Hospital Bags for Dummies ...

[TheBreadstick]

OK, so what's the definitive list of stuff you wouldn't live without in your hospital bag? Equally, what's a waste of time packing?!

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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.

Just packing a bag would be good, ime. I still remember the midwife's face when (with dc2) she arrived, took one look and said get to the hospital and don't have it in the car (home birth never an option with my medical history, sadly). DH and I looked at each other. Bag? Baby was already a day over due date.

Must say having done this twice, once normal and once cs I would take as little as possible and ignore the disposal in with you!!! Two baby gro's 1 small pkt nappies, a few pairs of knickers...not the paper ones they tear!!! And then rely on the good natured visitors you will get to bring anything you haven't got!!!
I defo think you need your phone, camera, food etc but you certainly don't need to bring all including the kichen sink

I scoured MN for good lists and religiously went out and got it all. In the end though I didn't use half of the stuff I packed...although I guess it was nice to have it there in case I wanted it!
Apart from clothes and nappies for the baby, wash bag, spare clothes etc, the things I really appreciated were:

Big comfy cotton knickers - couldnt bear the idea of hoiking out disposable knicker wedgies!
Pads
Something nice and comfy to change into after a post delivery shower.
A flannel which my DH used to mop my brow during all the pushing (which helped sooo much!)
ipod which we put in the hospital docking station and listened to in the earlier stages

I packed loads of water and snacks and then felt obliged to eat some during labour. Big mistake - hit the gas and air hard at about 7cms and threw the whole lot up!! DH quite liked the snacks although there was no fridge and the hospital had an M&S downstairs so he went there to get me a coffee and muffin the size of my head after DD was born

Oh and towels...DONT take your own nice fluffy towels unless you really cant bear the idea of hospital ones. My post delivery shower towel was so stained and gross that I was really glad to be able to just hand it to a midwife rather than take it home and try and wash it.

Also, if you spend a night your DH/DP will most likely go home and can bring you back anything you need!

In addition to the above, I took a hairdryer as my fine hair goes totally haywire if not blow dried. As for a camera, I got my OH to take it up on visits (I was in for a few days) as there isn't a lockable place for your valuables.

I also had a book and some magazines as my newborn slept loads. Totally agree with everyone on maternity pads, get the big fat ones as opposed to the slimline ones as you will be sore.

I would recommend being prepared to be in for a few days longer than anticipated so that you do have enough stuff.

My top tip. GET DP TO PACK BAG. Or at least know where things are. I had emergency c section and so was rather occupied/ immobile when DS needed to be dressed and DH was having to find things from my description in very low light in corner of recovery room. Even without c section it may well be DP dressing the baby and he will feel less of a spare part if he has the faintest idea what is there. And he wil already have done a bit of feeling like a spare part ...
I also had 2 bags. 1 for delivery and immed after ie clothes all round and nappies. And then another to stay in car and come out if I had to stay in, which I did. That bit worked ...
And to scare you, i had white clothes for the baby and black ones for me. DS was 11 days late - what else was I supposed to do?

My top tip: IT IS NEVER TOO EARLY TO PACK

I really don't want to scare anyone but i gave birth at 30 weeks. I had no bag and just had to give endless lists to DH (who was shopping at the local 24 hour Asda . It has left me with a few funny stories to share - e.g i asked him to get me some "towels" and he came back with a bath towel. I asked him to get me a nightie to birth in - he came back with a bright pink extra large t-shirt with mini mouse on complete with stuck on sequins! On plus note he brought in my make up bag as he knows i like to have my face on (scars) Oh and the agony of no bras to fit when milk came in. BTW ds is fine!

sonotkylie I tried for weeks to interest DP in the bag contents, I also had and EMCs and he was clueless! Had to tell teh midwife where to find my big pants.

melliebobs list looks pretty good. :)

Pack only dark (black navy brown) bottoms for yourself (do not think my maternity pad won't leak and get blood over my only pair light blue of PJ's)

Second vote for a spare bag in case you have to stay longer, I did 6 days after DD was born.

Take your own pillow - our hospital ran out so I ended up trying to use my bf support as a pillow.

nipple cream - oh how I love you

pack 2 bags - one for stuff you need in the delivery room (sweets drink for you and your OH and first clothes for DC ) and a second for your stay after that.

Don't bother with straws get yourself a sports bottle and lots of energy tabs to mix with the hospital water.

Definitely large granny knickers - just in case you end up with a c-section. Disposables are just awful.

Slippers

A good book, you may laugh but it was a life saver

and all the good baby stuff already mentioned

yes, definitely get your dp to pack the bag.
\DH didn't know what was in mine or where to find it, and i was too weak from lack of iron to explain to him.

if you're planning to bf you want front opening nightie or pyjama top - i was fed up after a couple of hours with a teeshirt nightie.
big granny knickers.
2 packs of maternity pads, not 1
more baby grows/vests than you think you'll need - 2 days in hospital, we had 3. it wasn't enough.

proper food - sandwiches lots of snacks.
baby wipes for you to use - you will not want to go to the toilet room to freshen up.
definitely books and magazines.

yes, big knickers (ie in 2 sizes up from normal) not maternity.
maternity ones just feel wrong against the tummy.
and take loads cos you will leak all over them

PHONE CHARGER

i didnt have mne and phone battery ran out. couldn't get hold of dh and ended up having a mental tantrum because he wasn't there when i needed him

you don't need a jug for weeing - hosp will give you oner of those cardboard wee pans.
plus, ig you drink loads of water, and i mean loads (don't stop drinking - if you're doing nothing, you should be drinking), then you won't sting

Consider button up (if bfing) nighties instead of pjs. Just in case you end up having a c-section. I needed more onesis and vest for LO as in the morning he messed up 3 on the run.
Also, take in a granny-knitted cardy for LO. You'll be sweating buckets in the saunas that are postnatal wards, but your LO is really prone to getting cold.

Lansinoh nipple cream. Fantastic stuff

Also my dh packed my favourite tea bags and a mug from home so I could have a mug of tea rather than drink out of the max pax plastic cups they had. Brilliant!

Water in a sports cap bottle was my must have during labour. The G and A dried out my mouth and it could just be squeezed into my mouth.

Earplugs and an eye-mask totally saved my life on the ward (was in for 6 nights, never occurred to me I'd be in for more than a night). Also, a travel changing mat was really useful to protect sheets from little mishaps!

Profcox's ideas are good. I overpacked for LO's birth but was still missing baby's first clothes. My bump measured small for dates but my baby ended up being big so none of the newborn stuff fit him! I could also have done with several more outfits for me - loose fitting yoga type clothes and nighties - for the birth as I had quickly (TMI ALERT:) bled / sweated through the few I had brought.

Primark for big pants - you won't be wearing them again so no need to spend £££ in M&S.

Join boots parenting club and get hold of the free changing bag. Pack baby stuff in there. The changing mat is fab for changing LO on bed (I find it really difficult to change babies in those goldfish bowl things).
I second packing some comfy clothes in case you have to stay in (I was unexpectedly stuck in for 6 days) and slippers as cold hospital floors can give you cramp!

ear plugs (to drown out other mums/their tellys/babies)
ribena ready made
warm bedsocks
baby wipes (not just for baby)
my vote is cheap big pants rather than disposable ones

What not to do:

Magazines (like I could read them with contractions)

Pyjamas in pre pg size ( uterus did not immediately contract )!

Forgot hairbands

Slippers and dressing gown are a must!

Good ideas already. Best tip I was given was to keep a bottle of water, 3/4 full, in the freezer and top up with cold water as you leave the house. You can keep topping up all the way through labour and you get ice cold water for hours. It was the single best thing I took with me.

Was I the only person staying in a really overheated hospital??

30 hours of labouring plus 3 days staying with ds, and only put huge t-shirt on to go to the loo on the PN ward. The hospital provided shedloads of incopads to sit on so didn't need any of my spare clothes!
Surprisingly, they also provided nappies and wipes and maternity pads despite telling us to bring our own.
I'm taking some old soft towels of mine this time, and all the drugs I'm on as last time some of the prescribed ones didn't turn up until 36 hours after birth when I was offered a half dose...

Did get through all the food we brought, though, and a sports bottle for water for labour was essential.
And charged-up camera with spacious memory card.

MrNC did have to go home and get a wad more clothes for ds, which were mainly a bit big and his going-home outfit ended up being a pink flowery 6-9mo babygro after he messed up all the others!

What I packed and what I needed were 2 separate things....

Needed:

Nappies in newborn size (didn't know there was a difference)
2 x towels - my hospital didn't provide them and I didn't know, but I was in longer than the 6 hours (5 days) and XDP was a useless twat and didn't come back for 3 days
Dark Pjs
Cammilosan
Change mat
Ipod and charger
Phone
Flannel
Shower Gel

Things I used from my packed bag:

Big knickers
Maternity pads
Baby grow and sleep suits
Knitted blanket
Fleece blanket
Phone

I'm sure I'll think of more things and if I do I'll post

If I do it again I will pack three little bags (then put in one rucksack if that makes sense)

Labour stuff:

• comfy nightie
• drinks
• music, stuff to do while I was induced....

Me in hosital stuff:

• comfy clothes
• massive pants that I was happy to chuck after wearing
• slippers
• cosy blanket - very handy for feeling more discreet and for feeling more at home
• phone, book, podcasts etc
• cleanser, wipes, lipbalm so youu can feel fresh without moving if needed...

Stuff for baby:

• first outfit, sleep suit, nappy, socks, more sock for hands, hat and bibs for spitting up
• clothes to wear and bag to pop it in to get DH to take home
• nappies, muslins, cotton wool, [woah ,,,,, I am forgetting stuff!]

ALSO - Bag for birthing partner which was the best advice we got:

• MONEY for parking, vending machines, phones, TV etc etc
• Camera
• Good magazine / something to do
• food (because even though I wasn;t allowed food I didn;t want DH being hungry on the job)
• Baby's bag (he loved that he was in charge of baby's first outfit etc)
• FULLY CHARGED phone with preset list so you can text about baby but send one text to everyone at same time.

I also packed another little bag tp leave at home which had clothes for DD and I to go home in - was nice to have something completely fresh.

Yes to front opening things. Breast feeding is hard enough without worrying about your t-shirt falling in your infants face.

My major problem was that we were in for two days afterwards (dd took a really really long time to wee - they thought there were kidney issues so we were going nowhere until they had a wet nappy from her). I had enough stuff for both of us for a day. I didn't have the sense to tell DH where I had stored everything in her bedroom (I was a week overdue and had spent my time lovingly re-arranging her things, hugging them and imagining the tiny baby that should be in them!). Neither did I explain that 'newborn' and '0-3 months' were different sizes of clothes, so having sent him home with bags of her dirty clothes and instructions to return with clean ones, he came with stuff to fit a much bigger infant and she kept withdrawing her hands up the sleeves, getting cross and crying.
Next time I'm packing bags of extras to leave by the front door....!

Ipod or similar, so if you are lying awake at night you don't go mad with being unable to drop off, you can listen to something.

Gas and air also dried my mouth out in a more extreme way than I have ever experienced. A way of drinking without sitting up would have been sooooo welcome.

Obviously it depends on how long you are in but I would seriously recommend a bag for labour and the immediate aftermath (both for you and baby, so one set of spare clothes for you, two sets for baby, baby blanket etc) and then putting another bag in an obvious place with stuff for someone to bring in if you have to stay longer, or decide you might like it (the stuff, not the hospital stay).