my nontoxic registry for BABY #2 👼🏻

This past week Celia and I have been sick and it has been a doozy. I always feel like I get in such a good rhythm with work and life and then BOOM! I need to take a pause. Which I really don’t like doing, but I really don’t have a choice right now. I got an IV today because I was feeling so horrible and we thought it would help, but alas I still feel pretty terrrrrible. Thankfully Daniel didn’t catch the virus so he’s able to carry the team.

I really wanted to share my baby registry with you though so working on this is about all the energy I have. ~even though I may push it and make some peach lemonade~ I CANNOT BE STOPPED!

* as always, this is way too long to read in email so make sure you’re opening it in the Substack app or on your laptop. *

Before we get into the baby #2 registry items, I want to note that I have previously posted “My “dream baby registry” now that I’m a mom”. That’s a more comprehensive list and would be more applicable for a FTM, but the things I’m including below are my new/updated picks too.

📚 WHAT TO READ: I’m reading The Shampoo Effect by Jenny Jackson and I’m not convinced I love it. Nay, I’m not convinced I like it. It’s alrighttttt I’m just 1. not super invested in the characters and 2. why must every book be so political and also hate men? So anywayyyyyssss, we’ll see if I finish it.

📺 WHAT TO WATCH: We try not to do a lot of screen time with Celia. We’ve gone through phases. For a little while we were letting her watch Farmer Jason on YouTube (which is really great ngl), then we stopped letting her watch anything at all for a couple months, but with being sick we started watching Disney movies again. I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve watched the original Little Mermaid this week - maybe about 25? Celia is obsessed so that’s really the only rec I have this week. 🧜🏻‍♀️

🎧 WHAT TO LISTEN TO: I told you I was going to listen to something other than Culture Apothecary and I actually delivered! I didn’t venture too far though and listened to a podcast episode from the Primally Pure podcast.

I want to make something very clear, I do not need anything for this baby. After having my daughter I realized that the only things my baby truly needs are: me, my boobs, cloth diapers, and some clothing. However, there are certainly things that make caring for babies easier and more comfortable for everyone. With this being baby number two we already have so much stuff. Not only did we receive a ton of gifts at Celia’s baby shower, but we have been purchasing and replacing stuff over the past two years. That being said, my baby registry for this baby is what I believe to be a nice mix of things we truly “need” and some fun (albeit expensive) extras that would be nice to have.

Another thing I realized through mothering Celia is that less is absolutely more. I had so much STUFF for Celia. Mostly clothing (stuff that I thrifted/bought and hand-me-downs) and I found it to be so overwhelming. I want to keep things for this baby very simple and I think this registry helps accomplish that.

Also, we still haven’t renovated the upstairs at all which means neither child has a room of their own. Celia still sleeps with us (which we’re not planning on changing), but that means all of her clothing lives in our room. Baby #2 also will likely not have a room of their own by the time they arrive so I need to incorporate their stuff into our small bedroom as well.

Lastly, I do not expect to receive everything on this. If my family decides to do something like all go in on a car seat and purchase nothing else I will be thrilled. I just had a lot of fun putting this together and I’m not putting any expectations on it. ok let’s get into it.

1. We already own the Angel Cab U Series stroller and pram basket, so purchasing the Cradle Base just made the most sense for us.

2. I already have a ton of “swaddling blankets”, but this organic muslin one also from Angel Cab just looked lovely so I added it.

3. Clearly I love Angel Cab, because this lambskin / wool cover also made it on the list. I love that I can add it to the bassinet, use it for tummy time, or use it in the stroller as baby gets larger.

1. I really like the performance and ingredients of the bum balm from Amallow. It’s gentle enough for daily diaper changes, but strong enough to combat diaper rash should it arise.

2. We definitely have enough cloth diapers, but these new tie ones from esembly just look too cute to pass up. Plus I'm wondering if they’ll be a little more newborn friendly than the button snaps.

3. I believe that part of the reason I wasn’t too jazzed about EC from the start with Celia was because I didn’t have a tophat potty and would just try to put her over bowls. So not this time! We’re getting the tophat.

4. When Celia was a newborn I swore by this little egg light for middle of the night changes and feeds. However, it’s definitely just an LED light and frankly it’s a little tough to get to the “red light” option on it. So long story short I'm opting for a red light book light from Bon Charge - I believe it’s non-flickering LED. It’ll not only be great to clip onto the diaper caddy or headboard for changing, but it means I could also read paperback books while I feed at night.

5. For some reason I never bought these little diaper snaps when Celia was still in diapers. I would just fold/wrap her flats and prefolds, but I think these little claspy things will really make those more effective and enjoyable to use. And once again, I’m thinking flats may be the most newborn friendly option so these will help a ton.

6. Over the years we have definitely lost a bunch of cloth wipes so a fresh resupply of some will be lovely. These ones are from Esembly and are made with organic cotton. I’m requesting 2 packs.

7. This 100% cotton diaper caddy will likely be really helpful since, like I mentioned, we don’t actually have a room or changing station for baby. This means I can tote stuff around the house, change on the bed, couch, etc. I plan on keeping diapers in a dresser drawer again and just stocking the caddy with as many as I can fit and then just resupply once I'm out.

* I almost labeled this section “expensive stuff” *

1. Ride on back stroller skateboard! This is so cool and also comes from Angel Cab - which means it’s made to work with Angel Cab strollers. Idk if it would work with other brands, but it’s worth looking into. I’m not positive we will have a double stroller (more on that below) so a place for Celia to ride along on the Angel Cab stroller would be awesome.

2. We bought the Nuna Exec car seat and have been pleased with it. I will say, it’s a convertible carseat - meaning it goes from newborn to booster seat - therefore it’s very heavy. However, idk about you, but I genuinely don’t want to spend several hundred dollars on a nontoxic infant car seat and then also a convertible carseat. So I'm gonna deal with a heavy carseat.

3. This isn’t expensive, but it does go with the stroller and carseat stuff! It’s literally just an organic muslin carseat cover that I found on Etsy. The Nuna Exec comes with I believe merino wool inserts for infants, but after that it’s just the polyester so I would love a cover for baby and honestly should get one for C as well.

4. This is sorta a Hail Mary type of item on our registry since we definitely don’t need it and it’s deffffinitely expensive! However, like I mentioned we don’t have a double stroller and I always said that if I were to buy one it would be a jogging stroller so that I can at least jog with the kids. This one is from Bumble Ride and is “non-toxic”.

5. This Organic Baby Hammock is another totally unnecessary, but very very cool baby item. Babies sleep so well outside so it would be wonderful to be able to hook this up to the porch, a tree, wherever we are so baby as a cozy space off the ground to lay in.

6. Prior to moving we would go on walks with Celia on our neighborhood greenway every single day and during the winter I dreamed about these wool hand muffs every 👏🏻 single 👏🏻 walk 👏🏻. Totally unnecessary, but man it would be amaaaaazing for super cold walks outside.

7. I would love to get into hiking again, but regular baby carriers aren’t really working for Celia anymore and she’s getting a little too heavy for me to hike trails with anyways. So I guess this Thule Sapling heavy duty backpack carrier is sorta more for Daniel to use with Celia than baby #2 right now, but let’s be honest, both will end up using it.

1. Can you tell by the photo that I’m a huge Hylands fan? The tiny cold tablets are so helpful and if baby gets a cold early on these will be so wonderful to have on hand.

2. I have no idea how many times I’ve repurchased the Hylands teething tabs, gel, and drops… so while I know these won’t last me forever, it’ll be helpful o have a fresh restock on hand for Baby #2.

3. And yes more Hylands! This time the organic all in one cough syrup. They have so many options - cold, cough, mucus, etc… but this one was organic so I put it on the list.

4. As long as my birth goes well without any intervention I will be forgoing the Vitamin K shot and doing the oral vitamin K1 instead. So definitely need this on hand!

5. We already own one lifevac, but ideally I would have one in the kitchen/house and one in the car so we’re prepared no matter where we go.

1. I realize now that the lanolin should’ve went in the diapering section, but I’m too sick and tired to update that. This is a 100% pure organic lanolin which is just so cool. Lanolin was so helpful during those first few weeks of life for Celia and makes a huge difference when dealing with the meconium.

2. I try to keep bathing and soap extra simple and gentle with new babies and honestly don’t really use soap unless it’s undeniably necessary. However, I'm requesting some tallow twins bars of soap so we have something soothing and nontoxic whenever we need it.

3. And speaking of tallow twins, the happy baby balm is sooooo good. I plan on using this not only for overall body lotion, but for diaper lotion.

1. Both of these toys are from Angel Cab (can you tell I love Angel Cab) and this little veggie garland is beyond cute. I plan on using it in the stroller, if I use a bouncer, etc.

2. This is just a simple music box/ball and it looks lovely.

1. I haven’t gone through Celia’s clothing yet to see what I want to pull out for baby #2, but the only thing I know for sure is want for this baby is some new organic cotton socks. These are from Q for Quinn and are lovely! Celia has several pairs, but nothing newborn I don’t believe. Also, whenever I do go through clothing I will probably purchase everything myself since I really don’t want anything that isn’t organic cotton. Yes, we have A LOT that isn’t, but I'm trying to make a new guideline for myself that if it isn’t organic cotton I'm not buying it. Quality over quantity.

1. I had second degree tears so perineal spray was such a lifesaver last pregnancy. I’m requesting two bottles of the earth mama non toxic spray so I can keep one in each bathroom.

2. This is a regular ol’ cami from Mate the Label, which means it’s organic cotton, but not a specifically nursing tank. However, what I realized through breastfeeding is that it doesn’t really matter, I just pull my boob out. I’m requesting two of these.

3. I had the Frida diapers, cooling pads, etc etc but I think I'm gonna keep it more simple this time. I have hot and cool gel pads already from last pregnancy that I plan on using and then I’m asking for these organic cotton pads for the heavy bleeding and then I’ll be using my reusable panty liners as things ease up.

4. Once again this isn’t a nursing bra, but I already own one of these Q for Quinn bras and I love it and think it’ll be really easy to nurse in it. Sometimes I just don’t want to be encumbered with like a full on nursing bra so this will be lovely.

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