Top 5 Must-Haves for the Second Nursery #PrepTheNest #ad

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #PrepTheNest #CollectiveBias

One thing we learned from becoming parents five years ago is that babies require a lot of stuff. Because our bedrooms are so close together, I didn’t register for things like a video monitor (though I would have loved one “just because.”) I had countless burp clothes, and clothes for months – outfits my son never wore. As he outgrew items, we packed them away, just in case we had a second child. As I was packing items that we never used, I knew that the second nursery was going to have to be simpler. 

Our first go-round, we had an extensive registry list. This time? We registered at Target and kept things simple, only registering for the items we knew we needed. Target is the #1 place for baby registries and I love when friends have registries there, as it’s so easy to find everything baby needs. 

To be honest, the second child (for us!) has been a lot easier. She still requires a lot of things, but we scaled back on her nursery. Some items moved into my son’s big boy room, while others stayed behind. My top 5 must-haves for a nursery are: 

1. The convertible crib. We probably won’t use this to it’s full potential, but I know it’ll last at least four more years. It worked great as a toddler bed for our son. 
2. Changing pad on the dresser. The dresser was our son’s, and he now has a tall, skinny dresser. This one allows us to put the changing pad on the dresser, eliminating the need for a separate changing table. 
3. Rocking chair and nightstand. I have to combine these. We didn’t have a nightstand in here before, but kept the rocking chair (replacing the cushion.) The nightstand is so handy for the monitor and a glass of water. I also leave my Kindle in here. The bottom of the nightstand is great for extra blankets and one day I may use it for books or certain toys. 
4. Burp clothes/extra sheets/extra changing pad covers. It’s a lot of laundry, but my baby tends to spit up quite a bit, and rather than wash clothes daily, I can wash every other day or every two days when I have extras on hand. We won’t even go into the extra changing pad covers. I could use an extra-extra one, as there have been times that both of ours are in the dirty laundry.
5. The Playtex® Diaper Genie® Complete. This was a new purchase. The Diaper Genie Complete is so handy and can hold up to 270 dirty diapers! My baby goes through at least 8-10 diapers a day – and she used to go through more. The Diaper Genie Complete has a foot pedal for easier access and changing the Diaper Genie bags is simpler with the new front tilt bin. (Right now, you can save more when you use the Cartwheel offer at Target! The Cartwheel offer expires 9/3/16.)

The Diaper Genie Complete was easier than I expected to put together. I keep ours behind the rocking chair, so it still remains out of sight, but it’s easy to get to (I only need a foot to access it, and a hand to toss the dirty diaper.) Prior to having the Diaper Genie in our house, we were filling a small waste basket every day with dirty diapers. Now I don’t have to rush the overflowing trash out! 

When we’re out and about, it’s important that we keep everything contained. There are two diaper bags floating around (one in each of our cars) and those include extra diapers, wipes, outfits, pacifiers and burp cloths. I’ve also added a wet bag to each. This allows for dirty diapers, wet burp cloths or wet clothes to be tossed in a bag and dealt with when you get home. I even made one a wet bag! 

What you need: 

1 yard waterproof fabric

1 yard of a rope/drawstring

Scissors, Thread, measuring tape

1. Cut the fabric to approximately 15×32 inches. 
2. Place the right sides of the fabric together, sew around, leaving one 3-inch opening. Clip the corners (in a triangle.) Pull the fabric right side out and sew the opening closed. 
3. Fold the fabric in half, sew two of the sides closed (your third side will already be closed), leaving an inch and a half at the top not sewn. 
4. Fold over the top about an inch and a half. Sew along the bottom of that inch, leaving the two ends open. The two openings will be on the same side. 
5. String your drawstring through one open end until you get it to come out the other side. Tie the two ends together in a knot. 
6. Pull your bag right side out (so you don’t see the seam at the bottom of the bag.)

I used a waterproof fabric for both sides, but you could use one piece of waterproof fabric for the liner, and a cotton fabric for the outside. 

All of the items I’ve mentioned make great baby shower gifts – and they’re all useful! 

What’s your favorite baby shower gift to give or receive?