We all know having a new baby at home comes with an abundance of joys — and sleepless nights! In our first Wubbanub Family Feature, Allison Cooper from Project Motherhood shares her experience of new motherhood, the transition from one child to two, and what she’s doing differently the second time around.

I would say the best thing is just that – growing the family! We all have a sense that our family is complete and the amount of love that this little girl has brought is truly amazing. The hardest challenge for me would be some of the new mom guilt that having a new child brings. I want to make sure that I am giving my son, Branden, enough attention so that he never feels left out, but at the same time the new baby requires so much attention.

What are your new baby essentials?

Our baby carrier has become one of our go-tos because she knocks out in it and I’m able to cozy up against her during the day while I work if she’s having a fussy moment, since I still need to get things done. Not to mention – it’s also my saving grace for traveling in NYC since lifting our heavy stroller up and down subway stairs is really only something I do when my husband is with me. I also have a few clothing items that have little pouches for baby-wearing, too. And of course we love the Wubbanub (I wish that I had this for Branden)! It’s so soothing for little Blake during her (many) fussy moments!

Our strategy for this one was really to involve him in everything that we did to prepare for the baby so that he never felt left out. We also re-did his bedroom since we were getting all new things for the baby so that he had a special place to retreat to whenever he needed to occupy himself. I have to say that I think we succeeded on this one and we’re definitely celebrating this parenting win! He’s obsessed with his little sister and jumps at the chance to help out. I know that this won’t last forever, so we’re soaking it all in right now.

In all honesty, everything is different this time around. I know so much more from working in the parenting space and so many of my decisions are also based on things that didn’t work the first time. I tried breastfeeding this time around, which I didn’t do before. Baby wearing as much as possible is a big part of my life now and I never did that with Branden. And I plan on trying to make my own baby food this time. We’ll see how that goes!

As a successful blogger & editor, any tips for balancing your career with family life?

With our older son, I wasn’t working so I had more time to just focus on him. This time, even though I work from home, my schedule is pretty insane and the need to have a schedule is imperative. I would say I’m also creating more boundaries and hiring a babysitter when necessary. Baby always comes first, but there are also deadlines to think about, too. Because of this I’m more mindful of the projects that I take on and focus more on hiring out for things that I just don’t have time to do on my own. While yes, it’s annoying sometimes to take that pay cut, it really does pay off in the long run.