What To Pack In Your Hospital Bag - Suggestions

[Mom 2B]

Day two in the hospital with my daughter (2 yrs now) I sent OH home to get me an alarm clock. there were no clocks in the room. It was nice to know what time it was in the real world. I also loved that I could listen to music at night to sleep and help drown out the other babies crying and ppl walking the halls. I had a private room thou so check with hospital first if its allowed in other rooms.

 

[tigurzeyez2]

I cannot say how many times I have wanted chapstick while in labor and had forgotten it!!

 

[Lostunicorn]

well iv just given birth and I can honestly say dont over do it with loads of useless crap.

half of the stuff I took was a waste of time, u just need lots of nappies, cotton wool nd pads

Hello How many nappies did you use and did you bother with baby tolietries?

 

[GossipGirly]

I needed more so I would take about a pack and a pack of cotton wool... no I didnt bother as your not really meant to use them on newborns as there skin is too delicate xx

 

[hinkybinky]

If you have any reference book about babies, e.g What To Expect The First Year, or even that 0-5 book the health visitor gives you, take it with you. I lost count of the number of times my newborn baby did something I wanted to check out. No way I would have rung the bell to ask "is it normal for him to have this many hiccups?" or whatever, but it would've saved me a bit of worry.

 

[Teej543]

My list i've written seems to be huge and I haven't even finished it yet!!

 

[daddykins]

LOL I got a bag down for Mummykins initially,

Last night I was up in the loft getting our smallest suitcase down!! (Its not exactly small either)

 

[Enchanted]

Thanks for posting this im 31 weeks and have been wondering what to pack.

 

[Mummi 2 be x]

I have packed a suitcase basically as well as a bag completely for the new arrival, I just keep adding things to it even though I am not due for another 10 weeks lol



x

 

[vaniilla]

I took 3 nightdresses, and I will say it was not enough! 5/6 would have been better, it sounds excessive but its really hot in the maternity wards and I got peed on by lo once, had a leak twice (and I was changing the maternity pads often!) and also got really clammy from the heat, midwifes were really bitchy about giving me a hospital ones saying I should have brought my own and I walked around covered in baby pee for a while before getting a new one (sorry a bit tmi)

I was in for 2 nights and ear muffs, oh why didn't I get ear plugs, the noise on the ward was awful, there were 3 babies that just never slept it was really tiring, even an mp3 would have been good!

hope this helps anyone

 

[gertrude]

parma ham I can't wait to eat parma ham

 

[GossipGirly]

didnt know u couldnt lol x

 

[gertrude]

it's on the toxoplasmosis risk list and as most cases of toxoplasmosis don't come from cat litter but from under (or not at all in the case of cured meat) meat I'm avoiding it

parma ham and pate, they are both going to hospital with me

 

[LauraBee]

OMG YES! Pate, I've missed yee

 

[LisaJanse]

I'd definitely pack some really lovely shower gel and shampoo - that first shower after you've given birth is just heaven!

Pack something to keep yourself busy if it's a long labour - suduko or magazines are good - you won't have the concentration for a book. Maybe a notebook to write stuff down - labour is something you forget really quickly afterwards.

I bought a load of really cheap pants from Primark so I could throw them away - I couldn't face the idea of wearing plastic hospital pants! Make sure you pack a breastfeeding bra if you're planning on breastfeeding.

 

[GossipGirly]

oh well i ate it in pregnancy lol whoops

 

[Reds05]

I'd definitely pack some really lovely shower gel and shampoo - that first shower after you've given birth is just heaven!

Pack something to keep yourself busy if it's a long labour - suduko or magazines are good - you won't have the concentration for a book. Maybe a notebook to write stuff down - labour is something you forget really quickly afterwards.

I bought a load of really cheap pants from Primark so I could throw them away - I couldn't face the idea of wearing plastic hospital pants! Make sure you pack a breastfeeding bra if you're planning on breastfeeding.

I couldn't agree more!!!!

That feeling of being clean is just amazing.

Also agree with the cheap pants, thats exactly what I did. Paper/plastic ones were just not appealing at all.

 

[Reds05]

OMG YES! Pate, I've missed yee

Thats the first thing my sister had after her home water birth - pate on toast and a glass of wine!!

 

[Mommy_To_7]

I'd definitely pack some really lovely shower gel and shampoo - that first shower after you've given birth is just heaven!

Pack something to keep yourself busy if it's a long labour - suduko or magazines are good - you won't have the concentration for a book. Maybe a notebook to write stuff down - labour is something you forget really quickly afterwards.

I bought a load of really cheap pants from Primark so I could throw them away - I couldn't face the idea of wearing plastic hospital pants! Make sure you pack a breastfeeding bra if you're planning on breastfeeding.

Totally Agreed!! There is NOTHING like the first shower after giving birth! PURE Heaven!

 

[Luzelle]

Hey all. My first post since I had my little boy three days ago!
Things I found useful:
-Huge Tena Lady super plus pads (as big as baby nappies), but only one bag since the bleeding isn't that heavy for long.
-Nice shampoo and shower gel, for that awesome first shower.
- I only packed 2 sleepsuits and 3 vests for the baby and that was too few.
- Clothes to come home in. I packed a black shirt and it wasn't two ticks before it had white spots on it from dried colostrum.
-Good feeding bra, though my milk is only now coming in, after more than 72 hours.

THE SINGLE MOST USEFUL THING I PACKED/TOOK ALONG WAS...

EXPRESSED FROZEN COLOSTRUM

The reason for this was that my milk took so long in coming in, the baby was sucking on my nipples for comfort and food for up to 5 hours at a time, with little 10 minutes snoozes in between. This really screwed up my nipples which now are really sore. Then I remembered the colostrum in the freezer at home, which I had collected in 10 ml syringes beforehand, just to try to bring on labour. What a lifesaver. My husband brought it to hospital for me, we defrost it in some hot water, put a clean finger in the babies' mouth for him to suck on, and dripped the colostrum in as he suck. OH MY WORD. He pooped a HUGE poo and first good pee about twenty minutes after, and proceeded to sleep for four hours. After spending two days without sleep, that was the best thing ever for me. So....
Even if you only manage to express 2 mls, or 5, or hopefully more, take it along in a coolbag if you may be in hospital for more than a day and a half or so.