Useful things to have during the first few days of newborn life

[yelyahyoung]

Hey everyone ☺️ my due date was yesterday and I’ve done all the last minute things I wanted to do like changing the bed sheets and having clean spares, cleaning bathroom and towels, mopping floors, hoovering car, etc... just so it will hopefully be that teeny bit easier to keep on top of once baby is here lol. Now I’m just doing our online food shop and I’m wondering if anyone can recommend anything that they found useful during the first few days of settling in with their newborn? Whether it be food or just general items... or anything else house related that I should do now lol. I’m thinking of ordering mostly frozen and longer life items in case I don’t get a chance to cook with the fresh I would normally order before it expires. I haven’t batch cooked anything either, perhaps I should have..... lol
Thanks, I appreciate any suggestions

A tip that I read and will definitely be doing is buying paper plates to cut down on washing up! I dont have a dishwasher so will find this massively helpful.

More maternity pads then you'll think you need! I naively bought two packs when I actually needed about 10!

These were great: www.boots.com/boots-maternity-pads-1-x-10-pack-10053470

As were their maternity mats: www.boots.com/boots-maternity-mats-1-5pack-10238767 - multi functional - can use on changing mat to absorb baby wee, or if you have an episiotomy (as I did) it meant I could sleep without any pants/pad on and give the area some air (reducing risk of infection) -tmi sorry!

When OH goes back to work after paternity make sure he makes breakfast for you - helped get the day off to a good start and was often the only meal that kept me going until dinner, as I just snacked in between.

Congratulations! X

One thing we ended up panic ordering on Amazon at 4am the day after we got home from the hospital was a pack of dummies (newborn orthodontic ones). We were desperate to try anything to stop DS crying and had said point blank no to having any in the house before he was born. Amazing how you find your mind changing when your kid has been screeching like a foghorn for 5 hours straight...

Flapjacks are great snacks, oats are meant to help boost milk supply so I make a batch every week and keep them in the fridge. A keepcup or thermos mug is a godsend too!

I liked having anything you could pop in the oven and then just take out: eg a tray of lasagne, cottage pie etc.

An easy substantial meal, when I was breast feeding was a must for me!

The bit where it all came apart for us was the week when husband went back to work (and the wee man took to not going down for naps). It's an idea to have a grocery delivery order ready to go/list made that includes lots of things that can be safely thrown in the oven and ignored for dinners, and things you can PREPARE one-handed for your lunches.

This is important. I did not do this and there were some super odd lunches before I was capable of manoeuvring the pram out of the house without help (section + steps, yay).

My tip is, don't worry! I read all the tips like this and tried to prepare everything, and I didn't really need any of it. I had a cs but was more than capable of popping to the shops, so there is no need to have everything in the house ready. In fact it was nice to get out (even just to the shops). Same with cooking, not only could me or DP easily do it, it was nice to do this non baby activity.

Its possible to over prepare. For example, I read how you will definitely need "way more maternity pads than you would think", so I bought 10 packs. I didn't use even half of them, in fact I had enough to use after my second baby and I still have some left.

Assuming you have a partner there isnt a need to buy hundreds of maternity pads, snacks, bottles of water, muslims etc. If you need more you can just send them out for some.

My main things to have are

• amazon prime. If you discover you have forgotten something the next day delivery is handy plus box sets to watch while breastfeeding
• a basket on the sofa to store all the breastfeeding junk - pads, drinks etc.
• audiobooks helped to keep me awake during night feeds

One handed snacks
A comfy blanket
A lidded cup, preferably a flash in case you don't get to drink tea/coffee before it cools
A couple of ready meals/batch cooked meals (we only did 3 evenings worth)

Whatever you would enjoy for a day resting on the sofa really.

@1300cakes bleeding after birth is relative. I suppose the main thing is that if you are bleeding you don't want to be caught short on pads. I bleed for 6 weeks and was caught short. I think if you've had a c-section you tend to bleed less? Anyway, sounds like you're prepared if you have a third

Gets lots of snacks in. Prepare as many meals in advance as you can or get loads of microwaveable ready meals.
Get up to date with your laundry. (it will be the last time for a long time)
Rest, have some lie ins, lazy days, meals out with your partner! Again it will be the last time for a while)
Enjoy these days and lol forward to seeing your baby!

Honestly the first weeks are so simple all the baby does is sleep 90% of the time
It gets much harder as they get older. My personal experience anyway.