What to pack in babies hospital bag?

[woodwaj]

Morning all! Happy Christmas eve eve! Last day in work tomorrow due in just under 7 weeks. Once christmas is over ill be packing our hospital bags. I was wondering what you put in babies bag?

I put I'm a pack of nappies and a pack of water wipes, nappy sacks, 5 vests and 5 sleep suits, hat, cardigan, few Muslin cloths and blanket. I think that's it. I did also pack a second bag to leave in the car with more vests, sleepsuits and cardigans incase I need to stay in. Not sure if i have forgotten anything as its my first too but I'm sure some others will be along! X

I'm trying to remember. mine are teens now.
first time round I packed a huge case. lots of outfits, muslins, all sorts of gear, you name it I had it. Most of it never got touched.

second time round I packed a few nappies, some cotton wool, cream, a sleepsuit, a couple of vests and a pair of socks.

they have all the essentials on the ward if you happen to run out - or at least they used to, don't want to steer you wrong if that's changed. and of course it also depends on whether you have anyone who will be able to bring you more stuff if you happen to run out.

Food (for you) clothes - hospital will probably have nappies.

Vaseline to smother on their bottom before their first poo: meconium is a bugger to get off otherwise. I learnt this trick in time for DS2 and it worked a treat.

oh god yes, that stuff is like tar!

I'm finishing work next Friday due on Valentines Day!
I've done a bag to go in with me straight away that has things I will need for labour, Maternity notes, flannels for water birth, old towel, t-shirt etc and another bag with things for afterwards, so things like clothes & nappies for bubs and pj's, wash stuff etc for me. I'll do hubby a rucksack with snacks for us (maybe some deodorant and a clean top in case he gets a bit whiffy!)
I've also done 2 lists in his contacts section on his phone, one list is people we would need to call as soon as she arrives (parents, our siblings etc) and another list of people to text the news to (Close friends etc)
It's all very exciting now!
Good Luck! xx

Brill ladies thanks for that! Keep the tips coming. Vaseline will go on the shopping list!! I was thinking about 2 baby grows/sleepsuits sounds like i might need more! I am conscious of it looking like i am going on holiday for a week but is that just how it is?!

Due no.3 in 5 weeks and haven't thought about it yet!

For baby I'll bring Babygros, vests, hats, blanket, nappies, Vaseline. That's it. Don't think you need Muslims coz not much puking on colostrum. DH can bring in cardi/snowsuit for going home. Oh and presents for older siblings!

For me nursing bras & tops, cardi, pj bottoms, slippers, maternity pads, breastpads, nipple cream, hairbrush, dryer, shower stuff etc, phone charger (NB!), and some snacks. Will go home in what I go in wearing.

For you, dark coloured towels and trousers are a good idea because of the blood loss.

At our hospital you have to take everything for the baby nappies etc and no wipes allowed, they get arsey if its anything other than cotton wool and water. I just tell them to mind their own business though. I would take more than a couple of vests, wee, poo and sick goes everywhere, even if BF they sometimes have a bit of mucous from the birth.

And I wasn't allowed to leave the ward without baby being in a carpet so make sure your other half remembers to bring it in when collecting you, just in case.

Carpet? Bloody autocorrect *car seat

Gosh I'm working late -aiming to last till the 14th Feb with EDD on the 21st.

After Christmas I'm going to sit down and make lists of what we have and what else we need as have lots of bits and pieces. Then on to having bags packed -aiming to have them ready for the end of January just in case.zzz

Def take water wipes rather than Cotton wool. They are only water anyway and far easier to change baby if you don't have to wander off to get water/ or call someone to get some. Once home web used reusable wipes and nappies anyway, but for convenience disposable easiest in hospital

I took x3 changes of clothes for baby and me, dh could bring in more if needed but we left after one night so fine

iPad/ kindle- I didn't sleep at all the night in hosptial. So just cuddled/fed baby and read kindle for hours, then watched Harry potter! Oh so take headphones also

Are you choosing some sort of special outfit as the clothes to be put on the baby right after is born?

Vaseline is good idea but sadly this is petrolatum product, perhaps I can replace with some sweet almond oil or cocoa butter?

Decant a little bit of olive oil into a small bottle and use that with cotton wool to get the meconium off. I left the wipes at home as they were not up to dealing with the tarry black grimness. Take a pleat of cotton wool rather than the tiny balls of it.

A few sleepsuits and vests, couple of hats, blanket or swaddling blanket, a few nappies, some bum cream, nappy sacks.

For baby I had
Pack nappies
Pack wipes
Pack nappy sacks
Hat
Cardi
4x sleepsuits
4x vests
Box ready milks
Dummy (just incase he was a screamer and I was on a ward - never needed)

Dh brought the carseat and pramsuit when we knew we were being discharged.

I will pack extra clothes for baby thats good to know. I would like a nice outfit to send a pic to everyone but its most likely going to be a cheap supermarket one. I was going to go for newborn size?! If he is a chunk i have plenty of bigger sizes to be sent in from home or would you pack a 0 to 3 incase?

I also think ill take the carpet AND a carseat to be on the safe side ;)

I have the premade bottles as well its a pack of 6 and i am presuming thats enough to start with and OH might just need to grab some more later on if needs be!

0-3 will be too big. Newborn or, in Next they do Up To One Month which will be perfect.

Ive an eight week old who is on the 50th centile and only just starting to fit into 0-3

Waitrose baby bottom butter is a good alternative to Vaseline - same consistency but it's basically just olive oil.

I was expecting a big baby so took some 0-3 clothes which were absurdly huge - as long as you have stretchy vests/grows, newborn sizes should be plenty. We had quite a lot of mucus brought up, plus ended up having to give formula for first feeds due to latching failures, so we had a lot of sick - so spare clothes and muslins came in very handy. Plus we had to stay in for four nights (because of the feeding issues), so needed lots of spares. I packed an overnight bag and a 'long stay' bag with extra clothes for me and baby which stayed in the car til needed.

Coconut oil would be better than Vaseline because of the ingredients in Vaseline.

Nappies
Cotton wool (for nappy changes with warm water)
Bodysuits
Sleepsuits
Mitts
Hat
Blanket (although hospital will supply them)

I love the carpet autocorrect!! It conjures so many images.

0-3 will probably be big on a newborn, 12 weeks is a long time at that age.

I only packed a few bits in my main bag and had a bigger bag of spares that I left in the car that dh could pop and fetch if needed, outfit wise she only needed one vest/sleepsuit/hat as I was out after 9 hours.
One thing I'm taking more of this time is food, dd was born at noon and I'd laboured all night without anything so I missed lunch and was famished by the time they bought dinner and it wasn't a big portion, just an omelette and a few spaghetti hoops.

Lip balm was something I used a lot.

Oh and I'm also packing breath freshener too this time, the gas and air makes your mouth feel horrid.

I'm 32 weeks today and pretty much have everything for babies bag, not packed yet though! This is DC3 for me and I'm packing a lot more than last time as high risk and have been warned to expect at least a 48hr stay this time. This is what I'm taking -

Baby towel and wash mitt (hospital requests you take your own)
Blanket
2 x muslins
3 x short sleeved vests, Next up to 1 month size
3 x sleepsuits with foldover scratch mitts, Next up to 1 month size
2 x cotton hats
1 x scratch mitts
1 knitted cardigan
1 knitted hat (to come home in)
Going home outfit, matching vest, sleepsuit, hat and bib set, Next up to 1 month size
Pack of pampers size 1 newborn nappies
Pack of waterwipes
A few nappy sacks
Small pot of sudocrem
Small amount of cotton wool
Travel sized baby top to toe wash
Baby brush
Nail clippers (my other 2 were born with quite long jagged nails)

Will put a heavier weight hooded cardigan and a big fluffy blanket in a bag inside carseat and leave in boot ready for coming home.

Maternity pads
Pyjamas
Comfy clothes (maternity wear still) joggers being brill.
Big M&S knickers (£5 for a pack of 5 or 7)
Magazines
Ipad/iPod
Mobile phone
Chargers
Wash bag with the usual stuff

4 sleep suits (change every 12 hours/24 hours)
Nappies
Cotton wool and wipes
Hats
Cardigans
Long sleeve vests for late winter/early spring babies
Mitts if sleep suits don't have intergral ones
Blankets for the. car seat
Car seat

Formula if you are bottle feeding

Don't take a pram suit if you are going home by car. They are dangerous to wear in an infant car seat. Temptation is there because they look cute and worried about keeping the, warm. You can get infant car seat blankets which covers over them and has harness holes or use ordinary blankets.

My babies so far were 11lbs and 9lbs and I never used anything smaller than 0-3months. The sleeves are long but can be rolled up and they fit perfectly within a week or so.

Newborn/up to 1 month total waste of you're expecting a big baby!

One thing I recommend is just babygrows not outfits for baby.

Then we packed a clothing set of short sleeve vest, babygrow, cardigan, hat and booties into seperate travel organisers. So x3 bags. Meant myself, dh or nurses would be able to just take bag and have full change of clothing without rummaging.

The midwife has never said anything about a big baby and im hoping not either!! Fingers crossed!!

I wasnt intending on buying any outfits only grows. I think they look odd on newborns!! Always too big!