Top tips for hospital bag

[stripeybumpsmum]

Anyone got any good advice for a first time mum? It is time for us to think about packing hospital bag for me and bump (week 27 but with three hospital admissions so far I am not taking any chances!)Besides the usual recommenations in the baby books,does any one have any top tips for the really useful stuff we should take? Any anything usually recommended we should avoid?

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Hello, this thread is a little old; for up-to-date recommendations, take a look at our guide to what to pack in your hospital bag.

[helsi]

chocolate, toothbrush, toothpaste, flannel and soap, shampoo, deodorant, spare nightie, hairbrush, baby clothes, bottles (if bottle feeding), nappies, cotton wool, knickers, bras, clothes, books/maggies....

[Iklboo]

I've already packed my bag (I'm 37+2 weeks) and just realised I'VE FORGOTTEN CHOCOLATE!!! Thanks Helsi (texts DH to call in shop on way home from work to stock up)

[Raindog]

Hello
Moist toilet wipes were much nicer than paper after stitches! And take Flash wipes if you are worried about hospital hygiene (which I wasn't....until I ended up there and saw the state of the bathroom!). I ended up in hospital which wasn't planned and I didn't have anything - could have done with something to read and some money for chocolate!
Good luck!

[doormat]

tub of salt for putting in the hospital bath also super st's.

[ThomBat]

My original list is at home and I'm a t work but i had:

• my own pillow, spayed with my lavender pillow mist
  
• some pj's and socks
  
• clothes to go home in, something comfy, big/old knickers, maternity/nursing bra
  
• clothes and somethng warm for new baby, plus nappies, a dummy if using, a muslin
  
• the car seat to carry him/her home in
  
• some arnica tablets and other homepathic bits and pieces you might be using.
  
• flannels, for biting down on and / or wetting and mopping brow with
  
• snacks - things you might want to nibble on for energy and non smelly things for DH to muc=nch. don't do strong smelling crisps and stuff. bananas for energy, some melon for hydration, iced buns etc
  
• bottle of water
  
• your tens machine
  a mag or 2, poss for you for after birth when chilling out and waiting to go home?
  
• list of phone numbers to ring with good news
  
• camera / film / videocamera
  
• if you havce a Cd player in room take a few fav CDs?
  
• some aromatherapy candles
  sanitary towels of your own and old knickers you don't mind binning afterwards
  
• facial spary
  
• hair bands
  
• toiltries of your own, minature sized
  
• book of baby names
  
• a little toy for new baby
  
• blanket / shawl for baby
  
  That's all I can think of.
  
  Good luck.

[Shivs1974]

An eye shade (like the ones you get on flights) & ear plugs - allows you to sleep that little bit longer
One of my friends took a blue & pink sleepsuit (they didn't know what they were having). It meant that the first photos their baby was dressed in the correct colour. Our dd was in a sleepsuit with brown doggy bones on it - she'd have looked much nicer in pink!
And finally arnica tablets (200g) - to help with the bruising....!

[Shivs1974]

Oh just remembered, flip flops to walk around the ward in & can also be used in the showers.

[Racers]

Earplugs and eye mask for if baby goes into nursery or partner/friend etc can take baby into dayroom to let you sleep.

[Lonelymum]

A big (200g) bar of chocolate for after the birth - you will need it!

Loads of pants and nighties as I am afraid the blood immediately after birth far exceeds anything any pad can keep up with.

Also, packets and packets of pads to save your partner the embarrassment of having to go and buy any for you (poor dears - men seem to find that hard though if they buy them at the same time as newborn nappies, that seems to make it easier!)

I didn't bother with special maternity pads once I was having my second and subsequent children. Just use the ultra sized sanitary towels.

I also didn't bother with any "labour aids" as the only thing that gave me any "comfort" was geting the baby out (and staying in hot water as long as possible).

HTH and good luck!

[Gem13]

Different sized clothes for the baby. DS was a very long 9'11 and none of our clothes fitted him. He ended up spending his first day wrapped in a sheet!

I was such a mess and got through my two t-shirts during labour that I wore a hospital gown for my first day. With another hospital gown as a dressing gown.

We looked delightful. The woman in the next bed had a satin dressing gown and satin slippers! I was rather envious.

[doormat]

plenty of loose change for phone (just in case you have no bed ones)

[milward]

Scrunchie or hairclip, chanel no.5 spray on moisture cream & lipsalve.

[Shivs1974]

Oh on the loose change thing, make sure you have other coins rather than pound coins. The phone in my hospital didn't give any change - and I wasted a couple of quid trying to call family who weren't in....
And make sure that you give specific details to your dp re your going home outfit. I left (in the pouring rain) in cropped trousers (okay not quite so bad), a sports jumper of my dh (to cover that big bottom look of the maternity pads) and pink flipflops. It was chucking it down outside and I looked a real state!

[Lonelymum]

Have a maternity outfit to go home in: you will still need it. Actually, by my second baby, I had discovered some fantastic maternity leggings that were so stretchy, they could practically be worn when not pg or newly delivered so I always kept those to go home in. They covered the bump that was still there, but weren't obviously maternity clothes.

[Whizzz]

Wet wipes also good - espec anti-bacterial ones !
Water in sports cap type bottles
Dark coloured thin dressing gown (disguising leaks )
Ear plugs if you plan to try& sleep on the ward !

[Niddlynono]

Bendy straws - having to sit up every time you need a sip of water can be a pain in the arse.

Also make-up - I cringe when I look the photos of me and my newborn son.

Good luck!

[Lucyfercat]

small clock for by your bed - so when the mw asks you when baby last fed you have some idea of the time - oh and your mobile phone to send texts -shhhh though they seem to be forbidden, despite the fact that our local mat unit at the hospital has several on the roof!

[muppet73]

Cheap Big pants - bigger than you would usually contemplate - I mean wide and high rather than size - I had a c section and needed them as it was uncomfortable around the scar area to wear normal ones.

Pen for menue filling (Food - very important )

Something nice for yourself - new lipstick, magazine or something to pamper yourself wioth afterwards.

Your teddy bear!! - I took mine from when I was young and dh took a lovely picture of my bear and the one we had bought for dd sat together on the hospital bed. Not priority though I guess and I was in hospital a while so had to make it feel bit more like home

[Roobie]

Facial cleansing wipes
Flip-flops not slippers
Dark coloured towels
Definitely agree with the Flash wipes suggestion for those revolting hospital bathrooms!

[sasa15]

Honey jar with a spoon...and ice cube(was summer)
gave me very good energy to push...dh was giving to me....on demand....

[karmamother]

Read on here somewhere to make your toiletries unscented so that your baby gets used to YOUR smell rather than something artificial. Made sense to me, so thats what I've decided to do this time.

Can't stress enough...lipsalve. Especially if you use entonox - it really dries your mouth & lips out. On a similar note, someone mentioned straws...why not take in a sports drink bottle instead?

Also, one of those mini fans will help when you're overheating in labour.

[mawbroon]

Doesn't all that chocolate just melt in the sweltering heat of the hospital??

[karmamother]

mawbroon, you could position the mini fan in front of your bar of chocolate.

[colditz]

Someone brought me some jelly babies, and I was soooo glad to see them, rather than stinky flowers I had to organize!

I second a selection of baby clothes, and very specific list of your own clothes for your dp.

My dp brought me one of his t shirts. He is 9 stone. I was 13 before I even conceived, amd he wondered why I cried!