9 Things I’m Doing Differently With My Third Baby

Last updated on March 3rd, 2025 at 09:00 am

I’m currently pregnant with my third child, and the thing about having your third is you become pretty sure in what worked and what didn’t. So, you know what you’re doing differently with your third. Granted, every baby is different, but there are just some things you know as you prepare for your third baby. So, here are some things I’m taking into baby #3.

Buying less clothing and only the essentials

I wrote about this a bit in my blog about how much baby clothing you need, but this time around, I’m buying significantly less clothing. Really, we do laundry all the time. So, I’m not going to bother with buying a lot when we can just wash. I’m not even bothering to invest in too much cute clothing. It’s going to get covered in spit-up anyway. So, we’re going with basic onesies, some rompers, and some pants.

The same goes for general gear. I’m not going to spend money on anything that we’re not going to need. For me, that’s things like single-portion baby food maker (it’s cheaper/easier to bulk cook and freeze it), bottle warmers (stick it in a glass of hot water or leave it cold), and fancy baby monitors (half the time they’ll freak you out because they won’t detect the heart rate that is absolutely there).  

It’s also worth nothing that my two kids are pretty little (4 & 2), so we have a lot of stuff that we can reuse with our third baby. This includes the crib, stroller, and even car seat. That being said, I am buying a new high chair. That thing was gross, and I want one that’s foldable. Space-saving baby gear over all else!

Refusing to be afraid to leave the house

With my first, leaving the house seemed like such an ordeal, and I think I’m going to take the opposite approach with my third baby. I refuse to stay stuck inside the house. Especially since I was sitting in my local coffee shop, and I saw a mom with a small baby sitting in a corner with a teeny tiny pram. I thought it was genius. So, I bought a tiny pram, and I’m going to try and get out as much as I can.

We live in a very walkable neighborhood, and I want to be able to still sit in the café, pick things up at the grocery co-op, and run general errands. And I refuse to be nervous about it now. So, I’ll be getting out of the house. This isn’t to say I won’t work around the baby’s schedule or not work with his moods, but we’ll be on the move for sure.

Putting things in the car vs the baby bag

A while ago, I invested in a small crossbody diaper bag from City Mouse, and it was one of the best mom decisions I’ve ever made. It made leaving the house feel so much more doable and manageable. I wasn’t lugging around a huge diaper bag. I packed some wipes, some diapers, and my personal stuff and went on my way. There was room for some extra stuff if I needed it, but I didn’t really. Granted, my kids are toddlers, not babies, so I’ll need to adjust a bit.

But for me, this means putting stuff in my trunk, not in my bag. Don’t get me wrong. Having a diaper bag is good and useful – especially if you’re dropping the baby off at Grandma’s. I definitely recommend having one. But for the most part, I’m putting a giant diaper caddy in the trunk of my car and sticking to my small cross-body bag. I’ll stick in a diaper or two, add the pacifier pouch, make sure I have an emergency onesie and a bottle if I need it, and then, I’ll call it good.

Everything else (more diapers, wipes, clothes, sunscreen, toys, etc.), I’ll keep in my car or my stroller in case I need them. I refuse to be tied down by a huge diaper bag.

Focusing on babywearing

I think babywearing is going to be essential for baby #3. I did it a bit with my second, but I’m planning on doing it way more now. I think it’s going to help me go out more with all three of them and get more done around the house. So, I made sure to have a baby carrier that works for newborns, works for short people (that’s me), and works for longer-term carries. I also wanted it to be easy to get on and off. My choice is linked above.

Hosting a nesting party

I want to celebrate this child, but we don’t need things, and I don’t want a party that’s about giving gifts, especially with my third. I also didn’t get an actual baby shower with my first because of Covid. So, it’s important to me to mark this baby’s coming. So, instead, I’m having a nesting party.

A nesting party is when you basically ask for help instead of gifts. So, I’m asking my good friends to come over and help me sort baby clothes, make freezer meals, and maybe open some boxes and organize stuff. I’m going to provide food and let people pick what jobs appeal to them the most. I also checked with my friends before to see if this was something they’d be willing to do, and I got some enthusiastic responses, so I’m hosting it early in my third trimester. I think it’s going to be fun – if only to hang out with my friends a bunch before the baby comes.

Investing in freezer meals

High up on my pre-baby to do list is investing a garage freezer, so I can have all the freezer meals and stock up on essentials.  I did a bunch of freezer meals with my second, and it was super helpful, so I want to make sure I have all the space I need to do it with the third baby. This is especially true with the nesting party coming up.

Food is our number one problem when we’ve got a newborn in the house. I don’t want to cave and order food all the time, which means we need easy-to-cook meals that we can throw in the oven or slow cooker, so we don’t spend all the money.

Having a budget and money plan

Before we decided to have a third child, I made sure we could afford it as best I could. I created a cash flow a year out and included all the expenses such as formula, an increased diaper/clothes budget, and adding to our savings so we could afford the necessary baby stuff we didn’t have (like a new pack and play and high chair plus stuff we couldn’t reuse like bottles and pacifiers). I wanted to make sure our monthly budget could absorb the cost of everything.

This isn’t to say that I didn’t budget for our first two, but I didn’t fully understand how much things cost then. Now, I have a better sense of things, so it was easier to make a plan.

I also heavily tracked prices across my baby registry. I made the baby registry early, so I knew how much we needed to save. But it also meant I always knew what the prices were. So, when they went down, I knew it was actually on sale and not just a scam. It was amazing on Black Friday because we got so much that we needed, and I knew for sure that it was a good deal.

Being more intentional about introducing the new baby

When my second son was born, my oldest was only 18 months, so it was difficult to prepare him. We did our best by buying him a baby doll to play with and working with him on gentle touch. And there were some things we did right, like calling to the baby when the oldest needed help. A simple “Hold on, your brother needs help right now” was great for our oldest, even if the baby didn’t understand what was happening. But it was still a hard transition for him.

This time around, we’re going to give our kids presents from the baby, we’re going to introduce them to the baby while he’s in the bassinet (not in my arms), and we’re going to continue to make sure the older kids know they’re also a priority.

Live slower and enjoy the cuddles more

The thing about your first is that you’re so stressed all the time. You have a million questions, you’re consistently unsure, and you haven’t quite figured out your mom tools. Again, every baby is different, but I’m planning on being way more “go with the flow” with this baby. I want to enjoy my time with him and savor those special moments that go so fast – something that’s harder with your first.

That’s everything I’m doing differently for my third baby. I’m sure I’ll come up with more as I get into it, but that’s what I got right now. If you’ve got questions, drop them below!