Hospital Bag

[Santatizer]

I'm just looking at the list of things to take in my hospital Bag and feeling like I will need a suitcase ! Dressing gowns alone take up tons of room. I can't remember at all what I did last time as it was 14-15 years ago. What are people planning? One bag for everything? One bag for you and one for the baby? What sort of bag? Any ideas from people (especially if you've done it recently!) would be gratefully received .

I had a weekend bag with wheels last time. It fit everything needed for me and our twins for a 1 night stay, if I'd needed extra I would have had dh bring me it.
You can get thin linen dressing gowns, they take up less room and are better for a hot hospital too.

Thanks this is really helpful :-)

I had a small cabin size suitcase with room on either side so one side for baby gros vests nappies hats and then the other side for myself. It was summer and hospitals are usually warm anyway so I had a really lightweight dressing gown some pyjamas and pads and toiletries. I then separately had a small weekend bag for labour with my birthing nightdress, babies first outfit, a book earphones phone and charger and tens machine. Then for going him my dh brought in my clothes because clothes and shoes to go home in wouldn't have fit in.

I've found I'm packing more than I would have done due to covid and the limited visiting/DH not being allowed to leave and return. So I feel I'm constantly going "well, I would take 3 bodysuits, but maybe I should pack 6 just in case..." I've currently got a holdall that's pretty full, and will probably have a second one by the time we also pack food/snacks and DH's clothes. I've not been in yet but I'm hoping I've picked the right strategy...!

I wouldn't bother taking a dressing gown, the post-natal ward is the hottest place!!

I had a bag for me and a bag for my baby. Organised outfits for baby into IKEA sandwich bags and put a sticky label on the front detailing what they were, e.g., sleep suits in one, muslins, size 0 nappies in one, size 1 nappies in another.

I've got a bag for me with some bits for my other half too like a spare t shirt, snacks and phone charger, and paracetamol in case of headaches. Then baby bag just with her clothes and bits in. In my bag I've got a long cardi rather than a dressing gown as heard it can get hot on the ward, also got flip flops that I can walk around in and shower in if needed. Lots of underwear, various bras depending on how puffy I am haha, trackies and leggings and loose tops. Then I've got a huge toiletry bag with all things for a shower, lip balm, hair ties, cooling spray, hair brush etc, basically anything I would need to spend a couple of nights as comfortable as possible. Some chunky maternity pads and also a long phone charger, I've optimistically packed an ipad and headphones to watch Netflix on but unsure if it will get much use haha! I'm also taking a cool bag with ice blocks full of squeezey bottles of water (I'll also reuse one of these as a peri bottle to use when I go for a wee, saves spending a tenner on an actual peri b day bottle as this will do the same), lucozade sport and lucozade original. Lots of snacks and wine gums to keep my energy up. Hand sanitiser and hand cream. Sure I've forgotten something but these are the main things I'm taking! Oh toothbrush and toothpaste haha!

Thanks loads, this is brill!

I found it so stressful packing my bags first time round, but online lists are so helpful. As for the dressing gown you should buy a flannel jersey type material one that covers you up but is far thinner than a normal fleece type dressing gown. Hospitals are so warm anyway so a thin dressing gown that takes up less space does fine. I have a set of wee travel organiser pouches then and in one i have all my pads, breast pads and all my post partum stuff in. Then another is filled with underwear, nursing bras, socks etc. Then I have a wash bag with all my shower bits, oils, creams, toothbrush etc. Then obviously my clothes 2xpajamas, 2xnighties, change of clothes, slippers. And then I have a big bath towel packed. One of the travel pouches is also filled with a few things for hubby, toothbrush, deoderant, clean boxers, socks, tshirt etc. All this fits in a cabin sized bag you would take on a plane.

I then have a seperate bag for baby, its like a duffle hold all you would take to the gym size. Have found baby needs far less than me, just nappies, wipes, bibs, muslins, swaddles, bibs, blanket and have a dummy and nappy cream that probably wont be used. Clothes wise I have packed 5xsleepsuit, 5xvest, socks, scratch mits, hats, cardigan and a going home outfit.

I then have a seperate bag like a reuseable shopping bag but a bit fancier with snacks, drinks packed in. Also have a pillow.from home quished in the top of this bag lol!

You'll be grand , im sure the midwifes have probably seen mums come with everything bar the kitchen sink lol.

I had a little suitcase for me and a similar sized bag for baby.

One trick is to get some packs of food storage bags from Ikea- you put individual things in those and squash all the air out before sealing them, and then label what’s in them at the top so your DH doesn’t have to make a mess trying to find what you need. I colour coded mine, so turquoise was mine, yellow was baby. Post it notes for stuff you still need to add. I also made a checklist of everything going into each bag and ticked it off when I put it in, so when we were getting to ready to leave for the hospital we could look at it and just throw the last few bits in.

This is a message I sent to my friend about my packing list in the month between me having my baby and her having hers-

HOSPITAL BAG - WHAT I ACTUALLY USED

For Me

Main Bag
• Nightshirt x 2 - yep but only wore 1 as I was only in 1 night. Def take one which buttons all the way so you don’t have to take it off to feed
• Pyjamas - nope for above reason.
• Dressing gown - yep- they recommend lots of skin to skin so was nice to wrap around both of us when he was on me
• Clothes for travel - yep, big comfy joggers and sweater all the way.
• Knickers - would recommend Primark “invisible” - soft, seamless and stretchy
• Nursing bras x 2 - nope, was braless most of the time and wore a crop top type bra to go home
• Socks - yep big fluffy snuggly socks, my feet were freezing
• Flip flops - yep, hospital showers are grim, even if you do have your own bathroom
• Slippers - yep, hospital floors are also grim and bloody cold
• Head band - yep, you deffo don’t want hair in your face
• Towels - yep, I got big black towels from Primark, did the job. The bleeding doesn’t stop so you want something dark for after showering
• Flannel - nope
• Breast pads - nope took a few days for breast milk to come in so leakage wasn’t an issue (at the time. It certainly is now...)
• Maternity pads - Yep, take the pads, take alllllllll the pads. Don’t bother with the slim ones either, you want to bring out the big guns. Post partum bleeding is no f**king joke- it is red, runny, and there’s lots of it! There’s a time for ultra-slim pads. This isn’t it.
• Maternity mats x 3 - Nope, I took them in case my water broke in the car. It didn’t.
• Laundry bag - yep. Some of my clothes got fairly disgusting.
• Power bank & cable - yep to charge phone and speaker
• iPad & charger - nope.
• Bluetooth speaker - yep, was really nice to be able to listen to my own music during labour. Had my classical piano playlist on repeat for about 6 hours!
• Bubbles - didn’t open them til we got home in the end.

Handbag
• Maternity Notes - obvs
• Glasses - yep
• Glasses cloth - yep
• Make up - nope, didn’t have any visitors in hosp and tbh even if we had I don’t think I’d have given a damn about my appearance.
• Make up brushes/spray - nope as above
• Earphones - yep, listened to music and my hypnobirthing labour app in the car and in hosp. Really helped me to block everything else out and stay focussed. Wireless earphones so you don’t have to take them off when getting changed.
• Sleep mask - yep, except I had to keep lifting it up when I needed to use my phone to time contractions which was a bit of a pain
• Lip Balm - yep, G&A made my lips really dry
• Face mist - yep but with my skincare stuff as it’s also a toner
• Essential oils - nope, wanted to use them but never got round to it
• Blood test kit (for GD) - nope haven’t bothered testing since either, which I should definitely have done by now 😕
• Hairbrush - yep
• Comb - yep
• Kirby Grips - yep
• Anker & cable - yep as before
• Snacks - yep!! Had drumstick lollies and gummy sweets, you’d be amazed how much the sugar hit helps with the pain as well as an energy boost. Also had lucozade.
• Water bottle - yep, take the kind with a built in straw, between the G&A/noise I was making my mouth and throat got really dry.
• WISH I’D TAKEN - some throat sweets or lozenges, same reason as above

Toiletries
• Contact Lenses - yep
• Solution - yep
• Deodorant - yep, using Mitchum unscented, apparently scented stuff makes it harder for babies to smell breast milk
• Earplugs - yep!! Essential when I needed a snooze.
• Shampoo - yep
• Shower gel - yep, using unscented shower gel, same reason as deodorant
• Shower puff - yep
• Toothbrush - yep
• Toothpaste - yep
• Epaderm - nope
• Toilet wipes - yep!! See again about post partum bleeding, life gets messy and loo roll just falls apart too easily and doesn’t really clean you properly, plus I had stitches after the episiotomy which meant more blood...
• Hand sanitiser - nope just used the stuff in the hospital. We keep it in the changing bag though.
• Hand cream - nope but I use it now, hands are really sore from washing them so much, especially where I have rings on
• Femfresh Wipes - nope just used the Andrex wipes
• Multi Gyn compresses (for foof)- not at the time but have used since
• Multi Mam compresses (for nips) - as above
• Nipple cream - yep, bf-ing can be rough at the start while you’re both figuring out what to do! Lansinoh is good stuff, I only bought the small tube and still haven’t used it all
• Stretch mark cream - nope, didn’t have stretch marks
• Nail file - yep

Skincare - yep to all, so glad I took this!! After getting God knows how much blood, sweat, tears, birthing pool water and newborn baby gunk on my face it felt so good to take 10 minutes to have a proper wash and look after myself. Really helped me feel human again.
• Make up Remover
• Cleanser
• Day Serum
• Day Cream
• Night Serum
• Night Cream

Medicines - yep to all (except antihistamines) but especially paracetamol and deflatine- they don’t always bring you pain relief straight away so it’s good to have your own, and nobody warned me about the gas and trapped wind after I’d given birth, holy lord...
• Thyroxine
• Ranitidine
• Vitamins
• Liquid Iron Sachets
• Paracetamol
• Ibuprofen
• Lactulose
• Antihistamines
• Deflatine

Other
• Tens Machine - yep, thank god for my tens machine! Have a practice with it beforehand so you know how to use it, the last thing you need is to have to read the instruction manual when you’re in labour...
• Spare batteries - nope didn’t need them
• Pillow - didn’t take one in the end but would have been handy, they only gave me one in the hospital which was flat as a pancake and DH had to use a rolled up jumper, poor bugger!
• Frozen colostrum - we forgot this would you believe, but still got it all in the freezer here, we add it to expressed milk for bottle feeds
• Car seat - yep, they won’t let you leave without it...
• Pram chassis - nope just carried him in the car seat
• Carrycot - nope as above

For DH
• Camping mat - yep, otherwise he’d have slept upright in the chair, not at all comfy
• Sleeping bag - yep took two, put one over the camping mat
• Pillow - forgot to take as before
• Clothes - obvs
• Snuggly zip hoody - yep he wore it during skin to skin cuddles when DS was on his chest.
• Deodorant - yep and to everything else below
• Toothbrush
• Mouthwash
• Shower gel
• Contact Lenses
• Earplugs
• Glasses
• Earphones & cable

For Baby

Main Bag
• Sleepsuit/Vest x 3 for day - didn’t use all these as we were only in one night but got through several of them even then!
• Sleepsuit/Vest x 3 for night - as above
• Going Home outfit - yep but LOL everything was huge... can’t believe I ever thought newborn stuff might be too small for him!
• Hats - yep
• Bibs - nope only really need them for bottle feeds
• Puffles - not worth taking, he is oblivious to soft toys
• Ewan - yep, where would we be without Ewan...
• Muslins - yep. You can never have too many
• Blanket - yep, we’d slept with it for a little while beforehand so it would smell like us
• Nappies - yep you have to have your own
• Sudocrem - nope
• Cotton wool - yep to wash all the gunge off his scalp, they don’t bathe him in the hospital and all the blood had dried in his hair...
• Aptamil bottles - nope but have used since

Changing Bag - didn’t use any of this in hosp but I do keep all that stuff in there...
• Changing Mat
• Nappies
• Water Wipes
• Nappy bags
• Clean Sleepsuit/vest
• Nappy Rash ointment

As well as...
• Anti-bacterial wipes
• Hand wipes
• Hand sanitizer
• Packet of tissues
• Clean muslins
• Bottle of Infacol (basically liquid deflatine for babies)
• Mum pouch, which has a clean strappy vest and long sleeve top (in case I leak on whatever I’m wearing), maternity pads, breast pads, paracetamol, deflatine, senocalm

@AngeloMysterioso very helpfull list, i'l be going off this myself 😂

I was just going to say don't bother with a dressing gown as it's hotter than the sun on the ward all year round 😂 I did take a big shirt to use as a cover-up though, took up much less space and I did use it a fair bit.

Just taking a weekend bag and that will do me and baby hospitals will try discharge you faster now and usually from delivery suite

Packed for both of us

9 nappies
2 vests
2 babygrows
Cardi
Mittens
Hat
Muslin

Coming home clothes me
Nightdress
Hairbrush
Snacks
Pads and tenna lady knickers
Charger
Blanket for baby