How many packs?

[Littlemissexpecting]

How many packs of maternity towels, breast pads etc should I buy?
Sainsburys have 1/3 off at the minute so wanted to get a few bits to save some money (especially the expensive things) but don't want to buy say 5 packets if its normal to only use 2 packets.
I thought I prob can't go wrong buying a few packs of cotton wool.
Anything else that I might not have thought of? I wasn't going to bother with calpol, infacol etc as we might not need it unless anyone thinks its worth getting?
I've already got one tube of lanolin nipple cream and heard that lasts ages so should I buy a second?
Sorry for all the questions!

Maternity towels - I'd suggest at least 5 packs. Everyone varies but I was having to change them hourly for the first few days, then about every 3 hours for the next 2 weeks. My lochia stopped fairly quickly, they are the sort of thing you can send your partner out for if you run out though.

Breast pads, depends again! I wasn't particularly leaky, and only really had to change them after each feed (as I fed from one side, the other side would leak).

I wouldn't bother with cotton wool unless its the huge pressed squares of it - I bought 2 big bags of cotton wool balls and one is unopened still, the other got used once for DS and he ended up with a lovely combination of cotton wool and meconium stuck to his bum so now it gets used when I'm removing nail polish :)

I never even finished one tube of lansinoh, 2 would have been a waste.

Calpol can't be given until 3 months (I think it's 3?) so I personally wouldn't bother. It's only brand-name paracetamol anyway, I either buy Tesco own brand for half the price, or get the dr to prescribe a bottle if I'm there anyway!

Agree with above. I got through a pack per day of maternity towels to begin with, you really can't overdo it! Also got some always night with wings for under the mat towel for side coverage, worked very well.

I leaked very little so used 2 pairs breast pads per day for comfort. 1 or 2 boxes should be enough to start with. Used tommee tippee ones last time, but the Lansinoh ones are much better. Used Lansinoh cream every feed, but still had left over from 1 tube and I bf for 7 months.

Cotton wool advice above very apt. I'm awaiting dc2 so just taking wipes!!

Def not calpol etc. These deals come up regularly, so don't worry about missing out.

Which brand maternity pads would you recommend?

Don't bother getting too much cotton wool. DD is almost 4 and we are still using the stuff I bought whilst pregnant to make snowmen pictures etc.

I think I used at least ten packs of maternity towells I was doubling up the first few days in case of leakage and I found that the sainsburys own were great canyt remember if they were maternity though they had a purple pack and really thick also the asda own brand little angels were good too x

gets loads of maternity towels. I quite missed them, they were really comfy

No more lansinoh, I barely made a dent in mine but it's good for chapped skin too. Ditto cotton wool, you will change to wipes pretty quickly IME.

Breastpads - depends. Some people leak for months, some never leak - you will have to guess.

Any maternity pads are fine, just make sure they are the ugly thick ones. Lovely cushioning for afterwards and don't have the nasty chemicals that can irritate. I used tescos own which were great. They should be thick and have some sort of adhesive backing so they don't roll around, other than that, get the cheap ones!

Brilliant thank you everyone!

It depends really. I bought 4 packs and only used one pack. I had an EMCS and had very very little blood, no more than a period really. Mentioned it to the midwife and she said that they suck a lot of the blood out your uterus during the section. Was a pleasant surprise not to bleed for weeks.

If you have stitches look for maternity pads with little or no plastic backing so that the stitches can breathe. They'll heal much faster if they don't get sweaty. I found natracare ones brilliant. I'd bulk bought Boots own brand and regretted it as they have a full plastic back.