Hospital bag(s) - am I taking too much stuff?

[bananapeanutbutter]

Bit of a silly question but just packing up my hospital bag and so far, following all the MN lists of stuff to bring, I seem to have filled two small carry-on suitcases (with baby stuff, my stuff plus change of clothes for DH), plus a bag of snacks, and a tote bag with towels and flip-flops (hoping for water birth). Feels a tad ridiculous to be marching in with all this stuff for potentially just one night...? Will I even be able to fit all this stuff in the labour room? How much did everyone else take in?

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Hello, this thread is a little old; for up-to-date recommendations, take a look at our hospital bag checklist.

I haven't read through the posts so apologies if someone has mentioned this, but my dh brought for me, a favourite mug from home and my own tea bags. There was a drinks machine in the corridor at our hospital where we could make drinks in plastic cups, but to have my own tea in a nice mug was really great.

I took loads, but what I didn't have enough of were good maternity pads. Hospital usually has ones that sit lose in your knickers, but I liked Natracare or the equivalent that have sticky to stay in the right place.

I also found short style knickers invaluable for the same reason.

willow our maternity ward only gave you one skinny pillow and that was in a plastic cover inside the pillowcase, and was really uncomfortable and rustly and sweaty, so my pillow was definitely my favourite thing that I took. My tip re the pillow would be to have a pillowcase on it which is easily identifiable, i.e not plain white, so it doesn't get mixed up with the hospital ones.

Also second flipflops or crocs instead of slippers as the maternity wards are so hot and you can wear them in the shower.

I don't know if anyone has mentioned this, but: earplugs. Enormously useful if you have to stay the night in a postnatal ward with several other ladies and their crying babies.

Also, lip balm vital as you get really chapped lips from chugging on the gas & air.

I got seriously told off for having earplugs. "you won't be able to hear your baby".... he was 2 floors down in neonatal!

I'm 33 weeks gone so far I got/plan to take the following

2X T-shirt nighties.
1x PJ bottoms.
6 pack of undies.
cheap pair of converse shoes.
10 maternity pads.
10 breast pads.
1 lip balm (need to buy)
1 small pack of wet ones (need to buy)
1 hairbrush/mirror compact.

1 shawl.
1 sleep suit.
2 baby grows.
2 bottles.
1 pack of milk.
10 nappies.
1 pack of bum wipes.

1 big bottle of water (need to buy)
some fruit bars and stuff from H&B (need to buy) need to make sure my spare Oyster card has £10 on it because I am not going to want to walk anywhere, need to make sure to keep my phone charged and always have some cash in my purse.

I think thats enough for six hour or over night stay if I have to be there longer I will just moan at my fiancee to bring me more stuff as he has an agreement with his employer that he will be taking his days owed when it's needed.

if anyone can think of anything else I need that would be good, wouldn't take a book or anything in there with me as I hate hospitals I think of them as dirty places and will be bathing in Detol when I get home

i'm strugglin with this too, I have a mini case, a hold-all type bag thing and a bag for life (with snacks and energy drinks). I've got loads more clothes for me and baby than you have said though as its my first and I hope to breastfeed so the hospital said you can be in up to 4 days!!! they also said the baby can need up to 7 vests and sleepsuits a day!!!! so I've packed 10 of each and expect husband will be takin them home to wash.

I haven't got any change of clothes for husband or anything, i think he'll be ok, we only like 15 mins away so he can always nip home once i'm done!

i don't know if someone has already said it but i don't have time to read the thread, kids are waiting for dinner...

pack a bag with enough clothes for you and baby for an extra 3 days at least and leave it at home for dh to bring in if needed.

If you need a cs or if baby is in SCBU you will need extra supplies and relying on a man to find and pack the right stuff is dodgy... i had to send dp to the shops on my second day after ds2 as he was in scbu and i wouldn't leave him. I had planned on immediate discharge and had bled all over one of only two pairs of pj bottoms i had with me and ds2 had vomited blood all over my only clean top on the first day.

dp had to go and buy me tracksuit bottoms and two tops and brought me in reading material, food, extra clothes for ds2 and loads of other stuff. I borrowed a towel from SCBU to have a shower and one of the other women loaned me a few toiletries. When i was discharged on day 3 ds2 was still in so i ran to the shops and picked up a snuggly blanket for him as the one i'd brough had gotten poo on it and a few other things too.

Really useful thread this. I like the pillow idea. And the burgundy red towel idea. And the £20 in car park money - I'd packed this already. And the breast pads, for any leakage. I might take a few carrier bags for dirties, and some extra cash for the phone and coffee machine. I will be taking my big dressing gown and a pair of maternity pj's for feeding afterwards. I'm going to take breastfeeding info / book so I can refer to if desperate and no nurses available. Toiletries and so on for babies are in one end of the bag and shampoo etc for me, inc expensive under-eye bags cream and concealer, in the other end.

Thinking of my experience there wasn't much marching going on. Stood slumped infront of the automatic doors with them opening and closing in front of me. A farily elderly porter asked me if I wanted a wheel chair. I may have replied "what the f* do you think?' Needless to say was transported to maternity ward in wheel chair when dh brought in the 2 cases of gear. Used very little of it and won't be bothering this time, in the hope I'll be able to think that if I am missing that cd/birthing ball/high energy snack at some point in the labour it will mean its not quite as excrutiating as last time and I can actually think of such accessories.

A huge jar of apricots is the most important thing of all!

I always pack for every eventuality, better to have all you need i think. As long as someone else is carrying it all for you . Top of my list is always the camera tho.

I think your list is excellent. Would heartily endorse huge packet of dried apricots or prunes, and orange juice is pretty handy too. You are quite likely to be very thirsty and hungry after labour. I got to the ward at around midnight and apart from a cup of tea, there was nothing on offer. Fortunately I had three packets of biscuits, water and juice in my bag and I ate the lot.

I also agree with those who say that the swimsuit probably isn't necessary - a stretchy vest, maybe with secret support if you feel like you want it, would be better. And I laboured in a big T-shirt and stretchy crop top and that was very comfortable. I have horrible legs and I can honestly say I didn't give them a thought. I took all kinds of stupid things like music player, magazines etc and I didn't want them at all.

Packed for expedition and ended up using it all too! Anyway Dh was the one laden down like a pack horse, I just delivered one.

id forget about all the diffrent clothes, i can garuantee you wont want to keep getting changed while labouring. in this weather you could pack a fan too, while i was in labour i asked every midwife in sight for one and ended up being fanned by dh with my maternity notes with one hand whilst i was squeezing the other. good luck

don't forget breast pads and sanitary towels!

Cross make-up off the list. I remember taking make-up with me to hospital...I think it was about 6 weeks later that I actually found the time to apply any.

Must add nipple-cream to the list if you're planning on breast-feeding though. Lansinoh.

OK OK, sorry, just saw the bottles and pack of milk on the list. If you're bottle feeding then you need to take in more than one pack of milk. Are you taking cartons? Once you have opened one you can't use it again. A bottle of milk is only good for an hour - then you need another. Not sure you're taking enough... but I only switched to bottles once I was at home.

sounds like you have lots of good things sorted already - plus lots of good suggestions.

I had a water birth and laboured in a big t-shirt (out of the pool) and in the nick (in the pool) - by that stage, you don't care (as hideous as the idea is in advance!). easier for monitoring etc as well.

I took LOADS of things, but the things that were useful were:

• cash for parking/shop (for DH lunch) - although both take cards in any case
• board shorts/spare clothes for DH (he got in the pool - although got out quick smart when it all got a bit 'murky'.....!)
• ribena/water bottles/lucozade - all with 'sippy' bottle lids + a few straws. all really helpful for drinking when in the pool - plus good to keep your sugar levels up.
• barley sugars + small 'snacky' things for the first few hours. I wasn't hungry, but was pleased I ate things later in the day when you needed the energy more.
• camera + charger/batteries/film (awful time to run out!)
• 5x pack of big granny style M&S knickers - SO much better than the disposable ones (which go all manky) - better to get some cheap ones and just chuck them out later.
• sanitary towels - loads of them. think big mattress style things.
• face cloths - for DH to 'mop your brow' - sounds ridiculous but feels so good at the time!
• tea tree oil - I wasn't in bad shape afterwards but was still a bit tender 'down there'. putting this on loo paper and holding it up against yourself is v soothing and helps a lot.
• arnica tablets - same again, although I wasn't in a bad way, taking these did seem to help get things back to normal.
• nipple cream - big help to soothe cracked nipples. I didn't do this at first - just used breast milk - while the milk 'healed' the nipples, it didn't soothe them. this was really helpful.
• spatone - iron supplements you can got from boots/holland and barrett type place. I didn't lose much blood (I don't think) but I was still a bit peaky at times for a few days afterwards. the midwife suggested this for me - worked wonders then and for a while afterwards while I was BFing.
• muslin cloths - loads! great for mopping up a multitude of baby sicks!

I also took bathroom wipes (having read horror stories about the cleanliness of wards) but am pleased to say these were unnecessary!

sorry for such a massive list - hope some of this is useful! all the best for a great birth.

bananapeanutbutter Not a silly question at all-This thread is so helpful :)

The things i found i had to write down incase i forgot were Phone/camera battery chargers, lots of change, stop watch, nice squeezy water bottle (medium evian size), Hairbands, book, lip balm and that spray mist stuff is good. Most of which have been mentioned already.

I would definitely take mascara and lip balm, but wouldn't bother with the full war paint. It takes seconds to put on mascara and makes you feel soooo much better.

I must admit, i am one of those girls who laps up the 'Oh my god! You look terrific! I can't believe you've got 3 kids and have just given birth!' comments lol :o

This thread is brilliant, thanks everyone. I've started packing my bag already, although I know I'm a bit early (DD 3 June) - but you never know and I'd rather have it all to hand. I haven't done my labour ward tour yet so I'll check if I can save having to bring towels etc.

Can I ask people to say more about the car seat? We don't have a car and my hospital is a £12 taxi ride away, so I was assuming we will just bring it in with us. I know it's a bit of a faff to keep it with us, but the alternative is sending DP home for yet another expensive cab ride there and back, and then back home again when we're ready - not to mention I'm sure he'd rather stay with us during those first moments. (I do realise that if there are complications and I end up staying longer that he'll have to go home anyhow!)

Oh, and I plan to limit what I bring to one small-ish leather holdall plus the changing bag with baby stuff - so we will have just the two bags.

Nomoreheels, if this is your first then there is a relatively higher likelihood that they will keep you overnight after the birth to help with establishing bf, etc. Which means DH will be able to go home and have a good rest (do remind him that may be his last EVER ) and bring the car seat the next day.

Two bags plus car seat plus managing you when you are in pain, getting in and out of car, pushing the wheelchair, etc was more than my DH could manage last time. This time I've got one small wheelie bag and that's it. If I'm lucky enough to get discharged the same day I'll have to send DH away to get ours and come back (we don't have a car either) or ask a friend to pick it up and bring it.

Good luck! Btw I'm due the same week as you and have also started packing :).

Thanks Prima. I'll ask about what tends to happen to first time mums when I do the labour ward tour, but I seem to recall the midwife telling me that they want you out in 6 hours if there are no complications.

And my friend who had hers last year (albeit at a different hospital, but same city) was there and home same day with her first.

Good luck to you too! Guess we're both very organised.

There's a great list here:

helenredfernbirthandbaby

I hope it helps.

Haven't read the whole thread I'm afraid but just wanted to say that we took lots of stuff and DH had to go home every single day to get more. I was in for about 2.5 days before birth and 3 days after birth so we did find we needed a lot, especially food. The first thing he went back for was a laptop and DVDs because we were getting so bored waiting for something to happen (I had to stay in and wait, I wasn't able to go home BTW)

If DH is going back and forth all the time, just remember to get him to take used stuff back with him as much as possible.