Hospital bag and nipple creams and washing baby clothes!

[Firstimemummy15]

Hi all

I am 31 weeks pregnant and being told by various people that I should have my hospital bag packed already? is this not too early?

I am going to try breast feeding - what have people found to be the best nipple cream?

Last question - when should I start washing all the new baby clothes I have got?

Thank you x

[sophie150]

First baby so no idea whether I was right or not! But 1 and 3 I did in my first week of mat leave at 36 weeks. Lots of people thought that was too late but I've ended up re packing anyway at 38 weeks as we're now having a
C section. I actually wish we'd been more organised a bit earlier as I have been manic in mat leave- I was so worried I'd be really bored that I left loads of jobs to do!
I've bought lanisoh as I've heard that's the best, but again no direct experience yet!

[minipie]

I gave birth unexpectedly at 34 weeks (not to scare you ) so I'd say yes pack your bag (I hadn't), the essentials anyway. Or at least have a list so you/your DP could pack it at short notice if need be.

Lansinoh. Good luck, don't leave hospital till midwife has checked your position and latch, and if you find you are struggling then get help early from a local breastfeeding cafe/breastfeeding counsellor (including a check for tongue tie). Lots of women have BF difficulties but most could be fixed if they got the right advice and checks early enough. Sadly the NHS isn't great at this.

I didn't wash any new baby clothes and never had any issues with them irritating DD's skin (even though she was a delicate preemie). I definitely wouldn't wash or take labels off anything newborn size in case you have a whopper and they go straight into 0-3 months.

[TinyMonkey]

Lansinoh.

Wash them whenever (I'm due in a couple of weeks and did them a few weeks ago when the weather was still warm enough to air them outside on the line).

Aim have it packed, or at least write up a comprehensive list of what needs to be in it somewhere where dp can find it in case of an unexpected hospital admission, by 35 weeks? But really, who knows? You could go into labour at 34 weeks or 42 weeks.

[Roobix04]

I was a late packer because I'm really disorganised but felt loads better after I did it so I'd say sooner is better. I'd also wash everything now. Also I started using nipple cream but it was never on hand when I needed it so in the end I followed the bf specialist's advice and just rubbed a bit of my own milk on them after feeding. Worked wonders.

[FrogsGoWaaa]

I'm 28 weeks and have very little actually bought/sorted but I have started thinking about quite a few things.

I have Lansinoh pads and nipple cream already, partially because I was doing an online shop and needed to add a couple more items to get free delivery and partially because I had a teeny leak and thought I'd best be prepared in case it happened again! It hasn't yet but it's one less thing to get!

I have barely any baby clothes yet but was planning on getting the essentials and washing them straight away in the next few weeks. Minipie makes a good point though and I might hold off washing most of the New Born sized clothes until we have a better idea of what size baby is!

I have thought about my hospital bag and made a Google spreadsheet of everything that I want to put in it which I have shared with DH. I divided it into clothing for me, toiletries for me, bits for the baby, general items and things for DH. That way if I do go into labour early, he will know what I wanted. It might not be necessary for everyone but DH once packed for me when he whisked me off on a surprise holiday and you have never seen such a random (mostly useless) assortment of stuff!!
Probably won't get round to actually packing it for weeks though!

[TheBooMonster]

I agree, have a comprehensive list available for OH with guidelines for where everything is, else on your head be it when you open your labour bag to find that DH has packed your most uncomfortable but sexiest underwear!! A tip I saw elsewhere and will be utilising was to get everything together and then get your partner to pack it in the bag so he knows where to find it all when you're in labour.

[kitkat321]

I'm 38 weeks and packed most of my bags a few weeks ago although need to double check I've remembered everything. I figure I'll have plenty of time in early labour to sort it although need to get in snacks etc - think I've pretty much got everything else.

[DefiniteMaybe]

As far as nipple cream goes, lansinoh is the best but don't buy it. If you need it the gp can prescribe it for you.

[chillychicken]

I packed a basic bag at 31 weeks as we were going abroad for a few weeks and my midwife advised me to. I started packing my proper bag at 36 weeks and now at 37+5 everything is in there except the camera. Oh and I didn't actually pack it - DH did. I thought it would be a good idea if he packed it so he knew where everything was.