Saving Time & Money When You Have Your Second Child
This conversation is sponsored by Luvs at Sam’s Club. All opinions are my own.
I’ll never forget the overwhelming fear that hung over me as I watched my mom back of the driveway and head back to her home over 4 hours away.
There I stood with my first newborn child in my arms totally unaware of what to do now. It was terrifying to go from being a self-absorbed wife to a kid-absorbed mother!
I was now in charge of this tiny human being and it was the scariest and toughest season of my adult life.
Overtime though I became more and more comfortable. It wasn’t until about 4 years later that I decided that I might just be ready to do it over again. That I was ready to own baby #2 because baby #1 was doing pretty darn good. I knew I could do it again and this time I was going to totally own it!
To my surprise, I went into my 16 week appointment on my 32nd birthday to find not one, but two babies on the sonogram screen. It was a total shock. All that fear and worry I felt came flooding back and I had to make a decision.
I was either going to let this new, uncharted territory terrify me or I was going to decide that if I had done it once (even if it was just one baby) I could do it again. Not only would I be ready, but I would harness all the truths I learned from baby one, be minimal on the registry supplies, ditch my old hangups and go with what actually works.
When it comes to saving money and preparing yourself for a house with multiple little one’s, here are some of my thriftiest and most time saving tips.
1. Enroll in a diaper subscription delivery service-
This is one way, beyond registering for tons of diapers, that I was able to survive the first year with twin babies. A great place to start is a bulk buy option like SAMSclub.com. They even have a Luvs subscription service on their Ginormous boxes. Having diapers regularly delivered to my door was one of the best decisions that I made because I didn’t have to think about it and when I needed more, I didn’t have to load up all my kids and go to the store. They just appeared on my front door at just the right time to keep me in constant supply and save my sanity!
The older my first child got the more I reached for Luvs over other expensive diapers. Then when my twins came along and I saw that Luvs have the Nightlock™ feature without having to buy special separate “overnight” diapers, I was sold. They are ultra-absorbent which means I won’t be up changing soiled sheets in the middle of the night or during nap time!
2. Order Grocery’s Online-
One of the best investments I made was ordering my groceries online and then being able to just roll up, park and have someone bring all my groceries out to my car. The additional fee was so nominal it didn’t even matter!
Without this service we would have been constantly out of food because I literally never had the time or energy to load up all 3 kids and go to the store.
I’m not sure how I would have managed to get 2 infant car seats and 4 year old in my shopping cart, plus groceries. Pretty sure that would have been physically impossible. Not to mention how long it would take me to get through the store. So having this option was a huge blessing!
3. Minimize EVERYTHING –
I can remember the excitement I had with my first child, walking around store and registering for lots of fun new baby items. Everything was so cute, tiny and something I just knew I NEEDED! But after having one kid, you soon find out that not a whole lot is actually needed to help baby grow and develop other than some basic supplies, lots of patience and some serious love!
So, adding two more kids to our family also ended up adding 2 more of everything needed. 2 more outfits everyday (or more- if they have a particularly spit up kind of day), 2 more bottles, 2 more pacifiers and the list goes on. With one kid already around this lead to triple the laundry, triple the dishes and triple the time on everything!
One way that I kept sane and kept from going broke in round 2 of kids was deciding to be way more minimal. I only registered for diapers, wipes, diaper rash cream and formula! I didn’t register for tons of fancy new equipment, bottle warmers and all the things that were on my first registry.
I even got my older son down to 3 pairs of shoes, 10 tops, 10 bottoms and socks. I kept my twins clothes at a minimum too! I only had a few outfits, a few pajamas and my swaddles.
Keeping all these things minimized made it easier to clean, easier to stay on top of laundry and way easier to find things when I needed them. If you are willing to really minimize the toys, tools, gadgets and gear, you’ll find your life far more enjoyable!
4. Give Everything a Place-
One important component for my success was having a specific place for everything and going over those specific places with my spouse.
We had a bin for pajamas, a bin for onesies, a bin for spit up cloths, a bin for diapers, a bin for swaddles, a bin for extra sheets and we were good to go. Every time one of us did laundry, we knew exactly where to put that item away so it could be located quickly and easily. This saved tons of time and kept down frustration when we had two babies crying at one time!
I often recommend that if you can use clear plastic drawers or containers that you opt for these because you can easily mark them with a dry erase marker as to what is inside the drawers.
5. Get Help!
Whether you gather the help of your spouse, older children, a grandparent, a nanny or just opt for part time to full time childcare, don’t be afraid to seek help. My best move when the twins came along was asking my mom to help me for 3 weeks. I’m lucky she was able to do it.
I also tried to train my first born to be as independent as possible before his siblings came along. He was able to help do his own laundry, get himself dressed, retrieve things and carry things to the sink for me! It was great!
Looking back I wish I hadn’t been so headstrong to do it all myself with my first child. I wish I had asked for more help!
Asking for help doesn’t make you less of mom! It really helps free you up to be the best mom you can be if you feel short on energy, patience or mental stamina. Don’t do it alone!
At the end of the day, I believe that anything you can do as a parent to save time and/or money is a win. There are lots of things we “could” do with all the time we have but sometimes we can save a good bit of our sanity by creating a “set it” and “forget it” way of supplying our needs.
I found that have a subscription delivery of diapers to be a huge help in my mom of multiples life. And because you know I’m all about saving money, be sure you shop at SamsClub.com or the Sam’s Club app for a limited time and get an additional $3 off AND free shipping when you buy any Luvs diapers. This means high-quality Luvs diapers are as low as $.11 each for a five-week supply! Savings are automatically calculated at samsclub.com (not available in-club). Do yourself a favor and start with one simple task like this one!
How to Order:
- Go to the Luvs product page and order your diapers for delivery straight to your door.
- Click “Save Time With Subscriptions” and select a frequency for delivery at checkout, and you’ll soon find your favorite Luvs diapers arriving on your doorstep just in time.
- Download the Sam’s Club mobile app:
Comments submitted may be displayed on other websites owned by the sponsoring brand.
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of PG. The opinions and text are all mine.
Kim Anderson is the organized chaos loving author behind the Thrifty Little Mom Blog. She helps other people who thrive in organized chaos to stress less, remember more and feel in control of their time, money, and home. Kim is the author of: Live, Save, Spend, Repeat: The Life You Want with the Money You Have. She’s been featured on Time.com, Money.com, Good Housekeeping, Women’s Day, and more!