Bedside cabinet essentials during first few weeks with newborn

[maybae]

Hello everyone

Our little one is due to make an appearance early May. I recently went to a antenatal talk by a physiotherapist who recommended this as a guide in the first few weeks of having a newborn:

5 days in the bed
5 days on the bed
5 days around the bed

Whether I stick to this I don’t know, but I will use it as a guide!

I thought it may be a good idea to have a number of essential items close to hand next to my bed in the drawer and wondered if anyone could advise what their “must haves” were during that time?!

Thanks a lot!

first timer xxx

This sounds interesting, I’ve never heard of this before. What’s the idea behind it? Bedside essential would definitely be a bottle of water if your breastfeeding - it’s thirsty work. TV remote if you have a tv in your room - you don’t want to be getting up looking for it once you’re comfy. Spare bibs and muslin for baby incase of any spitting up. A bell to ring so someone can bring you anything you’ve forgotten!

What?! Why?! Is this if you've had a section maybe? Otherwise sounds like the old fashioned practice of "lying in" basically prolonged bed rest after having a baby. If you are planning to breastfeed then it does help to have things like a bottle of water, muslin and maybe your phone or Kindle within reach of where you are sitting.

Maybe not in bed but it's a good idea to relax, do as little as possible other than cuddle up and get to know your baby. I spent most of the first few days either in bed or on the sofa (had a home birth so really easy!) and would highly recommend it! I had a little basket that I kept on the sofa or in the bedroom with all the essentials in... Big insulated bottle for tea/water, kindle, remote control, nipple cream, muslins, lip balm, chocolate, packet of hobnobs...

Water, snacks, entertainment. Nappies etc for baby.

Think I’d have gone bonkers not leaving the bedroom for 2 weeks! Maybe set up a basket by your bed and one by the sofa? Unless you’re anticipating a challenging c-section recovery?

sounds like the old fashioned practice of "lying in" basically prolonged bed rest after having a baby.

I found the second week after having DS harder than the first - the first week I still had quite a lot of energy and wouldn’t have liked being cooped up indoors, I suppose I was full of adrenaline and excitement. My stitches were barely painful either. Then the second week I was really throbbing down there and couldn’t walk for long and the sleep depravation really hit - so if there’s ever a time to have a ‘lying in’ and staying in bed with hobnobs and chocolate I would go for days 6 to 14!

Personally, once I got home from hospital (day 4) I preferred to be on the sofa during the day, but yes, resting and spending time bonding with baby is really important. We made a basket for the lounge and one for the bedroom which both contained:-

• nappies
• water wipes/ cloth wipe and bottle of water
• nipple cream
• Muslins
• hand cream
• a book for me
• bottle of water
• changes of clothes for baby
• phone charger plugged in and reachable

Glasses (if needed and taken off)

• hair ties
• snacks

Sofa is much more comfortable,I enjoyed being more mobile if a bit sore from stitches.
My DD was born in may though and it was a long ,hot summer so put DD in a pram under shade as much as possible while I sat planting things in the green house in between the hours breast feeding.

Is this in the UK? Just because it is slightly unusual advice.

By all means take it easy initially and make life as easy as possible by having things close to hand, just be mindful of the risk of DVT due to bed rest. Especially if post delivery and receiving no blood thinning injections or compression stockings.

Sorry if that sounds like all doom and gloom just something to take into consideration.

That being said, always handy to have a little supply of nappies close by, snacks for you, plenty of drinks for you, muslins/cloths/tea towel (whatever you want to use) for spit up and spills.

I think a good point previously made regarding lots of bonding time is key. If that means in bed first week just having constant skin 2 skin, absolutely amazing time. I was in bed the first week just focusing on that and it was bliss (I also had a c-section so my movements were stiff and slow).
I like the list that @Equimum provided. And we also had the two basket scenario. Made life so much easier!
I would also add

• Glasses (if you need them)
• pillows for back & baby when nursing (1 in each location)
• Tissues
• Water wipes or muslin for you (milk spillage)
• Nappy change caddy (nappies, cream, cotton wool & thermos of warm water & small bowl)
• place lots of sanitary pads & creams in all of your bathrooms in your home
• Box of breast pads, such as Lanolin * (read below)
• breast milk collection bottles & milk bags (for freezing) - when my milk came in, I was a fountain from both breasts. I didn’t want to waste my leaking milk (more like spewing like a geyser from Yosemite Nat’l Park 🤦‍♀️🙄😂) so collection bottles were a saviour!!
• spare bra
• hands-free breast pump bottle bra ** Link below
• case of 6 (1.5 litres each) natural Or filtered bottled water. “thirsty” doesn’t even describe it!*
• Graze power bars (super healthy)
• popcorn & ryvita crackers
• apples, pears & bananas
• homemade flapjacks (batch prepared weeks before due date & froze!) Oats brilliant for milk supply & energy
• And a guilty pleasure 😍

• Caution: I wanted to be eco-friendly so I tried the washable cloth breast pads, but ended up with THE most painful case of yeast infection because the cloths weren’t allowing enough air for my nipples to breathe in between nursing sessions. The constant moisture and dark atmosphere behind the cloth nipple pads created such a nightmare I’d never thought possible. So, be careful! And yes, I changed my pads very frequently. I switched to disposable Lanolin breast pads and never looked back.

I hope something helps. I’m now 20 weeks pregnant with my third (final) baby so I’ve gotten a lot of use of items I bought. Highly recommend a dual pump if you no decide to breastfeed. It helps give your breasts a break and permits your pArtner a chance at bonding with baby while you take a snooze or shower 😁

** I invested in a breast pump, extra milk pump bottles too & two hands free pump bras - amazing!!
Links:
Bra: www.amazon.co.uk/Bravado-Designs-Nursing-Hands-Free-Pumping/dp/B07RZ1KY2Q/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=bravado+breast+pump+bra&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&qid=1587090884&sr=8-3
Best breast pump experience:
www.amazon.co.uk/Ameda-Finesse-Double-Electric-Breast/dp/B07MYTFDYN/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=ameda+breast+pump&sprefix=ameda&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&qid=1587090790&sr=8-3

* I bought 12 glass 1.5litre still water bottles, sterilised after a few uses & refilled with my Brits filter water. Eco-friendly and helped me so much!!

5 days in bed?! Unless you have serious complications that's ridiculous and not healthy.

5 days in bed? And then another on the bed? I think I would have gone barmy! I had a rough labour with a severe third degree tear and whilst I was (and still am 9 days later) very sore I would have needed to get out of bed just for some movement even if that was to the sofa. Things I have found useful to have to hand are:

• extra long phone charger in bedroom and living room
• tv remotes
• a few Muslin cloths
• hair band
• kindle
• cereal bars
• bottles of water
• tissues.

Baskets in bedroom and lounge that has:

• nappies
• nappy sacks
• wipes
• spare clothes eg vest and baby grow
• nappy rash cream
• Muslins again!

In your bathroom and good supply of pads for when the lochia is passed.

If you are going to stay in bed for 5 days please make sure you have cone compression stockings even if you have a natural delivery. You might swell to loose the excess water and these will help massively. I didn’t have any swelling in pregnancy and then had loads for 4/5 days after. I have compression socks and they are helping.

Good luck

I’d go mental with 5 days in bed let alone 15 days in/on/around it! What for?!

That seems a bit keen. Barring physical complications, I don't think that many days in bed would be good for your mental health tbh.

I had to move my bedside cabinet to fit the next to me crib in beside the bed. So nothing was 'essential' in the end,! Phone charger is useful though.

Some form of dim/dimmable lighting (like a 3 setting touch lamp or GroEgg) for nighttime feeds without blinding yourself.

Water bottle that you can open/close with one hand.

Snacks. I had m&ms and hobnobs to 'reward' myself for getting through each night

I would try to get some favourite foods in the house. Snacks, fruit, nice ready meals.

I did 4 days on hospital post birth and had a midwife visit the first morning i was home. I'd been so looking forward to my own bed and she made me feel like i did something wrong by being awake but in my bed with the baby on day 5.

Anyway, stuff I'd recommend... a water bottle, SNACKS (preferably ones which can be opened and consumed with 1 hand), tv remote, book/kindle, phone charger. It also massively helped me having a partner who could bring me meals and even chop up food so i could eat one handed. And a muslin nearby was handy... mopped up spills either from the baby or me with my aformentioned one handedness! Poor kid defo had bits of food dropped on her more than once...

It's a handy way of avoiding the in laws though...I think 2 weeks in bed is a bit much, I'd have gone mad plus I missed coffee so needed to go out for a decent flat white.

It's handy to have things like hand cream, lip balm, hair ties, phone charger around - I found a notebook and pen was useful as we made a note of feeds and nappies for the first few weeks.

Sounds like a perfect recipe for a DVT

Lansinoh nipple cream
Muslins for leaky boobs
Camera
Front opening PJs
Baby cellular blankets
Water, snacks

Then just do lots of skin to skin

That sounds like strange advice to me.. unless you have a particularly difficult birth and recovery there is no need to stay by the bed for 15 days! I'd have cracked up. I was out with baby buying shoes for toddler when baby was 3 days old..