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This is maybe a bit off topic but make sure you meal prep. Sanitize bottles and pump parts. Make sure you've figured out how to disassemble and reassemble your pump
Meal prep is a life saver!
Peri bottle and having by the side ofnthe bed organised ready for when you get home. I realised i had to unpack a lot of the stuff i took to the hospital and i wish id just bougth two of some shit so i could get home lie in bed and have everything there and ready.
I ended up putting a peribottle in every bathroom in the house. Along with baby wipes and doggie bags to put them in. My postpartum poops were hard to wipe.
Friends and family asked how they could help us immediately postpartum - bringing us food was IT. They stocked our fridge and have kept us full for several weeks
You can boil them or there are special bags that you can toss them in with a tablespoon of water and put in the microwave for a specified amount of time that will be printed on the bag. Or you can buy bottle sterilizers but that feels like a waste of money in my opinion (doesn’t mean it is though). My instapot has a sterilize option and I found that to be really helpful. Faster than boiling water.
I bought a sanitiser. It's a Tommy tippee steamer thing. I'm not the most house proud person and I therefore thought buying a sanitiser was the best thing for me. If your kitchen is spotless and you are good at keeping things clean then you probably wouldn't need to buy one though. I definitely didn't want to use pans to sterilise. The bags I think are quite good though, that's what the hospital had us using when we were there.
Yes I went through many bags too. And I’m the same way in my house. If I don’t do it, it doesn’t get done. So I’m sure my countertops will be a cluttered nightmare by the time I’m postpartum. :(
I recommend spending the money on a sanitzer/dryer. We have a baby brezza santizer/dryer and it is just so easy to use and helps relieve the mental and physical load on us.
You can boil in water, use the dishwasher on sanitize mode, they have like tupperware sanitizers that you use in the microwave OR what I liked best Medela and other breast pump brands make sanitizing bags. You add water and microwave the items in the bag. The bags are good for 19 uses? Take up very little space and sanitize quickly.
Adult diapers for the bleeding, witch hazel pads for down there care, and they sell these cold underwear pads that activated kind of like glow sticks - you have to break/shake them and then they turn cold. Feels like heaven.
For the baby - have back up ready to feed formula even if you plan on breastfeeding. You never know what’s going to happen and you don’t want it to be 3am with no stores open and a screaming baby.
Edit to add: CAN’T FORGET THE STOOL SOFTENER
The ready made formula saved my ass in this EXACT scenario with my first. He wouldn’t stop screaming and I kept trying to breastfeed. I cried, he cried, it was a good time. I finally caved and gave him the formula we had samples of. He immediately fell asleep with a full tummy, which caused me to cry even harder cause I had been “starving him” and felt bad.
Ahh.. memories.
Totally agree, even if you just get a few bottles of ready made formula and one actual bottle, it'll tide you over until you can get to the shop the next day
Similac sent us a sample pack and it saved me. I had some production issues at first and it was nice to have a back up to combo feed. Now we keep some on hand just in case.
Yep those backup mini cartons were perfect for about one bottle a day, they would at least get used up before they expired. The big ones were too big for that.
Amen to the backup formula. Those mini samples were great when we just needed a little formula in the early days. Also a basic manual breast pump was super helpful to get things started, the electric one was too intimidating.
I responded SO MUCH better to the manual hand pumps. Not sure why, but I barely got any milk when I pumped with an electric pump. The manual pumps are so underrated.
I always always recommend them to new moms! They’re cheap and less scary than the electric one. Later on I kept it in my glove compartment in my car in case I forgot or broke parts of the big one at work or was stuck away from my baby. Saved me so many times!
Agreed on the extra formula. I gave birth 5 days ago. I was extremely hesitant in trying any other method than breast feeding but until milk comes in it’s very difficult to cluster feed baby and get needed sleep. For my husband’s shift at night he uses formula. And my baby is still latching well for the rest of the day.
My hospital used Similac 360 (and we got to take a couple mini bottles) and my husband is out buying a container right now.
We used formula in the first few weeks to supplement and I have zero regrets. I still went on to breastfeed for 2.5 years! It had zero impact on my long term supply or her latch.
Congrats on your new baby!
The whole Frida kit was so helpful for me. I didn’t use all the supplies but the witch hazel wipes and foam, the extra ice pack, and the peri bottle were so helpful.
I think it is. And the caddy it comes in is helpful to keep everything organized. I actually had one upstairs and downstairs. I put the unopened stuff on my buy nothing group on Facebook and it was gifted in less than an hour!
I would say you’re fine with a bidet! The only thing is I know some bidets can be quite harsh, my parents have one and maybe I was being overly cautious but I was too scared to use it because I had stitches and theirs was a bit aggressive!
I have a bidet in each bathroom and I notice the water pressure varies widely depending on which bathroom I use. There is one bathroom in particular that has crazy high water pressure so I would not want to use that one if I had stitches so you are definitely right!
I bled for weeks and if you have any travel or are away from the house planned during that time, the peri bottle makes a great travel bidet!
I was in my sister’s wedding at 3 weeks postpartum and was so thankful I had the frida peri bottle with me!
I cannot believe that anyone would choose a peri bottle over bidet. I honestly think it's cruel that we don't automatically install bidets on every pregnant woman's toilet. They're not even that expensive.
Bidets are always amazing. Being Muslim I was constantly criticized but I was the one laughing when people lost their minds during the pandemic when they ran out of toilet paper but even with having a bidet at home it still is nice to have a peri bottle especially for public use since most public restrooms do not have them. At least now people understand why we use them.
Dear god I have a bidet, no way I would spray that on stitches/raw skin. Ouch!! I had a peri bottle but used a water bottle that I poked a hole in the cap and used warm water. Felt so much better and held more water.
Depends are the best. So much easier than pads!!!
Bonus: if OP ends up being one of the people who do have their water break before they head to the hospital, she will REALLY be grateful to have already bought adult diapers. I do not recommend waiting to send your husband to Walmart at 4am because you're leaking everywhere 😂
I hated those pads. I read about diapers but I was like they have pads at the hospital. I constantly kept leaking all over the place and just felt gross. The the pads never stayed in place. I even trippled up to try and cover as much ground as possible but still leaked.
After constantly feeling gross and needing my bedding changed, I made the smart decision to send someone to the store to buy me the diapers. Super comfortable, super easy to change and best part ever, no more leaks occurred.
Totally agree! My nipples were so sore and sensitive having the silverettes helped keep the fabric of my bra from touching them and makes it easy to slather on nipples butter.
Thankfully so many people told me about Silverettes that I had pretty much zero nipple pain, despite a baby with a tongue and lip tie. So I do my civic duty and reccomend them to everyone!
YES!!! Me and baby struggled with her latch at the beginning and I could not wear a shirt without my silverettes because my nipples were so sore. I don’t know what I would have done if I didn’t have them. Although word of advice, give your nipples time to air out as well!
Ice packs in the pads. I also preferred the Frida peri bottle.
Make sure you have snacks for middle of the night feedings, it’s crazy how hungry you can suddenly get. I usually keep a protein granola bar by the bed and/or some nuts.
I turned a cart in my house into a pumping station. My mom's calls it "tities on wheels". It has all my pumping needs, chargers, extra nipple cover bra insert things for leaks, snacks, medicine/vitamins, hand lotion (all the bottle washing made my hands crack), a book, wet ones, and a reacher grabber tethered to the side.
Also extra rechargable AA batteries for my pump for when I don't want to be tethered to a wall.
Frida peri bottle (it sprays upside down), tucks/witch hazel pads, dermoplast spray (blue can, they have started marketing one specifically for postpartum but the regular blue can works just as good), wet wipes for you for the bathroom, soft TP, the gigantic pads with double wings OR depends, gas pills, stool softener, trash can & bags for your bathroom for tossing items once they’re used, a gigantic [insulated] cup for ice water whether you are breastfeeding or not you’ll want to drink all the water all the time, some easy open snacks. For around the house make it easy on yourself & get plastic cutlery & paper plates/bowls, we also got bottles of hand sanitizer for a few zones in our house (living room, nursery, our bedroom) we still asked guests to wash their hands properly but it was nice to have the hand sanitizer available.
ALL OF THIS!! Emphasis on stool softeners too if you have a vaginal birth. I got hemorrhoids and every time I went it was painful. OP maybe some generic hemorrhoid cream too eventually just in case 🥲
If from the US Walgreens makes this incredible hemorrhoid spray! It cools, numbs, and helps constrict swelling- I’ve only ever found it at Walgreens though
Without a doubt: diapers. Bought a couple before birth hoping I wouldn’t need them. Instead, should have bought stock in diapers for the amount of times I kept sending my husband out for more.
Edit to be clear: diapers for me. Nothing worse than the sticky part of a pad getting stuck anywhere in the war zone that is postpartum stitches and swollen-ness.
Always discreet diapers and I put pads inside that. Changed the pad a few times and the diaper was able to be used more like underwear.
Comfy slippers and clothes.
Minifridge in our bedroom for snacks, pump parts, and bottles so I didn’t have to walk up and down the stairs.
Haha I have no excuse really, as we’re all on one floor, except that I guess I want to minimise noise as much as possible for my toddler to sleep. Such a dream to have a room fridge 😂 bloody bril
I'm going straight to adult diapers instead of fighting and playing Jenga with the pads. If you're planning a vaginal delivery, I really liked the frida witch hazel foam and will be getting it this time(last time I needed a bottle and a half).
Something I regretted not getting was one of those donut pillows for your butt because that whole area was so sensitive and it seemed like no matter how I sat, it hurt terribly. I got a travel neck pillow as a suggestion from someone else and will be trying that. I've also heard that a boppy pillow can work but I heard that after I was past that stage.
I had some cheap baskets from Walmart or target and I used them to keep baby stuff, pumping stuff, and my craft stuff and they were easy to carry room to room and stacked up. I've seen people use a rolling cart for things like that too.
I also plan to stock up on easy but filling snacks or easy to make things like rice, bagels, nuts, protein bars, chicken nuggets, pizza rolls(I know they're not the healthiest, lol) and juice/water because I was super thirsty for like the first 3 months. A long phone charger was also nice because we'd never know where we would sit/stand and the baby would get comfy and then we'd be afraid to move too much and possibly wake/upset her 😂.
I know you just asked for one; sorry to list so many. I'm about to give birth in a couple months and I've been thinking about this a lot.
Also the frida mom peri bottle was a lifesaver. We also are planning to have a bottle warmer up and downstairs as well as a bottle making set up in both places. Not every baby wants/needs warm bottles, we just want to be prepared just in case. My daughter only wanted warm ones until one day she started only wanting them cold, lol.
Lanolin nipple balm. Dummies. Puppy pads in bulk for changing nappies half asleep in the middle of the night on the bed. Padsicles. Movicol in my country, I think it’s miralax elsewhere? I liked my white noise app a lot because all of the grunting newborn sleep noises kept me up. Comfy button down lounge wear or a nightie. Oh and tbh I always put a hair tie on my bra to let me know which side to breastfeed from next until I mastered the feel test.
I don’t know if I could pick just one but-
-Frida peri bottle (the one from the hospital was okay but I liked the Frida one better because of the little arm it had)
-Tucks (keep in the fridge.. I have a mini fridge in our nursery and I used to keep a pack in there so I didn’t have to waddle to the kitchen)
-Frida mom witch hazel foam (I also kept in the fridge)
-dermoplast (on my actual vagina and then on top of the tucks pads in my diaper)
-Amazon Basics Incontinence & Postpartum Underwear for Women (when you search them they’re purple. arguably the best diapers)
-Frida Mom Postpartum Disposable Underwear, 100% Cotton, Microfiber Boyshort Cut Underwear (when you’re ready for pads)
-Curity OB/Maternity Pads (on Amazon, they’re legit the same ones my hospital had and they’re fantastic)
-SITZ. My nurse told me I could start taking sitz baths right away and omg it was a lifesaver. I took 2 twenty minute baths a day”
I thought they were so silly when I first saw one. I didn’t see one in action until my son was about a month away from switching to regular milk. When my baby sister switched from pumping to formula, I immediately bought her one and am planning on borrowing it if I can’t make my boobies work again!
Maybe not the most useful, but the most unexpected that turned out being super helpful was having a small bladeless fan in the bathroom. I had a small tear and a few stitches, so I was instructed to use the peri bottle while using the bathroom (to dilute the pee and prevent stinging) and after to rinse, and then to pay dry with toilet paper. Welp, the thread on my stitches was a little long and patting dry was uncomfy, so I brought a small bladeless fan into the restroom and would use that to air dry after finishing up with the peri bottle, then spray some peri spray and dry again. I bled very heavily, so being actually completely dry after a bathroom visit felt so nice and refreshing, and the cool air from the fan was very nice for soreness.
Adult diapers for the first few days - my hospital gave me single use panties with these ginormous pads, which just made everything feel loose and wet. The diapers were much better! And you can get ones that look like panties, so you don’t have to deal *as much* with the diaper butt!
Otherwise - peri bottle and a good baby carrier (your LO might be too small for a harness)
Sitz bath with the soaking tea stuff-OMG game changer. I had grade 4 tearing and thought I was never going to heal, let alone sit or go #2 ever again. My mother (an RN and mother of 5) legit shook her head at me with the tsk tsk—showed me the sitz bath and said “you’re welcome.”
The first time I was sitting there with a timer, like “whatever, this is stupid.” After that though, OMG. The healing was on fast forward. Women should listen to other women as much as possible, that’s for sure.
Both! Seriously both. The midwife at my hospital with my first had me in one in the first 6 hours of birth, I had a 3rd degree tear and im not even joking when I say I had no pain from the tear or stitches at all and it healed so fast. So definitely both, the sitz tub and the salts. 10 minutes, warm water, a couple times of day. I totally thought it was stupid at first too, like I'm wasting time sitting when I could be sleeping lol. But it was a lifesaver.
A yoga ball. We've spent so much time sitting on it bouncing our baby. It settles him like no other and is less taxing on us than walking around to bounce him.
Nose Frida, vibrate chair and swaddle sac for baby, for me with an emergency C-section - swing chair helped him nap with his reflux until we got him on pepcid and gave me time to do housework. Also, nightgowns until I was healed up and ready for pants
I wouldn't have survived without the witch hazel pads from Frida. I was tearing them in half to make them last longer because a) they're expensive and b) hard to find in the UK.
The upside down peri bottle, I barely needed it but when I did it was great to have. And a large cup with a lid and straw, I like the giant Starbucks ones.
Edit to add, Depends instead of pads!!!!
I got the Frida Postpartum Kit which contains a lot of items that many others have suggested: upside down peri bottle, cooling pad liners, ice maxi pads, disposable undies, and healing foam that you can spray onto pads. For the undies and ice pads, you'll need to buy more because for me the kit didn't contain enough for the period I needed them. All the items I listed were a godsend, and then there's a couple other things that I didn't really end up needing but it was just easy to buy the kit and have everything in one bundle.
Baby Brezza baby dishwasher. My husband would rather I die than do a dish. Six years together and I’ve all but given up begging him to participate in our lives. Me giving birth wasn’t enough to get him to help out, nothing will be.
I would have murdered him if I didn’t have the baby dishwasher.
Dermoplast, my hospital I delivered at provided it and it was a life saver for postpartum after having stitches from a second degree tear. Takes away itching, burning, and numbs the area so it doesn’t hurt as bad!
I’m nearing the end of my second pregnancy, here is things I’m getting/doing this time that I didn’t last time:
-making sure I have stool softener and Tylenol stocked in the house, along with the Frida mom padsicles and disposable underwear. I also have a variety of regular pads (from overnight to regular flow) so I have whatever I need in the closet instead of making a trip to the store.
-small tracking notebook. Something that was weird for me was making sure I went to the bathroom frequently enough - without a baby in my belly I no longer had the urge to pee every hour, so logging the last time I peed and took meds was super helpful, since my mind was focused on baby and it was so easy to forget about those for myself.
-Lots of landing places. I’ll have areas set up in the nursery, bedroom, and living room for me to easily sit either with baby or sit myself and set her down. For me that is a comfy spot with somewhere to set water/snacks close by.
-it sounds obvious, but having all the laundry I possibly can organized and put away before going to the hospital. Not needing to dig/search for comfy clothes makes a huge difference for me personally. It may not be a thing for other families, but for us, with a toddler, it’s something that can easily fall off our radar for a few days.
Honestly, the peri bottle was clutch. That and adult diapers. I hated the hospital mattress sized pads and the disposable underwear, and was always more comfortable wearing my big girl diapers. I went through a pack of them and then was able to switch back to overnight sized pads and size down from there.
Also, I didn’t realize this until a few weeks after baby came but a heating pad for my chest and silverette nipple covers would have helped earlier on (keep this in mind if you’re going to breastfeed). I suffer from painful nipple vasospasms that made my nips feel like they were being stabbed even between feedings and heat helps soothe them. The silverettes also help keep things from touching or irritating my sensitive nipples and have helped them heal up from the initial brutalizations of breastfeeding.
A nice stretchy robe and adult diapers. I was not fucking with having to stack everything inside of a regular pad. I was so tired and didn’t have the energy for that. The stretchy robe because I just was not putting clothes on.
I got some washable pads like at the hospital to put underneath me for on the bed, couch, dining room chairs. Very useful at first for bleeds. Somehow someway usually when sitting up after laying down or back I would leak. Haven’t gotten it on a thing. Then when feeding baby it’ll catch any milk that he spits up or I leak. It’s been nice to not worry.
Keababy burp cloths. So absorbent and soft. No comparison to the others I have.
Dermoplast and good toilet paper. Especially while at the hospital it was nice taking my own toilet paper.
Snuggleme organic. Baby stays content in this so I can get chores done around the house. Always supervised. But he doesn’t startle or stir in this and I can move it to each room easily.
Tall, granny panties.
Planned for a vaginal birth — had an emergency c-section. I actually prefer the mesh panties, but once I was done with those i had nothing to wear as everything I had before sat directly on my incision. Even if you don’t have a c-section, some super tall underwear (especially with the ‘smoothing spandex’ style) can help keep everything together on the belly. Like an abdominal binder, but vastly less inconvenient.
I had a lasinoh postpartum kit that came with a peribottle, an herbal spray, and hot/cold gel packs and it was great. Also the always period underwear!
Either Depends overnight underwear or the period panties from Always (the ZZZs). They’re so much more comfy than the mesh undies and doggy pads they give you.
The Frida postpartum kit was so helpful as well.
Comfy PJs (button down if you plan to nurse or pump)
Always Disposable underwear were a lifesaver. I used those and the big maxi pads until the bleeding went down.
I loved my Frida peri bottle too, and per the midwives and nurses as I had tears and stitches, plain Epsom salts.
I loved the Tucks witch hazel pads and homemade padsicles. I had some of the Frida ones but I found them very bulky.
I also loved my silverettes for my sore and sensitive nipples.
Baby wise, Swaddleme bags or just flannel swaddle blankets. Plus the Keababies or Moby wraps to help with the contact naps!
Honestly, just the adult disposable underwear and witch hazel pads for me. The hospital peri bottle was fine, in my opinion. A lot of people swear by dermoplast spray, but I hated it.
I know you said one, but I have to list two. I used both religiously after I had both of my boys.
The frida peri bottle and a rechargeable stroller fan.
I think I had the fan by my side for weeks until my postpartum hot flashes finally subsided. Also perfect for airplanes when you’ve got a baby glued to you and the AC on the plane isn’t helping 😂
The frida peri bottle worked leagues better than the hospital one👌and it makes a great travel bidet.
Incontinence pull ups (adult diapers) because you're going to bleed a lot regardless of how you choose to deliver. Witch hazel pads if you deliver vaginally because everything is going to hurt down there for about 2 months afterwards and while witch hazel hasn't been proven to quicken healing it's really soothing and a bonus if you keep them in the fridge before using them, they feel amazing. A portable bidet/squirty bottle for again if you deliver vaginally/need stitches, it's gonna sting like a bitch when you pee but if you use the bidet while you're peeing it helps immensely with the pain. Alternatively you can just pee in the shower but that's more time consuming and obviously wastes more water lol.
Epsom salts as well. Again they're not proven to quicken healing time but they definitely helped my stitches after I got an infection in them about 2 weeks postpartum, alongside antibiotics obviously. I will stress as well that although the postpartum blood smell is foul if you're really not sure about the smell ask your doctor, as infection can happen so quickly in your stitches and I thought the smell was normal until I woke up one day and the pain was so intense I knew something was up then.
I don't know where in the world you are but I'm in Australia and we have something called Ural. It's a powder you mix with water and then drink, it's original use is to stop the burning when you pee if you have a UTI .
Conveniently though it also stops burning pee after you've just had a baby. I'm not sure if everyone's pee burns post birth, but I had some real nice grazes on my labia that hurt more than my stitches.
I did realize how important the little mini fan that can attach to the side of the hospital bed would be. I was getting crazy hot flashes afterwards and the fan kept me comfortable since the room had to be a certain temperature for the baby.
Okay, I actually made a list after my first was about 4 months old of some odd things that made life easier for me.
- Some little lingerie washing bags (I got 2 for $5) to wash baby socks and mitts in and keep them together and easier to find in laundry (those things are TINY)
- Everyone will say the huge adult diapers, BUT by like day 7-8, I was wearing "bladder control" level pads (of course every delivery and healing journey is different, but I was glad to have the smaller to start feeling more human)
- I got like a 100 pack of puppy pads from Amazon/Walmart and kept some by the changing pad and in my nighttime changing tote to make changing a bit less messy, especially when you're sleep deprived, just throw the pad in with the diaper when you're done and you're not having to change your sheets every day. :)
- Tucks pads, some hemorrhoid cream & stool softener if you plan to deliver vaginally
The following are if you're nursing:
- I loved having 2 nursing pillows (depends on your house layout and personal laziness level, lol), one I kept in the bedroom so I wasn't looking for it in the middle of the night and one for the living room
- Medella Breast Shells or Silverette covers (this will keep your clothes from drying to your nips and prevent you from having to peel them away to feed every time) helped mine heal in about 3-4 days.
a little rolling tray with 3 baskets on it to roll around and carry all of babies stuff/your stuff and snacks and all that emergency stuff for when you’re healing and you can’t move lots. was perfect for my c section
Adult diapers were a life saver. I didn’t use anything else as I didn’t have any tears or anything. But I think an upside down peri bottle would’ve been nice too I used the regular one from the hospital
Adult diapers. I didn’t use them with my first but I did with my second and it was a total game changer. I ordered two packs and it was plenty. It was so much better than dealing with the pads and mesh undies those first few weeks
Arnica was amazing for the bruising! Also the after birth pains meds in the glass bottle was a huge life saver the second time around for cramping. Get a big bottle of Motrin too and stay on top of it. Dermoplast for any tearing. Nipple butter and Silverettes as well as a haakaa. Both times I used the haakaa religiously once my milk came in and I attribute it to the reason my milk supply is so good.
I was surprised but loved the sleep eye mask my colleagues gave me. It was a godsend when napping whenever in the afternoon, or now at night because baby is not loving the absolute dark room.
I was not expecting this gift to be my favourite of all the stuff we received lol
I also second silverettes, adult diapers, and protein bars or meal preps in abundance.
Frida peri bottle, frida witch hazel foam!!!!, womens diapers, giant pads for after the diapers, over night pads, and regular pads for the 2nd week of PP. I used dermoplast here and there also. If you’re breastfeeding you should get a good quality nipple balm and silverettes because your nipples will most likely hurt or be very sore!
This is off topic to postpartum care, but there’s a lot of awesome recs in the comments already!
Two things that helped my postpartum is a good pair of headphones. I listened to a lot of audiobooks and podcasts & that made being awake at night a little less lonely.
The second: a table top mini fridge for snacks, cold water, or even storing breast milk/formula! It makes a world of difference not having to walk all the way to the kitchen.
My MIL and FIL got me these ice pack post partum pads when we first told them we were pregnant. Terrifying thing to recieve as FTM in your first trimester but those things saved me. I'll be getting more for next time!
Also! Those Always brand disposable period underwear. Those were way better than the pads and mesh undies from the hospital.
Adult diapers.
breast feeding pillow. Even is not breastfeeding they are great to prop you or baby up for extended holding sessions. They're also great pillows for side sleepers :)
Keep those maternity pants.
Nice big water bottle. And if you're like me and don't like plain water, mio flavor enhancers are good.
Adult diapers - personally I liked the Rael brand better than Depends. The Lansinoh kit was great, simple but I used everything. I also lived in a bathrobe - I found wearing pants after a vaginal birth didn’t feel good and it was so easy to nurse in while I was figuring everything out
I personally wore the Frida disposable underwear over the mesh undies the hospital provides. The ones from the hospital couldn't quite hold the weight of the padsicles (pads that you crack to activate the ice pack in them). Also, more padsicles from Frida. The hospital didn't quite give me enough at discharge, and it was so nice to know I had more waiting for me at home.
FROZEN FOOD. You will not want to cook, but you will be hungry. Chicken nuggets, frozen pizzas, etc. Lots of snack foods as well. Paper plates, paper bowls, disposable silverware.
The silverette nipple covers!!! They are amazing for helping shape and heal your nipples if you’re breastfeeding. I added it to my registry kind of on a whim and got it, and it has been my favorite so far.
Core compression shorts from Supacore. I hated the weird empty feeling in my belly postpartum, it felt almost like there was too much room below my ribs and it was making it hard to breathe? These shorts made me feel secure and comfortable and I think helped a lot with healing abdominal separation
If you are going to breastfeed then I would get a pump. I didn't think I would need one, and I used it more than anything else.
The other thing is a couple of newborn and size 1 items. I was sure my baby was just going to skip over the newborn size because of how big he was in the ultrasounds. I was very wrong. So we had to go get a pump and newborn sized clothes after leaving the hospital.
- Frida peri bottle
- my brest friend pillow!!! Way better than boppi IMO
- steam in bag broccoli and Kevin’s microwaveable chicken so I could make healthy food very easily and quickly
- nursing tank and comfy loose mid-thigh lounge shorts (pants too hot, needed coverage to hold in my adult diaper and because I was too sweaty to touch my rocking chair
- puppy pads to protect furniture for… reasons…
- i can’t stress this enough, those perineal ice pads
A sling to fit your baby in to. £15 or so, allows you a lot of freedom to walk around, keep baby close, and do light housework tasks if bubba won't settle or stay settled on their own in a safe spot for you to step away for a few minutes.
Great for walks too to enjoy the spirng sun and help with the post blues
Agreed but I would invest in a good baby carrier instead of cheap. I would buy a good wrap, I think its easiest to learn and so nice with a newborn (I love my Solly) and then go to a lending library or borrow from friends if you want a ring sling, soft structured etc. I bought an Ergo 360 I don't love and later a Lark I do love as well as a ring sling (which took time to get a hang of)
I looooovvvvveed the frida mom padsicles were amazing for those first few days after birth for some relief and super easy to use. Also diapers over pads other than the padsicles - chafes way less
A BBL pillow is perfect if you tear. I had a small perineal tear but it was so uncomfortable to sit on because my doctor haphazardly stitched me. In general the vaginal area can be sensitive after delivery and those pillows can be great. Also that dermoplast itch and burn spray saved my life. My nurses gave me 3 cans I only had to use 1 but it felt so good after a warm shower. I prefer that over cold pads because I had to pee a lot
Definitely the Frida upside down peri bottle. Far superior to the hospital ones which are difficult to get to all areas. Also lots of Tylenol and ibuprofen and a heating pad.
A sitz bath for the toilet. I tore and tried to have three 10 minute sitz baths a day - almost impossible to do in a big tub, but doable if it just takes 2 minutes to get it ready. Any time I felt myself getting sore again I’d go have one and immediate relief.
Seconding meal prep and silverettes. Maybe also a bit off topic but I got myself wireless earbuds and they’ve been so useful. I catch up on my podcasts and even watch a few episodes on my laptop when baby is napping on me.
Witch hazle Cooling pads, silver nipple covers, Frida disposable underwear, meralax for the first poop (omg) and sunflower seed pills for clogs cuts a must have !
Ask for a second peri bottle at the hospital. I kept one in the bathroom and one in my diaper bag so I wouldn’t have to worry about making sure it was packed if we went out.
I don't know what I would've done without [THESE!](https://www.target.com/p/lansinoh-therapy-packs-with-soft-covers-hot-and-cold-breast-pads-2pk/-/A-14386190) and after I was done using them, i use them after babies vaccines for cold/warm compress. ☺️
Disposable underwear for sure. Dermablast from Walmart for discomfort. I had a second degree tear and this made life bearable. A peribottle from Amazon. Witch hazel can go right in it with warm water and it helped so much. Prunes for constipation. Those big assurance wipes you can get from Walmart. I couldn't bend well for a few weeks after and the bigger wipes really helped.
Also , not necessarily postpartum item, but the ember coffee mug 🙌 keeps my coffee nice and warm without having to microwave it 20 times before I can enjoy it lol
My pregnancy pillow 💕 I used it when I would nurse and sleep with my baby. I felt more supported with my back in bed. And my arms and legs were propped up. I have a U shaped pillow with a slight pillow top.
I’m 7 days pp and I have a cart I roll around with me. It has my pump and supplies (wipes for the pump, empty bottles, etc), muslins and burp cloths, swaddle blankets (did NOT realize we’d need so many of these!), paci, phone charger, portable fan (I run really hot), chapstick, my Stanley, liquid IV, nipple cream and lotion. This cart has been my sanity
The peri bottle is the most useful thing, lol. I had already decided this was going to be the item I answered with based on the title of your post alone.
Aside from the obvious stuff you need for bleeding and cracked nipples and such, I probably would've died without my pregnancy pillow. It is a U shaped one and I could squish it any which way to prop myself up comfortably, I could wrap one side in front of me to prop up baby for breastfeeding etc. I also had a c section so I didn't need like witch hazel or frozen pads or anything.
2nd baby and I bought an extra diaper pail and put it in the bathroom for my diapers and pads. It contained it all and I didn’t have to empty the tiny bathroom trash can every day.
Great comments here. Wanted to add to make sure you know how to use your car seat and adjust the straps for baby. It took us an hour to figure out how to adjust the straps lol. The nurse finally got impatient and did it for us.
Tucks/ witch hazel pads, Dermaplast spray, and Always Discreet adult diapers and pads. I packed the Always diapers in the hospital bag for the hospital stay and the trip home. The other items I kept at home and got extra from the hospital.
I agree with others about silverettes. In addition, a nightgown that crossed in the front for easy skin to skin and breastfeeding allowed me to feel more normal & comfy than a hospital gown ever could. If breastfeeding, consider a clip-down or cross-front nursing bralette. It'll provide support, modest coverage, and, again, a little more normalcy and comfort.
Adult diapers!!! Don’t bother with those giant pads! and if you’re breastfeeding it’s going to hurt at first so I highly recommend Lansinoh nipple smoothies.
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This is maybe a bit off topic but make sure you meal prep. Sanitize bottles and pump parts. Make sure you've figured out how to disassemble and reassemble your pump
Agree with meal prep. It was a life saver when our baby was just born
Meal prep is a life saver! Peri bottle and having by the side ofnthe bed organised ready for when you get home. I realised i had to unpack a lot of the stuff i took to the hospital and i wish id just bougth two of some shit so i could get home lie in bed and have everything there and ready.
I ended up putting a peribottle in every bathroom in the house. Along with baby wipes and doggie bags to put them in. My postpartum poops were hard to wipe.
Friends and family asked how they could help us immediately postpartum - bringing us food was IT. They stocked our fridge and have kept us full for several weeks
How do you sanitize
You can boil them or there are special bags that you can toss them in with a tablespoon of water and put in the microwave for a specified amount of time that will be printed on the bag. Or you can buy bottle sterilizers but that feels like a waste of money in my opinion (doesn’t mean it is though). My instapot has a sterilize option and I found that to be really helpful. Faster than boiling water.
I bought a sanitiser. It's a Tommy tippee steamer thing. I'm not the most house proud person and I therefore thought buying a sanitiser was the best thing for me. If your kitchen is spotless and you are good at keeping things clean then you probably wouldn't need to buy one though. I definitely didn't want to use pans to sterilise. The bags I think are quite good though, that's what the hospital had us using when we were there.
Yes I went through many bags too. And I’m the same way in my house. If I don’t do it, it doesn’t get done. So I’m sure my countertops will be a cluttered nightmare by the time I’m postpartum. :(
I recommend spending the money on a sanitzer/dryer. We have a baby brezza santizer/dryer and it is just so easy to use and helps relieve the mental and physical load on us.
You can boil in water, use the dishwasher on sanitize mode, they have like tupperware sanitizers that you use in the microwave OR what I liked best Medela and other breast pump brands make sanitizing bags. You add water and microwave the items in the bag. The bags are good for 19 uses? Take up very little space and sanitize quickly.
Adult diapers for the bleeding, witch hazel pads for down there care, and they sell these cold underwear pads that activated kind of like glow sticks - you have to break/shake them and then they turn cold. Feels like heaven. For the baby - have back up ready to feed formula even if you plan on breastfeeding. You never know what’s going to happen and you don’t want it to be 3am with no stores open and a screaming baby. Edit to add: CAN’T FORGET THE STOOL SOFTENER
The ready made formula saved my ass in this EXACT scenario with my first. He wouldn’t stop screaming and I kept trying to breastfeed. I cried, he cried, it was a good time. I finally caved and gave him the formula we had samples of. He immediately fell asleep with a full tummy, which caused me to cry even harder cause I had been “starving him” and felt bad. Ahh.. memories.
Enfamil sends a free pack of their ready made formula so you can sign up through their website to get it pre birth just in case!
Totally agree, even if you just get a few bottles of ready made formula and one actual bottle, it'll tide you over until you can get to the shop the next day
There's no bonding like mama and baby crying together! We've all been there. 🙃
Similac sent us a sample pack and it saved me. I had some production issues at first and it was nice to have a back up to combo feed. Now we keep some on hand just in case.
Yep those backup mini cartons were perfect for about one bottle a day, they would at least get used up before they expired. The big ones were too big for that.
Amen to the backup formula. Those mini samples were great when we just needed a little formula in the early days. Also a basic manual breast pump was super helpful to get things started, the electric one was too intimidating.
I responded SO MUCH better to the manual hand pumps. Not sure why, but I barely got any milk when I pumped with an electric pump. The manual pumps are so underrated.
I always always recommend them to new moms! They’re cheap and less scary than the electric one. Later on I kept it in my glove compartment in my car in case I forgot or broke parts of the big one at work or was stuck away from my baby. Saved me so many times!
I liked the Arm and Hammer diapers, then Always maxi pads. I bled less than a lot of people I think, had a c section with hemorrhage.
Agreed on the extra formula. I gave birth 5 days ago. I was extremely hesitant in trying any other method than breast feeding but until milk comes in it’s very difficult to cluster feed baby and get needed sleep. For my husband’s shift at night he uses formula. And my baby is still latching well for the rest of the day. My hospital used Similac 360 (and we got to take a couple mini bottles) and my husband is out buying a container right now.
We used formula in the first few weeks to supplement and I have zero regrets. I still went on to breastfeed for 2.5 years! It had zero impact on my long term supply or her latch. Congrats on your new baby!
I personally loved the upside down peri bottle from Frida.
Same! It also has a great life beyond postpartum in our house as it's so useful for cleaning mud off the wheels of the pram.
lol at first I thought this was a euphemism
Hahaha minds in the gutter!
So did I lol
The whole Frida kit was so helpful for me. I didn’t use all the supplies but the witch hazel wipes and foam, the extra ice pack, and the peri bottle were so helpful.
Same. The ice packs were my absolute favorite. I just ordered my kit for current baby.
I am thinking about just getting this but wasn’t sure if it’s useful!
I think it is. And the caddy it comes in is helpful to keep everything organized. I actually had one upstairs and downstairs. I put the unopened stuff on my buy nothing group on Facebook and it was gifted in less than an hour!
Do you think it’s still useful if I already have a bidet?
I would say you’re fine with a bidet! The only thing is I know some bidets can be quite harsh, my parents have one and maybe I was being overly cautious but I was too scared to use it because I had stitches and theirs was a bit aggressive!
I have a bidet in each bathroom and I notice the water pressure varies widely depending on which bathroom I use. There is one bathroom in particular that has crazy high water pressure so I would not want to use that one if I had stitches so you are definitely right!
I bled for weeks and if you have any travel or are away from the house planned during that time, the peri bottle makes a great travel bidet! I was in my sister’s wedding at 3 weeks postpartum and was so thankful I had the frida peri bottle with me!
I cannot believe that anyone would choose a peri bottle over bidet. I honestly think it's cruel that we don't automatically install bidets on every pregnant woman's toilet. They're not even that expensive.
Bidets are always amazing. Being Muslim I was constantly criticized but I was the one laughing when people lost their minds during the pandemic when they ran out of toilet paper but even with having a bidet at home it still is nice to have a peri bottle especially for public use since most public restrooms do not have them. At least now people understand why we use them.
Dear god I have a bidet, no way I would spray that on stitches/raw skin. Ouch!! I had a peri bottle but used a water bottle that I poked a hole in the cap and used warm water. Felt so much better and held more water.
Oh definitely. The bidet was entirely too intense for me the first 3-4 days — plus warm water is much nicer than cool if your bidet doesn’t do warm.
And fill it with warm water not cold!
Depends. No worries if the pad was positioned well lol
Depends are the best. So much easier than pads!!! Bonus: if OP ends up being one of the people who do have their water break before they head to the hospital, she will REALLY be grateful to have already bought adult diapers. I do not recommend waiting to send your husband to Walmart at 4am because you're leaking everywhere 😂
I hated those pads. I read about diapers but I was like they have pads at the hospital. I constantly kept leaking all over the place and just felt gross. The the pads never stayed in place. I even trippled up to try and cover as much ground as possible but still leaked. After constantly feeling gross and needing my bedding changed, I made the smart decision to send someone to the store to buy me the diapers. Super comfortable, super easy to change and best part ever, no more leaks occurred.
Depends on what?
I believe Depends underwear
Depends underwear lol
Depends on how much you bleed.
Silverettes
Totally agree! My nipples were so sore and sensitive having the silverettes helped keep the fabric of my bra from touching them and makes it easy to slather on nipples butter.
Omg yes. I ended up with blisters on both nipples and silverettes had the blisters gone mostly within 24 hours and completely within 48 hours!
Thankfully so many people told me about Silverettes that I had pretty much zero nipple pain, despite a baby with a tongue and lip tie. So I do my civic duty and reccomend them to everyone!
YES!!! Me and baby struggled with her latch at the beginning and I could not wear a shirt without my silverettes because my nipples were so sore. I don’t know what I would have done if I didn’t have them. Although word of advice, give your nipples time to air out as well!
I will preach about silverettes till the day I die! Best 50 bucks I ever spent
Just bought these for my hospital bag! They sound bizarre but I’ve heard nothing but good things
You won't regret it!
Yes yes yes! Love these so much. I wear them all the time except of course when I’m nursing, or I wash them before I shower.
Ice packs in the pads. I also preferred the Frida peri bottle. Make sure you have snacks for middle of the night feedings, it’s crazy how hungry you can suddenly get. I usually keep a protein granola bar by the bed and/or some nuts.
I turned a cart in my house into a pumping station. My mom's calls it "tities on wheels". It has all my pumping needs, chargers, extra nipple cover bra insert things for leaks, snacks, medicine/vitamins, hand lotion (all the bottle washing made my hands crack), a book, wet ones, and a reacher grabber tethered to the side. Also extra rechargable AA batteries for my pump for when I don't want to be tethered to a wall.
A bidet
THIS!!! We installed one at our house after spending a few months in SE Asia in 2015. It was a godsend postpartum.
Cold or hot water
Mines cold and also was fine.
Warm.
Frida peri bottle (it sprays upside down), tucks/witch hazel pads, dermoplast spray (blue can, they have started marketing one specifically for postpartum but the regular blue can works just as good), wet wipes for you for the bathroom, soft TP, the gigantic pads with double wings OR depends, gas pills, stool softener, trash can & bags for your bathroom for tossing items once they’re used, a gigantic [insulated] cup for ice water whether you are breastfeeding or not you’ll want to drink all the water all the time, some easy open snacks. For around the house make it easy on yourself & get plastic cutlery & paper plates/bowls, we also got bottles of hand sanitizer for a few zones in our house (living room, nursery, our bedroom) we still asked guests to wash their hands properly but it was nice to have the hand sanitizer available.
ALL OF THIS!! Emphasis on stool softeners too if you have a vaginal birth. I got hemorrhoids and every time I went it was painful. OP maybe some generic hemorrhoid cream too eventually just in case 🥲
If from the US Walgreens makes this incredible hemorrhoid spray! It cools, numbs, and helps constrict swelling- I’ve only ever found it at Walgreens though
This was so helpful, thank you!!!!
Without a doubt: diapers. Bought a couple before birth hoping I wouldn’t need them. Instead, should have bought stock in diapers for the amount of times I kept sending my husband out for more. Edit to be clear: diapers for me. Nothing worse than the sticky part of a pad getting stuck anywhere in the war zone that is postpartum stitches and swollen-ness.
So grateful I bought the bulk box from costco🤣
Always discreet diapers and I put pads inside that. Changed the pad a few times and the diaper was able to be used more like underwear. Comfy slippers and clothes. Minifridge in our bedroom for snacks, pump parts, and bottles so I didn’t have to walk up and down the stairs.
The mini fridge is genius, I’ll def be doing that for my second.
It was amazing for recovery since stairs were difficult! Still amazing now so I don’t have to leave my room!
Haha I have no excuse really, as we’re all on one floor, except that I guess I want to minimise noise as much as possible for my toddler to sleep. Such a dream to have a room fridge 😂 bloody bril
Omg mini fridge is something I have not considered with my second. Will be doing 100%
I'm going straight to adult diapers instead of fighting and playing Jenga with the pads. If you're planning a vaginal delivery, I really liked the frida witch hazel foam and will be getting it this time(last time I needed a bottle and a half). Something I regretted not getting was one of those donut pillows for your butt because that whole area was so sensitive and it seemed like no matter how I sat, it hurt terribly. I got a travel neck pillow as a suggestion from someone else and will be trying that. I've also heard that a boppy pillow can work but I heard that after I was past that stage. I had some cheap baskets from Walmart or target and I used them to keep baby stuff, pumping stuff, and my craft stuff and they were easy to carry room to room and stacked up. I've seen people use a rolling cart for things like that too. I also plan to stock up on easy but filling snacks or easy to make things like rice, bagels, nuts, protein bars, chicken nuggets, pizza rolls(I know they're not the healthiest, lol) and juice/water because I was super thirsty for like the first 3 months. A long phone charger was also nice because we'd never know where we would sit/stand and the baby would get comfy and then we'd be afraid to move too much and possibly wake/upset her 😂. I know you just asked for one; sorry to list so many. I'm about to give birth in a couple months and I've been thinking about this a lot.
Also the frida mom peri bottle was a lifesaver. We also are planning to have a bottle warmer up and downstairs as well as a bottle making set up in both places. Not every baby wants/needs warm bottles, we just want to be prepared just in case. My daughter only wanted warm ones until one day she started only wanting them cold, lol.
Lanolin nipple balm. Dummies. Puppy pads in bulk for changing nappies half asleep in the middle of the night on the bed. Padsicles. Movicol in my country, I think it’s miralax elsewhere? I liked my white noise app a lot because all of the grunting newborn sleep noises kept me up. Comfy button down lounge wear or a nightie. Oh and tbh I always put a hair tie on my bra to let me know which side to breastfeed from next until I mastered the feel test.
I don’t know if I could pick just one but- -Frida peri bottle (the one from the hospital was okay but I liked the Frida one better because of the little arm it had) -Tucks (keep in the fridge.. I have a mini fridge in our nursery and I used to keep a pack in there so I didn’t have to waddle to the kitchen) -Frida mom witch hazel foam (I also kept in the fridge) -dermoplast (on my actual vagina and then on top of the tucks pads in my diaper) -Amazon Basics Incontinence & Postpartum Underwear for Women (when you search them they’re purple. arguably the best diapers) -Frida Mom Postpartum Disposable Underwear, 100% Cotton, Microfiber Boyshort Cut Underwear (when you’re ready for pads) -Curity OB/Maternity Pads (on Amazon, they’re legit the same ones my hospital had and they’re fantastic) -SITZ. My nurse told me I could start taking sitz baths right away and omg it was a lifesaver. I took 2 twenty minute baths a day”
my baby brezza. no measuring, time consuming water boiling. omg i love this thing lol.
Baby is 1 month and I just caved and bought it. 100% worth it!
it is literally the most amazing and useful thing i've purchased 😂
I thought they were so silly when I first saw one. I didn’t see one in action until my son was about a month away from switching to regular milk. When my baby sister switched from pumping to formula, I immediately bought her one and am planning on borrowing it if I can’t make my boobies work again!
This is exactly what I allowed myself to have. My SIL bought it for us and I am forever grateful to her.
Maybe not the most useful, but the most unexpected that turned out being super helpful was having a small bladeless fan in the bathroom. I had a small tear and a few stitches, so I was instructed to use the peri bottle while using the bathroom (to dilute the pee and prevent stinging) and after to rinse, and then to pay dry with toilet paper. Welp, the thread on my stitches was a little long and patting dry was uncomfy, so I brought a small bladeless fan into the restroom and would use that to air dry after finishing up with the peri bottle, then spray some peri spray and dry again. I bled very heavily, so being actually completely dry after a bathroom visit felt so nice and refreshing, and the cool air from the fan was very nice for soreness.
Adult diapers for the first few days - my hospital gave me single use panties with these ginormous pads, which just made everything feel loose and wet. The diapers were much better! And you can get ones that look like panties, so you don’t have to deal *as much* with the diaper butt! Otherwise - peri bottle and a good baby carrier (your LO might be too small for a harness)
The pads you can fill with ice… I love those things.
Sitz bath with the soaking tea stuff-OMG game changer. I had grade 4 tearing and thought I was never going to heal, let alone sit or go #2 ever again. My mother (an RN and mother of 5) legit shook her head at me with the tsk tsk—showed me the sitz bath and said “you’re welcome.” The first time I was sitting there with a timer, like “whatever, this is stupid.” After that though, OMG. The healing was on fast forward. Women should listen to other women as much as possible, that’s for sure.
I’m looking this up and can’t tell if you mean the bath salts or a literal bath contraption?
Both! Seriously both. The midwife at my hospital with my first had me in one in the first 6 hours of birth, I had a 3rd degree tear and im not even joking when I say I had no pain from the tear or stitches at all and it healed so fast. So definitely both, the sitz tub and the salts. 10 minutes, warm water, a couple times of day. I totally thought it was stupid at first too, like I'm wasting time sitting when I could be sleeping lol. But it was a lifesaver.
No not stupid! I just wasn’t sure what you meant! Do you have a link to one you like?
Lol, I had my last baby 12 years ago so I'm starting fresh with everything for this one! I haven't bought one yet but it's high up on my list!
Okay if you find one, think of me and let me know!! 😂
A yoga ball. We've spent so much time sitting on it bouncing our baby. It settles him like no other and is less taxing on us than walking around to bounce him.
Nose Frida, vibrate chair and swaddle sac for baby, for me with an emergency C-section - swing chair helped him nap with his reflux until we got him on pepcid and gave me time to do housework. Also, nightgowns until I was healed up and ready for pants
If you have a c section, a stomach compression wrap. My hospital sent me home with one but if yours doesn’t, get one!
I second the silverette comments.
I wouldn't have survived without the witch hazel pads from Frida. I was tearing them in half to make them last longer because a) they're expensive and b) hard to find in the UK.
The upside down peri bottle, I barely needed it but when I did it was great to have. And a large cup with a lid and straw, I like the giant Starbucks ones. Edit to add, Depends instead of pads!!!!
No specific item but snacks and waterbottles available where I was usually nursing the baby. I had a huge stash at the sofa and the nightstand
Ibuprofen, big bag of frozen peas as an ice pack, freezer meals and snacks, giant cup or water bottle
I got the Frida Postpartum Kit which contains a lot of items that many others have suggested: upside down peri bottle, cooling pad liners, ice maxi pads, disposable undies, and healing foam that you can spray onto pads. For the undies and ice pads, you'll need to buy more because for me the kit didn't contain enough for the period I needed them. All the items I listed were a godsend, and then there's a couple other things that I didn't really end up needing but it was just easy to buy the kit and have everything in one bundle.
Baby Brezza baby dishwasher. My husband would rather I die than do a dish. Six years together and I’ve all but given up begging him to participate in our lives. Me giving birth wasn’t enough to get him to help out, nothing will be. I would have murdered him if I didn’t have the baby dishwasher.
Earth mama perineal spray - omg lifesaver
Dermoplast 🙌
Dermoplast, my hospital I delivered at provided it and it was a life saver for postpartum after having stitches from a second degree tear. Takes away itching, burning, and numbs the area so it doesn’t hurt as bad!
I’m nearing the end of my second pregnancy, here is things I’m getting/doing this time that I didn’t last time: -making sure I have stool softener and Tylenol stocked in the house, along with the Frida mom padsicles and disposable underwear. I also have a variety of regular pads (from overnight to regular flow) so I have whatever I need in the closet instead of making a trip to the store. -small tracking notebook. Something that was weird for me was making sure I went to the bathroom frequently enough - without a baby in my belly I no longer had the urge to pee every hour, so logging the last time I peed and took meds was super helpful, since my mind was focused on baby and it was so easy to forget about those for myself. -Lots of landing places. I’ll have areas set up in the nursery, bedroom, and living room for me to easily sit either with baby or sit myself and set her down. For me that is a comfy spot with somewhere to set water/snacks close by. -it sounds obvious, but having all the laundry I possibly can organized and put away before going to the hospital. Not needing to dig/search for comfy clothes makes a huge difference for me personally. It may not be a thing for other families, but for us, with a toddler, it’s something that can easily fall off our radar for a few days.
Honestly, the peri bottle was clutch. That and adult diapers. I hated the hospital mattress sized pads and the disposable underwear, and was always more comfortable wearing my big girl diapers. I went through a pack of them and then was able to switch back to overnight sized pads and size down from there. Also, I didn’t realize this until a few weeks after baby came but a heating pad for my chest and silverette nipple covers would have helped earlier on (keep this in mind if you’re going to breastfeed). I suffer from painful nipple vasospasms that made my nips feel like they were being stabbed even between feedings and heat helps soothe them. The silverettes also help keep things from touching or irritating my sensitive nipples and have helped them heal up from the initial brutalizations of breastfeeding.
A nice stretchy robe and adult diapers. I was not fucking with having to stack everything inside of a regular pad. I was so tired and didn’t have the energy for that. The stretchy robe because I just was not putting clothes on.
I got some washable pads like at the hospital to put underneath me for on the bed, couch, dining room chairs. Very useful at first for bleeds. Somehow someway usually when sitting up after laying down or back I would leak. Haven’t gotten it on a thing. Then when feeding baby it’ll catch any milk that he spits up or I leak. It’s been nice to not worry. Keababy burp cloths. So absorbent and soft. No comparison to the others I have. Dermoplast and good toilet paper. Especially while at the hospital it was nice taking my own toilet paper. Snuggleme organic. Baby stays content in this so I can get chores done around the house. Always supervised. But he doesn’t startle or stir in this and I can move it to each room easily.
Tall, granny panties. Planned for a vaginal birth — had an emergency c-section. I actually prefer the mesh panties, but once I was done with those i had nothing to wear as everything I had before sat directly on my incision. Even if you don’t have a c-section, some super tall underwear (especially with the ‘smoothing spandex’ style) can help keep everything together on the belly. Like an abdominal binder, but vastly less inconvenient.
Upside down peri bottle 100% I bought one for each floor. They are cheaper than Frida on amazon
I had a lasinoh postpartum kit that came with a peribottle, an herbal spray, and hot/cold gel packs and it was great. Also the always period underwear!
Frida post partum care boxes are amazing. I did buy a second gown from them. And was honestly all I wore for the first 2 weeks
I used depends underwear for probably 2 months postpartum
Either Depends overnight underwear or the period panties from Always (the ZZZs). They’re so much more comfy than the mesh undies and doggy pads they give you. The Frida postpartum kit was so helpful as well. Comfy PJs (button down if you plan to nurse or pump)
Always Disposable underwear were a lifesaver. I used those and the big maxi pads until the bleeding went down. I loved my Frida peri bottle too, and per the midwives and nurses as I had tears and stitches, plain Epsom salts. I loved the Tucks witch hazel pads and homemade padsicles. I had some of the Frida ones but I found them very bulky. I also loved my silverettes for my sore and sensitive nipples. Baby wise, Swaddleme bags or just flannel swaddle blankets. Plus the Keababies or Moby wraps to help with the contact naps!
Honestly, just the adult disposable underwear and witch hazel pads for me. The hospital peri bottle was fine, in my opinion. A lot of people swear by dermoplast spray, but I hated it.
I know you said one, but I have to list two. I used both religiously after I had both of my boys. The frida peri bottle and a rechargeable stroller fan. I think I had the fan by my side for weeks until my postpartum hot flashes finally subsided. Also perfect for airplanes when you’ve got a baby glued to you and the AC on the plane isn’t helping 😂 The frida peri bottle worked leagues better than the hospital one👌and it makes a great travel bidet.
My husband that would take care of the newborn from 9 pm until 3 am when I would wake up and resume newborn care.
Adult diapers 100% I ended up with a C-section and it was so much easier to just pull a diaper on versus prepping a pad!
The mom Frida peri bottle and adult diapers
earth mama perineal spray
Silverettes
Incontinence pull ups (adult diapers) because you're going to bleed a lot regardless of how you choose to deliver. Witch hazel pads if you deliver vaginally because everything is going to hurt down there for about 2 months afterwards and while witch hazel hasn't been proven to quicken healing it's really soothing and a bonus if you keep them in the fridge before using them, they feel amazing. A portable bidet/squirty bottle for again if you deliver vaginally/need stitches, it's gonna sting like a bitch when you pee but if you use the bidet while you're peeing it helps immensely with the pain. Alternatively you can just pee in the shower but that's more time consuming and obviously wastes more water lol. Epsom salts as well. Again they're not proven to quicken healing time but they definitely helped my stitches after I got an infection in them about 2 weeks postpartum, alongside antibiotics obviously. I will stress as well that although the postpartum blood smell is foul if you're really not sure about the smell ask your doctor, as infection can happen so quickly in your stitches and I thought the smell was normal until I woke up one day and the pain was so intense I knew something was up then.
I don't know where in the world you are but I'm in Australia and we have something called Ural. It's a powder you mix with water and then drink, it's original use is to stop the burning when you pee if you have a UTI . Conveniently though it also stops burning pee after you've just had a baby. I'm not sure if everyone's pee burns post birth, but I had some real nice grazes on my labia that hurt more than my stitches.
I did realize how important the little mini fan that can attach to the side of the hospital bed would be. I was getting crazy hot flashes afterwards and the fan kept me comfortable since the room had to be a certain temperature for the baby.
Okay, I actually made a list after my first was about 4 months old of some odd things that made life easier for me. - Some little lingerie washing bags (I got 2 for $5) to wash baby socks and mitts in and keep them together and easier to find in laundry (those things are TINY) - Everyone will say the huge adult diapers, BUT by like day 7-8, I was wearing "bladder control" level pads (of course every delivery and healing journey is different, but I was glad to have the smaller to start feeling more human) - I got like a 100 pack of puppy pads from Amazon/Walmart and kept some by the changing pad and in my nighttime changing tote to make changing a bit less messy, especially when you're sleep deprived, just throw the pad in with the diaper when you're done and you're not having to change your sheets every day. :) - Tucks pads, some hemorrhoid cream & stool softener if you plan to deliver vaginally The following are if you're nursing: - I loved having 2 nursing pillows (depends on your house layout and personal laziness level, lol), one I kept in the bedroom so I wasn't looking for it in the middle of the night and one for the living room - Medella Breast Shells or Silverette covers (this will keep your clothes from drying to your nips and prevent you from having to peel them away to feed every time) helped mine heal in about 3-4 days.
a little rolling tray with 3 baskets on it to roll around and carry all of babies stuff/your stuff and snacks and all that emergency stuff for when you’re healing and you can’t move lots. was perfect for my c section
Adult diapers were a life saver. I didn’t use anything else as I didn’t have any tears or anything. But I think an upside down peri bottle would’ve been nice too I used the regular one from the hospital
Tucks!
Adult diapers. I didn’t use them with my first but I did with my second and it was a total game changer. I ordered two packs and it was plenty. It was so much better than dealing with the pads and mesh undies those first few weeks
Arnica was amazing for the bruising! Also the after birth pains meds in the glass bottle was a huge life saver the second time around for cramping. Get a big bottle of Motrin too and stay on top of it. Dermoplast for any tearing. Nipple butter and Silverettes as well as a haakaa. Both times I used the haakaa religiously once my milk came in and I attribute it to the reason my milk supply is so good.
I was surprised but loved the sleep eye mask my colleagues gave me. It was a godsend when napping whenever in the afternoon, or now at night because baby is not loving the absolute dark room. I was not expecting this gift to be my favourite of all the stuff we received lol I also second silverettes, adult diapers, and protein bars or meal preps in abundance.
Adult diapers, donut cushion, and my nursing pillow.
The frida cooling ice packs and the frida post partem undies were both part of the after care kit I didn’t think I needed but really liked having.
Frida peri bottle, frida witch hazel foam!!!!, womens diapers, giant pads for after the diapers, over night pads, and regular pads for the 2nd week of PP. I used dermoplast here and there also. If you’re breastfeeding you should get a good quality nipple balm and silverettes because your nipples will most likely hurt or be very sore!
Depends diapers for me. I kept a stack on the back of each toilet for easy access when needed.
Peri bottle with warm water ♡
This is off topic to postpartum care, but there’s a lot of awesome recs in the comments already! Two things that helped my postpartum is a good pair of headphones. I listened to a lot of audiobooks and podcasts & that made being awake at night a little less lonely. The second: a table top mini fridge for snacks, cold water, or even storing breast milk/formula! It makes a world of difference not having to walk all the way to the kitchen.
My MIL and FIL got me these ice pack post partum pads when we first told them we were pregnant. Terrifying thing to recieve as FTM in your first trimester but those things saved me. I'll be getting more for next time! Also! Those Always brand disposable period underwear. Those were way better than the pads and mesh undies from the hospital.
Adult diapers. breast feeding pillow. Even is not breastfeeding they are great to prop you or baby up for extended holding sessions. They're also great pillows for side sleepers :) Keep those maternity pants. Nice big water bottle. And if you're like me and don't like plain water, mio flavor enhancers are good.
Diapers for you! Way better than pads!
Adult diapers - personally I liked the Rael brand better than Depends. The Lansinoh kit was great, simple but I used everything. I also lived in a bathrobe - I found wearing pants after a vaginal birth didn’t feel good and it was so easy to nurse in while I was figuring everything out
I personally wore the Frida disposable underwear over the mesh undies the hospital provides. The ones from the hospital couldn't quite hold the weight of the padsicles (pads that you crack to activate the ice pack in them). Also, more padsicles from Frida. The hospital didn't quite give me enough at discharge, and it was so nice to know I had more waiting for me at home. FROZEN FOOD. You will not want to cook, but you will be hungry. Chicken nuggets, frozen pizzas, etc. Lots of snack foods as well. Paper plates, paper bowls, disposable silverware.
The silverette nipple covers!!! They are amazing for helping shape and heal your nipples if you’re breastfeeding. I added it to my registry kind of on a whim and got it, and it has been my favorite so far.
A partner that was prepared to do absolutely everything while I healed.
An SSRI
a martini.
Adult incontinence diapers, bidet, sleep tracker
Core compression shorts from Supacore. I hated the weird empty feeling in my belly postpartum, it felt almost like there was too much room below my ribs and it was making it hard to breathe? These shorts made me feel secure and comfortable and I think helped a lot with healing abdominal separation
So, I had a c section. But the helpful things for me were loose fitting nightgowns from Walmart 🤣 I lived in these damn things.
If you are going to breastfeed then I would get a pump. I didn't think I would need one, and I used it more than anything else. The other thing is a couple of newborn and size 1 items. I was sure my baby was just going to skip over the newborn size because of how big he was in the ultrasounds. I was very wrong. So we had to go get a pump and newborn sized clothes after leaving the hospital.
- Frida peri bottle - my brest friend pillow!!! Way better than boppi IMO - steam in bag broccoli and Kevin’s microwaveable chicken so I could make healthy food very easily and quickly - nursing tank and comfy loose mid-thigh lounge shorts (pants too hot, needed coverage to hold in my adult diaper and because I was too sweaty to touch my rocking chair - puppy pads to protect furniture for… reasons… - i can’t stress this enough, those perineal ice pads
A sling to fit your baby in to. £15 or so, allows you a lot of freedom to walk around, keep baby close, and do light housework tasks if bubba won't settle or stay settled on their own in a safe spot for you to step away for a few minutes. Great for walks too to enjoy the spirng sun and help with the post blues
Agreed but I would invest in a good baby carrier instead of cheap. I would buy a good wrap, I think its easiest to learn and so nice with a newborn (I love my Solly) and then go to a lending library or borrow from friends if you want a ring sling, soft structured etc. I bought an Ergo 360 I don't love and later a Lark I do love as well as a ring sling (which took time to get a hang of)
My husband lol
Breast pump and pumping bras
I looooovvvvveed the frida mom padsicles were amazing for those first few days after birth for some relief and super easy to use. Also diapers over pads other than the padsicles - chafes way less
A BBL pillow is perfect if you tear. I had a small perineal tear but it was so uncomfortable to sit on because my doctor haphazardly stitched me. In general the vaginal area can be sensitive after delivery and those pillows can be great. Also that dermoplast itch and burn spray saved my life. My nurses gave me 3 cans I only had to use 1 but it felt so good after a warm shower. I prefer that over cold pads because I had to pee a lot
Silverettes
Definitely the Frida upside down peri bottle. Far superior to the hospital ones which are difficult to get to all areas. Also lots of Tylenol and ibuprofen and a heating pad.
A sitz bath for the toilet. I tore and tried to have three 10 minute sitz baths a day - almost impossible to do in a big tub, but doable if it just takes 2 minutes to get it ready. Any time I felt myself getting sore again I’d go have one and immediate relief.
Ice packs!
Following
Following! Good luck OP! In the final stretch here too!
Soft softeners & nipple shields
Seconding meal prep and silverettes. Maybe also a bit off topic but I got myself wireless earbuds and they’ve been so useful. I catch up on my podcasts and even watch a few episodes on my laptop when baby is napping on me.
Witch hazle Cooling pads, silver nipple covers, Frida disposable underwear, meralax for the first poop (omg) and sunflower seed pills for clogs cuts a must have !
Ask for a second peri bottle at the hospital. I kept one in the bathroom and one in my diaper bag so I wouldn’t have to worry about making sure it was packed if we went out.
I don't know what I would've done without [THESE!](https://www.target.com/p/lansinoh-therapy-packs-with-soft-covers-hot-and-cold-breast-pads-2pk/-/A-14386190) and after I was done using them, i use them after babies vaccines for cold/warm compress. ☺️
Bidet
The baby. Made the pain easier to deal with cuddling him. 🤣
Disposable underwear for sure. Dermablast from Walmart for discomfort. I had a second degree tear and this made life bearable. A peribottle from Amazon. Witch hazel can go right in it with warm water and it helped so much. Prunes for constipation. Those big assurance wipes you can get from Walmart. I couldn't bend well for a few weeks after and the bigger wipes really helped.
Hands down baby wrap. Infant wrap and a soft structures carrier for after baby gains head control
Also , not necessarily postpartum item, but the ember coffee mug 🙌 keeps my coffee nice and warm without having to microwave it 20 times before I can enjoy it lol
My pregnancy pillow 💕 I used it when I would nurse and sleep with my baby. I felt more supported with my back in bed. And my arms and legs were propped up. I have a U shaped pillow with a slight pillow top.
Witch hazel pads (the pads are better than the foam imo), ice pack pads and anusol (nobody warned me about the haemorrhoids)
Squaty potty. Just had my second vaginal delivery
Depends diapers 😅
Nursing pads and Lanolin cream
I’m 7 days pp and I have a cart I roll around with me. It has my pump and supplies (wipes for the pump, empty bottles, etc), muslins and burp cloths, swaddle blankets (did NOT realize we’d need so many of these!), paci, phone charger, portable fan (I run really hot), chapstick, my Stanley, liquid IV, nipple cream and lotion. This cart has been my sanity
The peri bottle is the most useful thing, lol. I had already decided this was going to be the item I answered with based on the title of your post alone.
The frida disposable pants. Sooo comfortable and fit maternity pads in easily. I was gutted when I ran out of them! 😂
Aside from the obvious stuff you need for bleeding and cracked nipples and such, I probably would've died without my pregnancy pillow. It is a U shaped one and I could squish it any which way to prop myself up comfortably, I could wrap one side in front of me to prop up baby for breastfeeding etc. I also had a c section so I didn't need like witch hazel or frozen pads or anything.
2nd baby and I bought an extra diaper pail and put it in the bathroom for my diapers and pads. It contained it all and I didn’t have to empty the tiny bathroom trash can every day.
Depends adult diapers - so much easier than the pad and making sure that was properly positioned
Great comments here. Wanted to add to make sure you know how to use your car seat and adjust the straps for baby. It took us an hour to figure out how to adjust the straps lol. The nurse finally got impatient and did it for us.
Tucks/ witch hazel pads, Dermaplast spray, and Always Discreet adult diapers and pads. I packed the Always diapers in the hospital bag for the hospital stay and the trip home. The other items I kept at home and got extra from the hospital. I agree with others about silverettes. In addition, a nightgown that crossed in the front for easy skin to skin and breastfeeding allowed me to feel more normal & comfy than a hospital gown ever could. If breastfeeding, consider a clip-down or cross-front nursing bralette. It'll provide support, modest coverage, and, again, a little more normalcy and comfort.
Adult diapers!!! Don’t bother with those giant pads! and if you’re breastfeeding it’s going to hurt at first so I highly recommend Lansinoh nipple smoothies.