Baby due soon... Questions

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1. Baby due end June/Early July what do they wear? Nappy.... short sleeve babygrow vest? Then long sleeve sleepsuit?

Guessing they will be cold but not freezing so no need for pramsuit right?

2. Same q but for sleeping...

3. Plan to bottle feed, how much do they need?

• Also hospital said bring bottle & premade formula. Fine but how many of each, what if i need to wash & sterilise for next feed?

4. We live in a townhouse, bedroom is top floor, kitchen on ground, 2 floors down, ideally dont want to go down to kitchen every 2 hrs to prepare bottle etc. any tips? Can i prepare in advance.... hacks needed!

Thank you :)

Hey ... 4th time expecting here so thought I'd share some answers...

*Baby due end June/Early July what do they wear? Nappy.... short sleeve babygrow vest? Then long sleeve sleepsuit?
Guessing they will be cold but not freezing so no need for pramsuit right?

Yes this plus blankets and probably a cardigan/hoodie for on top when out unless its a hot day.

Same q but for sleeping...

So yea same but you'll either be using a blanket or a sleeping bag. You should get a room temp thing with guidance on what to wear - you might have got it in your bounty pack?

Plan to bottle feed, how much do they need?
Also hospital said bring bottle & premade formula. Fine but how many of each, what if i need to wash & sterilise for next feed?

They're all different you should probably start with 2/3oz every couple of hours but just go off their cues and you will seen be a pro at knowing how much they need and when to up it. I breastfed but had to top up a poorly baby in hospital and at first we just had to start with 1oz every hour to get her going. So it all just depends.

You can buy the premade formula bottles with teats that are single use for hospitl so don't need to be sterilised. Have a look online for hospital pack formula bottles.

We live in a townhouse, bedroom is top floor, kitchen on ground, 2 floors down, ideally dont want to go down to kitchen every 2 hrs to prepare bottle etc. any tips? Can i prepare in advance.... hacks needed!

I have no advice for this other than maybe a perfect prep machine in your room using water from bathroom?

Sometimes on MN I get so depressed at how awful people are to each and how they criticise and try to drag people down. And then I read such a helpful, upbeat lovely post like this. I don't know why, @Fairy45, but this has made me a bit teary. 💓
Hmm, time for bed, I think! 🙂

Aww thanks! We are all in this together aren't we got to look out for each other 💗
Hope you get a good sleep!

1. Very much depends on temperature if warm just don't include vest. If cooler then a cardi or light layer

1. Again temp dependent but gro website has a useful what do I put baby in chart for temp. Ideally rooms want to be 17 degrees for babies to sleep......unlikely in summer!

1. Babies tummies are small to begin with and how much formula you give will depend on birth weight. First day it's not a lot at all 1oz or less per feed. Then increases. With the premade bottles with teets as the other pp said but these also have to be thrown away after a feed or 1 hour open so there is a lot of wastage. For hospital go for smaller bottles. Again I bf so others can help you out on exact amounts but also just ask the midwives 🙂

1. Guidelines are not to prepare in advance and you can't leave formula made up at room temp for more then 2 hours anyway due to bacteria risk so you can either use prepare at bedtime but this would get expensive or you could do what you would for going out. Flask of boiling water and the amount of powder for going out already upstairs along with sterilised bottle. You can get some nifty things for out and about too which might be handy for you.

Hey here's some of my answers, basically echoing fairy 💓

( I just had my third baby)

1. Baby due end June/Early July what do they wear? Nappy.... short sleeve babygrow vest? Then long sleeve sleepsuit?

*Yes I would get a pack of long sleeve newborn size and then a few packs maybe 3 of newborn with short sleeves
Then you put a babygrow over the top of that
And a cardigan if you need it
Soft bib, so get at least 15 of these *

Guessing they will be cold but not freezing so no need for pramsuit right?

2. Same q but for sleeping...

Same answer, but not the cardigan and not the bib. Long sleeve vest maybe for night if your home isn't warm enough for the baby

3. Plan to bottle feed, how much do they need?

• Also hospital said bring bottle & premade formula. Fine but how many of each, what if i need to wash & sterilise for next feed? *

Buy 4 boxes (16 bottles) of pre made milk with the teats I think they are called hospital packs. I've also with my middle child made him formula at hospital using their parents kitchen as my son was using a specialist milk which wasn't available pre made. I am a fan of Hipp milk because it's organic and I agree with organic dairy as much as possible so we only also drink organic milk and butter etc in this house. Kendamil is really popular, too. This is also available pre made BUT I've seen on the groups I am using on FB there are often supply issues with getting these pre made. I was at Tesco this week (*i never to so don't know if this is a normal thing) but I saw the kendamil pre made hospital packs there? So could try Tesco. My friend just had her second baby and used Kendamil
But apparently it's a really frothy milk and a nightmare to make. I don't know as I only tried it once on my second son but he didn't tolerate it. My third baby is now using Hipp anti reflux milk, like my second son did. This isn't available pre made but you shouldn't need it in hospital. Trust me and buy 4 boxes so you are not having to ration the milk. Bring 2 boxes in your hospital bag and then keep 2 in the car and your husband can get them and bring them in to you at hospital if you stay there for more then a day and night.
I also recommend investing in Hakkas to catch your collostrum for the baby. I bought the traditional ones again this time and they were much better then the lady bug ones I also got so just stick with the normal ones is my advice
Also MAM 0-2 size dummy so the really tiny ones because that was a big help to me with my husband not being allowed at hospital over night

I would also suggest a separate bag for you and the baby and like making a little folded stack for an outfit so vest and w baby grow folded together so you can just pull them out to change your baby

Bring Muslins quite a few of them as babies are messy and also your boobs could be leaky and the Muslins are handy for gently drying yourself

I normally like to use as little chemicals as possible but I like the Johnson's baby all over body wipes or whatever they are called in the yellow packet the long one. Also very good for cleaning yourself and the baby too if they need a bit more then a plain wet wipe to refresh them.

And pack crocs as well. You don't want to have to walk around in trainers nor can you shower in slippers so crocs or flip flop (hard with compression socks to walk in) for shoes

Light weight, not fluffy dressing gown as you will melt if you have a heavy one on but will* *appreciate one to cover yourself up with as there are a lot of people there and it can feel a bit exposed going to the loo etc

And an extension lead because the plugs are so far behind the bed even 3 meter chargers for phones mean you can't really use it whilst it is charging
*

4. We live in a townhouse, bedroom is top floor, kitchen on ground, 2 floors down, ideally dont want to go down to kitchen every 2 hrs to prepare bottle etc. any tips? Can i prepare in advance.... hacks needed!

Buy two perfect prep machines. 1 downstairs and 1 upstairs
Bring a bottle of fresh water upstairs every night to replenish the tank of the one upstairs/ get water from the bathroom if you have new pipes and the water is drinking water (from the mains and not from a tank, that's really important. Bring up say 4/5 bottles sterilised with you so that you have enough to do the night feeds and just take them all down with you in the morning.
*

I really hope this helps I think I wrote too much sorry to bombard you

Baby is struggling with reflux so I am awake supervising her 😩 trying to stay awake by using Mumsnet

Good luck you'll be amazing xxx

Jesus its a messy essay I wrote

Also the milk they drink say 1-2 oz I would say when they are freshly born then by day 2 maybe 2 oz per feed

It doesn't matter really to start off with because the pre made bottles are usually 90 mls I think which is 3oz

You won't use a whole bottle to feed your baby initially as they will drink less then the bottle

So just expect to use about 8 -10 bottles per 24 hour period at hospital of the pre made formula

Which is why I said to get 4 boxes because that will cover you for about 48 hours xx

1. Normally babies need 1 more layer than you. Although it's a hot summer then just a vest may be enough or a romper. You can put 2 fingers on their chest to check how hot they are. My baby was born at the start of 2018 heatwave and barely wore sleepsuits until the Autumn she lived in this kind of thing. romper

1. Sleeping bags are great, 1.5 tog for summer time and come with a guide on what to wear dependant on the temperature of the room.

guide

1. I'd buy a couple of packs of ready made formula bottles, Aptamil do them and can get them in Boots. Sometimes your hospital provides them but they won't let you run out if you don't have enough.

1. I'd look into Perfect Prep for your bedroom rather than traipsing up and down stairs with a crying baby although obviously depends on the money situation. You could also use ready made formula over night, and have a bottle warmer and sterilised bottles upstairs so you don't have to get up.

Just had a baby a few months ago and i could have been you asked these questions.

1. Nappy.... short sleeve vest, baby gro at home. When out and about I pop a cardigan and a hat on with a blanket.

I'd still prob use a pramsuit for when you are out walking the baby in the pram but skip tbe blanket. Don't use the pramsuit in the car seat though.

2. sleeping. Vest, baby gro and then I use the sleeping bags. Tommee tippee do great ones that tell you what tog to use depending on temperature of room. I find the sleeping bags much less stressful that blanket at night as you don't worry about blanket going over baby's head. If it's very warm you can just have baby with vest and baby gro no blanket or sleeping bag.

3. you can buy premade bottles with disposable sterile teats in boots, tesco, Sainsburys, asda etc. I used sma and you can buy these in boxes of 6. Depending on how long you in plan for a bottle every 2 hours. Check if your hospital doenst supply formula mine did so Id be surprised if yours didn't.

4. I also live in 3 storey house. Get a 2 perfect prep machines, you can get them pretty cheap online second hand. Put on in kitchen for during the day and one landing on the top floor. Use this to make bottles. Bring up sterilised bottles to the top floor before bed. I suggest putting machine in landing as the making of bottles is a bit noisy.
   Alternatively you can use premade bottles but that choice is a bit expensive.
   I actually ended up just going to the kitchen to make up the bottles in after a few weeks as I found the walk downstairs helped wake me up a bit.

Make sure to have muslin cloths stashed everywhere it will help.

Oh and I love my groegg. Its a tempature sensing device my tommee tippee and it doubles as a soft light.

I have had two summer babies. A short sleeved vest with a baby grow and if it’s a cold night a cardigan. I found long sleeved vest really hard to get the baby grow over.

I just used a holey blanket at night if they were too cold dressed as above.

if you have a hot water cylinder don’t use the upstairs water. If you have a combo boiler it should be fine.
it’s easier to have things you need on each floor eg changing mat and stuff to save running up and down

You have got some good advice on this thread so far but another thing I would take to the hospital is some little hats. Apparently when baby is born they lose heat through their head. The hospital often give you a woolly hat that has been knitted by one of their volunteers but they do expect you to bring one.

I made a little changing station upstairs and downstairs so I could avoid running up and down the stairs.

I think your baby has to get to a certain weight before they can go in a baby sleeping bag so get a blanked with holes in too.

Oh yes changing stuff on each floor I've a nappy caddy and mat for living room then changing table and all in her room.

One tip as well was make sure when packing each caddy, change table or change bag put in a tub of nappy cream so u don't need to rely on moving the same tube around. I've bepanthan cream and the yellow cream ( starts with an M can't spell it)

Wish I brought flip flops or crocs to hospital I Brought slippers which were fine but would rather something else.
Ohh and hairbobbles somewhere handy.

x2 caddies. One upstairs one downstairs. Make sure it's full before bedtime so it's ready for night wakes and changes.

x2 perfect prep machines. One upstairs and one down. Life saver!

Don't bother taking bottles to hospital. Just take the pre made packs. Kendamil I found a nightmare and my baby wouldn't tolerate it.
She had cow&gate pre made. You can also buy aptamil and maybe a couple other brands. They're all much the same but you may find one suits you baby more than other and it was trial and error for the first few months.

June - one more layer than you is the rule of thumb.
Good luck, you'll be fab!!

I had DD end of last June (she was due early July). My tuppence:

1. What do they wear? Yep, we did nappy, short sleeved bodysuit and then babygrow. Plus cardigan outside. We didn't buy a pramsuit until the autumn. You'll want a hat and blanket for going home.
2. Same q but for sleeping... Overheating can lead to SIDS so better to err on side of caution to be cooler at night. We had a grobag swaddle and it had a guide on the back for what to wear underneath depending on room temp. Last year, for much of the summer, we did just nappy + bodysuit + growbag as it was so hot overnight.
3. Also hospital said bring bottle & premade formula. Fine but how many of each, what if i need to wash & sterilise for next feed? We combi fed later on but our NCT leader advised taking the boxes of 6 x ready made bottles + teats. The best advice we were given was to buy whatever formula is available in your nearest 24hr supermarket in case you ever run out in the middle of the night - for us it was Cow & Gate. They need approx 40ml (half a bottle) every 2hrs when newborn, so 3 or 4 of boxes should work for a couple of days stay. The teats are sealed and ready sterilised so no mess! They were a lifesaver for us when we had to unexpectedly start topping up.
4. We live in a townhouse, bedroom is top floor, kitchen on ground, 2 floors down, ideally dont want to go down to kitchen every 2 hrs to prepare bottle etc. any tips? Can i prepare in advance.... hacks needed!Thank you :) Buy a perfect prep machine for upstairs! 2mins for perfect temp milk and no need to trek downstairs.

Good luck! Summer babies are awesome :) One tip for you though - make sure you have a fan for labour / postnatal. Hospitals are hotter than the depths of Hades in the summer.

Woah, what on earth happened to my post?! 😫

Check with your hospital ours provided disposable sterilised bottles just needed to take ready made formula.

Honestly OP if you can afford them just buy the premise cartons of formula. So so so much easier. I used to keep some by the bed for night feeds.

Yes to the starter pack of formula / bottles for hospital.

My advice is ask hospital for very clear sheet detailing formula quantities per age. Ask your midwife now. I was unable to breast feed and suddenly realised I knew jack shit about formula quantities and nobody advised me properly as they were all so focussed on the breast feeding.

We live in a townhouse, bedroom is top floor, kitchen on ground, 2 floors down, ideally dont want to go down to kitchen every 2 hrs to prepare bottle etc. any tips? Can i prepare in advance.... hacks needed!

Yes you can prep in advance if you are bottle-feeding.

Just don't do too many. Make up bottles with sterilized water. You can add the formula to the bottle at the time you need it as long as you've pre-sterilised the bottles and kept the lid on. Then you can warm up the bottle if required.

You can get a bottle warmer and water bottle holder - Tommee Tippee do some good ones. They also do all sorts of gadgets but in my day the pre-organised bottles worked just as well (for me anyway).

www.tommeetippee.com/en-gb/shop/bottle-feeding