Birth and Newborn/hospital bag/Brand advice!

[Soph88888]

Hi

Currently 31 weeks and just starting to consider toiletries / hospital bag purchases.

Really would love to know your recommendations for the following, in terms of best value, comfort/usability etc!

Nappies - also what sizes and quantities to get initially?
Nappy cream
Disposable/tena pants
Big pants (!) ie pants that will take sanitary pads, preferably the soft no VPL ones
Sanitary pads
Water/wet wipes
Cool pads
Baby toiletries
Tens machine
Painkillers / other pain relievers assuming a vaginal birth
Ready made formula bottles
Breast pads

Is there anything else along these lines I’m missing?
Thanks

Nappies - we used boots own disposables initially but switched to little lambs cloth nappies and much prefer these.
Nappy cream - bepanthen.
Sanitary pads - I liked boots own.
Water/wet wipes - can't remember what we took to hospital but we use cheeky wipes on ds now. Reusable wipes & would highly recommend. Much more effective than disposable wipes.
Baby toiletries - we use soap and water followed by coconut oil on ds and that's pretty much it. Nice and natural.
Painkillers / other pain relievers assuming a vaginal birth - paracetamol and ibuprofen
Breast pads - boots own reusables

I'd pack something to pour luke warm water over your bits as you wee as this really helps with the stinging that comes with weeing for the first couple of weeks after having a baby. This was a life saver for me!

Also multimam compresses (boots) helped me so much during the first couple of weeks of breastfeeding. Expensive but worth it.

Good luck!

Thank you! This is really helpful. With the lockdown it’s been impossible to shop around so I’m hoping next few weeks I can grab a few bits!

You're welcome. You'll be brilliant. My ds is nearly 2 now and I know it's such a cliche but it really has gone so quickly!

Nappies - also what sizes and quantities to get initially? - took one pack of Aldi new born. DH dropped off another pack when we needed them. Don’t worry about running out, they have them lying around from the samples in the bounty packs that get left behind.
Nappy cream - bepanthen
Disposable/tena pants - didn’t bother
Big pants (!) ie pants that will take sanitary pads, preferably the soft no VPL ones - Primark black granny pants. Wash them first though as they’re a bit scratchy out of the packet. Cheap enough to bin afterwards.
Sanitary pads - boots maternity we’re the best imo. They do thick and thin ones. Thick to start with for cushioning, then thin later for comfort.
Water/wet wipes - used wet wipes for the first month or so. Then Aldi sensitive.
Cool pads - nope
Baby toiletries - water to start with and olive oil for dry patches. Tried Johnson’s and ended up with baby eczema. Child’s farm all the way after that.
Tens machine - nope
Painkillers / other pain relievers assuming a vaginal birth. Diamorphine and gas and air during. Probably a couple of paracetamol too.
Ready made formula bottles - breastfed.
Breast pads - boots, but didn’t really notice a difference between those ant any other brands.

A dark coloured towel for when you have a shower and have to waddle back to your bed- can be a bit stained so dark colour best!

I bought some reusable bamboo breast pads off amazon, they were about a tenner. They're super soft and absorbent, I'd really reccomend ,

Nappies - Size 1 should do for most babies. I'd accumulated various free samples of nappies that I used for my hospital stay (Emma's diary, Bounty, NCT, baby show etc.). At least 10 nappies should be enough given they're trying to send women home asap post partum. Definitely no more than one pack though.
Nappy cream - I use Sudocream. Metanium is pretty good too.
Disposable/tena pants - Never bothered.
Big pants (!) - I bought full briefs from Sainsbury's. Still wearing them!
Sanitary pads - I work in the Obstetric theatres, so mine were "supplied" by my co-workers. Just don't get anything scented, especially if you have any stitches. Buy lots.
Water/wet wipes - Think I just used cotton wool and water. Wet wipes are all much the same IMO.
Cool pads - Didn't bother. People rave about spritz for bits though. I think I've read something about tea tree oil as well. Or just chuck some pads in a sealed bag into the freezer.
Baby toiletries - Cotton wool pads/reusable cloths for topping and tailing. Might not need this though. Some people recommend a tiny bit of vaseline on baby's bottom to help clean up meconium.
Tens machine - Didn't bother
Painkillers / other pain relievers assuming a vaginal birth - Bog standard paracetamol.
Ready made formula bottles - Didn't bother.
Breast pads - I had Lanisoh and Tesco ones. The Lanisoh was far superior. Next time I'm getting myself some reusable ones. All the single use plastic honestly depressed me.

If you have any stitches, a sports water bottle you can use to squirt warm water at them to take the sting away from peeing is invaluable. You can use it to drink from pre-baby too!

I used the Aldi mamia nappies, so cheap and the best for baby in my opinion, I took around 15 nappies and didn't use nowhere near that, I probably used around 7/8 and I had to stay in 1.5 days after birth.

Take a towel and flannel for when you feel up to showering/bathing if your in overnight.

I was very sore downstairs when going to the toilet as I had grazes inside, putting lavender oil mixed with tea tree oil diluted with water on a sanitary pad... this helped ease the sting and helped the wounds heal. I also took a big water bottle to the loo with me each time to dilute my wee so it would sting less (so needed!!!)

Cooling mist spray was my best friend during labour as I was boiling hot, even though the room was freezing cold (my mum and boyfriend were both in scarfs and puffer coats)

Bring some sweets/chewing gums/mints

Earphones for night time if your in overnight

Pot of Vaseline for lips, has and air dry them out so much

I brought a couple face masks too for my overnight stay just to freshen up after labour

Defiantly take your own pillows! Hospital pillows are tiny and useless and uncomfortable

Good luck x

Nappies - also what sizes and quantities to get initially? I took about half a pack of Pampers pure size one. We did end up getting size 0 pampers when home from the hospital though as he was much smaller than expected.

Nappy cream - Weleda, he’s never really needed nappy cream though so almost a year and a half alter and we are still on the first tube.

Disposable/tena pants - didn’t get them

Big pants (!) ie pants that will take sanitary pads, preferably the soft no VPL ones - No idea if VPL or not as I can’t say I cared or worse clothes you could’ve seen VPL in. But ASDA’s or Primark’s own.

Sanitary pads - boots brand, were the only ones I could find anyways.

Water/wet wipes - got WaterWipes for free. Finished them and got Huggins pure which we still use today.

Cool pads - didn’t use.

Baby toiletries - weleda

Tens machine - no idea what this even is

Painkillers / other pain relievers assuming a vaginal birth - EMCS had paracetamol and ibuprofen but we bought it on our way home from the hospital.

Ready made formula bottles - we had SMA ones ready in case we’d need it, didn’t need it but helped me relax.

Breast pads - Lansinoh

As pp have said boots maternity pads were good for me. Nice and thick which is what I needed at first. Soft No VPL pants in At least two sizes bigger. Nice big Bridget Jones style. Trust me you’ll want them! I had third degree tear with my baby and so lots and lots of stitches in theatre to repair my bits. After two weeks of constant pad wearing for post part in lochia the pads were really starting to bother my stitches. I switched to reusable pads and honestly they were so much better. Much softer on the skin. I never thought I would but can’t see me going back to disposable pads ever again. Perfect once the bleeding had slowed a little.

Nappies took one small packet of pampers premium as they were in offer. In the 7 weeks he’s been here we’ve tried a few brands now. Aldi are ok. Don’t like Sainsbury’s and currently trying Tesco’s.

Don’t bother with disposable pants they will give you some in hospital if you want them.

Baby toiletries - we have only in the last week started to use baby wash. Previously to this nothing just warm water.

Wipes - used water wipes for first 6 weeks.

I second a largish dark coloured towel hospital ones are white and size of hand towel.

Some very comfy lightweight clothes. It’s boiling hot in hospital. Shorts and vest to sleep in. Also flannel good to wet and put on head to cool down.

Other pain killers - lots of people recommend spritz for bitz spray to help healing of your bits. I tried it but couldn’t get on with it. Also had two infections. Not sure if the two are related but lots of people rave about it.

Agree with sports bottle to spray on your bits post birth.

Biggest tip - don’t put ANYTHING Under labour bed. I didn’t know and lobbed my trainers under there when we got to labour room. They ended up caked in blood. Like totally un-savable! I didn’t think there was that much blood at the time as midwives were clearing it up as we went but still it was pretty shocking.

Also flip flops not slippers. Can wear them in shower too then.

Good luck you will be brilliant!

Thank you everyone !

Really appreciate all your thoughts :)

Take cotton wool to clean baby during nappy changes as it’s kinder to skin than wipes to start with.

I didn’t take formula in as planned to BF however I think my postnatal ward had Cow & Gate and SMA in stock (the ready made small bottles with attached teat) so maybe pack your preferred brand if formula is how you plan to feed.

Maternity pants - I used the paper ones from Tesco in a size up from what I normally wear as I had a C section and they didn’t rub on the wound. Used these at home for the first week too. I’d buy in case you end up needing a section.

Maternity towels - I just used a basic pack from the supermarket, had my section 11 days ago and still have a few left. Make sure they’re on the chunky side rather than the slim ones.

Breast pads - Lansinoh but not needed from my hospital bag as I didn’t leak until I was home and my milk came in.

Nappies - also what sizes and quantities to get initially? Baby is almost 6 months so have tried a lot of brands! Lidl and Aldi are great, I used Lidl for the hospital I was in for 3 nights so we went through a lot.
Nappy cream - sudocream but we don’t actually use it that often
Disposable/tena pants - didn’t use
Big pants (!) ie pants that will take sanitary pads, preferably the soft no VPL ones - M&S and primark, both the same really get loads so you don’t need to worry about running out/doing washing
Sanitary pads - the nighttime Kotex big pads are great don’t get anything sented
Water/wet wipes - cotton wool and water until he was about 4 weeks old
Cool pads - didn’t use
Baby toiletries - nothing we used water to bath him for about 3 months
Tens machine - bought one but got the epidural so didn’t use
Painkillers / other pain relievers assuming a vaginal birth - the hospital sent me home with all I needed, I had a lot of stitches/ episimoty

Ready made formula bottles - hipp organic
Breast pads - boots own brand

I had the elle tens machine from boots! Worth every penny!