First baby "oh cr*p!" box

[NattyBatty]

My sister is pregnant with her first and due in the summer, and I'm super excited to be an auntie so I'm going totally overboard with gifts.

I'm putting together a "post birth" set, which includes unscented/gental wash stuff, chocolate, meals in a mug etc. I'm doing a nappy cake with stuff for the baby like bibs and muslins and bottles etc, but I also want to do a panic box which I've called the "Oh Cr*p!" box.

The idea behind the Oh Cr*p! box is that if she gets caught out at 3am when all the shops are shut she can check the box and see if there is something which can tide her over until the morning.

So far I have:
Calpol
Kids vapour rub
Bepanthen
Lanolin cream
Saline nasal spray
Emergency nappies
Antibacterial hand gel
Disposable bed mats (in case of multiple sick ups/nappy leaks in the Moses basket/to wipe up projectile vomit on the floor etc)
Baby wipes
Teething gel
Teetha teething granules
Baby wipes
2-3 premixed formula (in case the baby has trouble latching and she needs to give the baby something)
Muslins
Colic drops
Nipple shields

Can anyone think of anything I've missed? She lives 200 miles away so I want her to have all her bases covered seeing as I can't be there to give day to day support.

When DS was two weeks and should really have still be in the womb, still slightly reeling, we spent Christmas Day with DBIL and DSIL. An hour's drive and the snow came down on the way home, roads treacherous. I hadn't planned formula feeding but resorted to combining as we had difficulty getting BF established. On that Christmas Day we accidentally left the formula at DBIL and DSIL house. Got home late on 25th and none to give. BF on and off all night but couldn't really fill him up. Early Boxing Day morning DH had to go hunting for an emergency pharmacist that was open (added to this we lived in a rural area).

I would have wept for ready made formula and ready sterilized bottles.

As you were.

Jesus christ.. some of you lot need to get a grip and get over yourselves! Natty I think its a lovely idea. As a first time mum you don't know what you might need and when - and if you do then you're obviously a better person than me!! I can't believe so many of you would be offended!!!
She may not use it all but the option is there. Some friends of mine brought things like nipple cream, infacol and calpol for me and ALL were used!! Every house needs calpol!!
Chuck some chocolate in there and maybe a nice bubble bath and you're on to a winner, lucky sister!!

You know your sister. You sound like a lovely caring person. If someone had done this for me with my first, I'd have been well pleased.
at all the 'I wouldn't have used this or that', very easily said with 20/20 hindsight, but no one knows what they would or wouldn't need beforehand, and in the wee small hours might be very grateful for something that doesn't require one tired partner having to do trip to find a shop.
What about adding the Haynes Workshop manual for Babies. Useful and very funny.

I think it's a brilliant idea! You know your sister and if you think she'd like it then go for it.

The posters who would have felt patronised clearly knew a lot about babies before they had one . I didn't even know half of this stuff existed before I had a baby.

And for me it's a big yes to a couple of bottles of formula (speaking as someone who had to send their DH out to a 24 hour supermarket at 3am...a very stressful experience).

If it were me I'd want an emergency bar of chocolate too. And this is a bit random but maybe a couple of those pots of UHT milk you get in coffee shops? Because I always found on the mornings I most needed coffee...that was when we'd run out of milk!!!

You are an amazing sister, I would have loved even half of this when ds was born.
Ignore the pps who are saying no formula, it can be a life saver when bf doesn't work. I had every intention of bf, but I just physically can't so ds if formula fed. Just wish bf mothers would get off their high horses and accept that life doesn't always go to plan or the way we want. Accept other mothers choices.

What a kind idea! Even though I didn't use several of those things it's nice to be able to reach for them in the middle of the night. I have a couple of suggestions though - firstly, some of those things are not safe for newborns, so you might want to put them into smaller boxes inside the main box labelled "for three months or older" or "for six months or older". I am sure they all say on the labels, but my experience was that I was too sleep deprived to read or think half the time! And DEFINITELY don't include formula and bottles if your sister is planning to breastfeed. Many people deliberately don't have them in the house because there is a night, right around when your milk comes in, when your hormones are INSANE, the sleep deprivation is catastrophic, and your baby is cluster feeding to bring your milk in, and if the formula is there you will reach for it because you are desperate and your nipples are bleeding and your baby is wailing. But that night is 100% normal and part of a healthy breastfeeding relationship, and getting past it is the most important thing in managing to successfully breastfeed. Having the formula there "just in case" can inadvertently sabotage it. Also, the pressure to switch to formula in some areas can be very tough on a new breastfeeding mother - although you obviously want to help, she will be hormonal as all hell and might not see that, she might see it as more pressure.

Things to include instead: nipple shields in different sizes, lanolin nipple cream, a massive box of the lansinoh breast pads (they are the only ones that could hold the leakage!), a really comfortable sleep nursing bra (you can't know her cup size in advance but these are usually just small medium large), an insulated coffee cup with a good lid, snack bars. Oh, and orange flavoured fybogel, because opiate painkillers given during cc sections back you up, and straining to poop is terrifying after a natural birth.

Ooh, also, a dummy type thing for giving medication, like "munchkin medicator". And a Nosefrida, I have several friends who have resorted to sucking snot out of an ill baby WITH THEIR MOUTH in an emergency. The squeezy bulb snot suckers are useless.

Oh yes. I also did use Milton sterilising tablets but didn't use baby lotion.

I think the formula idea is great as my DSis needed something exactly the same and I got some in just in case too.

I would include a brilliant DVD or NETFLIX subscription or somesuch as DD fed so long that in the night I just got up and put the TV on, a box set would have been perfect!

Sian have you read the bit in the thread where the OP has stated that her sister is aware breastfeeding can go wrong and what other issues could arise (some children need formula). What about the bits where many of us said those bottles of formula were useful- and we still successfully breastfed?

You can't say DEFINITELY don't put it in, because not everyone is you or thinks like you.

But surely the sister has 9months so buy herself some pre made formula and some lip balm if she wants?

Personally, I would have found the inclusion of formula in a box of postnatal 'essentials' as undermining of my confidence in breastfeeding.

I would however put in a laminated card with all the numbers of the local breastfeeding clinics and the breastfeeding helplines.

Otherwise it's a lovely idea.

I'd also put in some beautiful scented tissues to dry her tears, something that'll make her laugh (a funny postcard), some emergency chocolates and a tiny bottle of wine, and I'd pay for them by leaving out the colic drops which DON'T WORK!

Artandco - of course she does but the op wants to provide the sort of things she would pop around with if she lived near by, which is not necessarily the stuff you buy as a first time mum when you think it will all be plain sailing. Sometimes it's the fact someone else thought of you and your baby that makes it such a nice thing to have! Also i got panicky about money at the beginning of maternity leave so I didn't but things like lansinoh because I might not need it, but I'd have loooooved someone else to buy it all.

I'm pregnant now and if someone gave me this box, I'd cry with joy. I honestly can't believe people have said they wouldn't like it, would be offended or think it's overkill. All I see is thoughtful and kind.

I have no helpful suggestions, as a (nearly)FTM I'll probably be making myself a box with all the things you and PP have written!

Whatever people say about your gift what you're saying makes it sound like you and your sister have an amazing bond. If I am right you are both very lucky.

Hand sanitiser is very useful as well.

Hope it all goes well for her.

Re: formula, I think you have to know your sister.

I didn't use formula, but had a bottle and emergency supplies in the cupboard and felt reassured that if something happened to me, somebody would be able to feed the baby. (Yes I know breastfed babies don't always take easily to bottles and formula, but the chances of finding an emergency breastfeeder are pretty low).

I'd just tell her to look through the supplies and that you won't be offended if she chucks anything out.

I can't believe how harsh some of the comments on here are! It's a lovely idea which I would've really appreciated when I had my first and was clueless about everything.
And with the formula, I really don't think it'll "undermine" your sister breastfeeding - it's meant to be an emergency box, in case of emergencies! I doubt she'll use every single item but it's still nice to have it.
I agree with including lots of nice stuff for your sister rather than the baby - snacks, toiletries etc. Also love the condom suggestion - brilliant.

Personally I think it's lovely, you could include arnica cream from bruising, I had horrific bruising from blood tests. I'd say include some 24 hour take away leaflets from their area because a few times we were so hungry in the middle of the night and we couldn't face cooking or defrosting anything. Sometimes a take away just hits the spot

That's a fab present!! A nasal aspirator, boots do a really good one

Friends put similar things together for me and I thought it was really kind. I don't see how anyone could get offended about this...I mean really?!!

It's a nice idea, but there are a lot of things on your list which are potentially never going to be used... which is a waste of money and takes up a lot of space.

Not all babies projectile vomit, soil beds or ever have calpol. Mine never did. Perhaps concentrate on things for your sister?

PS I am exclusively breastfeeding my baby and I have two unusued bottles of formula in the cupboard. I hope not to have to use them but I feel reassured knowing they are there. In a way knowing I COULD give up has made it easier to carry on ....anyway so off topic!

I think this is a lovely idea.

Those of you who would feel offended...really?!

I would have loved a box like this. So what if she doesn't use half of it - when you're up at 3am with a teething baby it's nice to have things to try even if none of them work!

if the formula is there you will reach for it because you are desperate and your nipples are bleeding and your baby is wailing

Never happened to me. Not all of us found breastfeeding really hard.

Never happened to me. Not all of us found breastfeeding really hard

That's lovely, for you. It's great when breastfeeding just happens and it isn't a struggle. But it doesn't happen for everyone.