways. It definitely feels and looks like a luxe stroller! The seat can fold down into an infant bassinet and all the seat configurations can face forward or backward, which I really love! When my baby is small, I want to be able to see her instead of her facing outward away from me. Another major plus for this stroller is that the storage basket is huge! Click here to see all of the options for this stroller and to see the current pricing! 

Freemie Liberty Breast Pump

I would have loved to have this pump when I was breastfeeding and pumping with my first baby! It would have made my experience so much better! The Freemie Liberty is amazing because you can pump on the go! You don’t have to wear a special bra in order to pump hands free (game changer!), because the freemie cups fit right into almost any regular or nursing bra. This also makes pumping so much more discreet, which I really love! The control panel is small and comes with a clip so you can attach it to your clothes and pump while you move around the house, do chores, or make your morning coffee! I was pretty literally chained to my chair with the pump I had for my first child, so this pump has been such a lifesaver.

I don’t dread pumping  like I used to since I’m free to carry on with my day while I pump. There is another pump that is even better than this one, but the price tag is a lot steeper. The Willow pump is currently $479 and it has no tubing among other little bells and whistles. The Freemie Liberty Pump is a cheaper alternative to the Willow Pump. It does have tubing and while it would be nice to be without the tubes, I couldn’t justify the price difference so I stuck with the Freemie Liberty and am so happy with it! I even was able to get it for free with my insurance! You can read about some of my other breastfeeding essentials here! 

Haakaa Silicone Pump

This thing has been another total lifesaver in my breastfeeding/pumping life with my 2nd baby! I had never heard of this little pump until very recently and I’m so happy that I found it! I haven’t been able to pump a lot of milk with either of my children and while I still don’t collect a ton with the haakaa, every little bit counts and using the haakaa is so much more convenient than whipping out a standard breast pump. You just suction this little guy onto one breast while your baby is on the other and it magically “pumps” with no electricity or batteries needed! I usually collect an extra 2-4 oz a day while I’m feeding my daughter. It doesn’t sound like much, but when you don’t pump much to begin with every extra ounce is so important! The haakaa pump is also incredibly affordable! I highly recommend it to any breastfeeding mama! Click here to see the current options and prices! 

Fisher-Price Auto Rock n Play

We had a regular Rock N Play (not automated) for my first child and it was great! He actually slept in it until he was 7 months old! He loved to rock, but it was tiresome to manually make it rock in the middle of the night. Not long after he was born. the automated version came out and I was so upset that it wasn’t around when he was first born! The first thing we put on our baby registry for our daughter was the Auto Rock n Play! We needed a second one since my mom will be taking care of our daughter when I go back to work. The automated feature is definitely worth the slightly higher price tag. Click here to see the prices and check out all the cute patterns you can choose from! 

I hope these recommendations of baby gear for a second child were helpful to you! I would love to know what your must-have baby gear items have been, let me know in the comments!