Preparing for Baby: Baby #4

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I have written a LOT of posts about baby preparation, and as time goes on I think that I have really streamlined my approach/figured out what I really need/use the most.

Here is how I have everything set up for baby #4!

Pictured above is the main set up, it’s right next to my side of the bed. We don’t have a separate room for this baby, in fact the only time we have had a separate room for the baby was for our first baby. And even then, he stayed in our room for a while to make night feedings a bit more convenient for me.

This will be my first time using the Halo Bassinest, which was given to me as a hand-me down. I have a lovey, some wubbanubs, and the soothing hedgehog in it right now, but when the baby sleeps in it, it will be empty. The dresser is from IKEA, and on top I have set up a wipeable changing pad, VAVA night light (similar linked here), a music box, and a basket of essentials (diapers, wipes, creams, etc…)

I also have a small basket on the floor full of blankets. (I purchased the large one linked, it’s not huge though. If you follow my daily deals group, I posted & purchased it when it was 45% off!)

To organize the drawers, I used the IKEA SKUBB organizers. These fit great in IKEA dressers. This dresser is the 3-drawer Hemnes.

Inside the top drawer, I have burp cloths, bibs, and swaddles. My favorite swaddles for newborns are Woombie (I have a combination of the “air” ones and regular — I bought a lot of them second hand and it was one of my best purchases because my babies spit up a lot and it is nice to have extras!) and SwaddleMe. I splurged on some new bibs this time around from Hanna Andersson too!! The burp cloths are mostly Gerber cloth diapers that my sister sewed fabric onto for me (we upcycled a lot of old stained onesies from my first to create some cute burp cloth designs!) with some of the Swaddle Designs ones mixed in.

The second drawer has sleepers, shirts, outfits, my favorite Cloud Island sleepers (these are the BEST and ZIP from the BOTTOM!!!), hats, and socks.

The bottom drawer is holding my baby carriers (Beco Gemini is my favorite and I also really like the Boba!) and some extra diapers!!

In another corner of my room, I have a rocking chair, the BabyBjorn bouncer (I think this is a worthy splurge, but I bought mine on marketplace for $75 I think), and an essentials cart. Still waiting on my breast pump, but I’ve got creams and lotions for both me and baby, diaper changing supplies, burp cloths, blankets, and will probably add some bibs or whatever I end up needing close by the rocking chair!

I have this pack-n-play with newborn bassinet insert set up in my living room. (I linked the one I have/love, but it is increasingly hard to find it in stock — it’s compact and fits through doors which I love, because it’s easy to move from room to room. I’ve used it as a bedside bassinet for all of my babies so far.) Right now, I am storing the Lullyboo lounger in it, but if the baby is sleeping in it it will be empty. The Lullyboo has been useful for all of our past babies, it’s lightweight and easy to tote around for a place to lay baby in.

And finally I have this playmat with Boppy set up on it as another place for baby to lounge!! I may or may not use the Boppy for nursing — for my first baby I used the Breast Friend and found it useful, but then found the Boppy more useful for subsequent babies since I could also use it as a lounger/seat prop as they grow!

The only other thing I can think of right now that I think we have set up and ready are the car seat / stroller situation. I bought a brand new Britax travel system on Marketplace, and my husband installed the car seat in our van! It’s crazy to have 4 car seats in our van! I am pretty sure my system is the B-Clever but I’m not familiar anymore with all of the different models. For my first baby we had the B-Agile, and it was great, but for our next two babies we did not own a car and therefore did not need a travel system anymore so I sold it and bought city strollers after that. Currently, the Britax stroller lives in my car anyway so I don’t think it will be an issue to snap in the car seat as/if needed … I am honestly not planning on taking this baby anywhere given the current situations, so I don’t even think I’ll really need it that much, but I do use the stroller frequently for my 16 month old already, and I will need car seat set up for grocery pickups, school pickups, and doctor appointments! I considered an option like the Doona, but ultimately I decided it would get such limited use that it wouldn’t be worth the cost.

I also own a Bugaboo Donkey stroller which I got for FREE (It was in bad shape when I got it but I have fixed it up a bit), and I am in the process of deciding if I’m going to turn it into a duo for neighborhood walks, or what type of double stroller situation I’m going to need, if any. In the past it has served me well to wait to decide about strollers until I have an actual need for one / know how I’m going to use it.