Hospital bag snacks

[magd2901]

Hi all!

On the lists I’ve seen for hospital bags, taking snacks is recommended. I’m having an elective section so more for afterwards / during night feeds etc.

Is there anything you would recommend taking please? I’m concerned about things melting if it’s as hot as it was last week on the assessment ward (although not due until September so will hopefully be cooler)

thanks :)

I bought loads of deliciously Ella peanut butter oat bars, they were great! They come individually wrapped.

All things you like or might fancy. I took bottles of water, small juice cartons (good for quick sugar), favourite crisps, favourite biscuits, Haribo of similar sweets, mints. I also took carrot and cucumber sticks but got told off my a midwife who told me to eat less cucumber and more chocolate (I ignored her and stuck with what I fancied!)

Flapjacks were also good too - they were my go to during breastfeeding.
i also took some packet soups and porridges (the type with can be made with water from a kettle) but never stayed long enough to use them.

Nuts
Crisps
Haribo/wine gums
Cheese strings/babybel
Beef jerky
Mr Kipling cake slices or the like, the individually wrapped ones
One of those little squirty squash things to add to the ever present jug of water

I was starving in hospital after having DD, was induced so lots of waiting around and I kept missing meals due to checks or procedures. Missed all meals on the day she was born at 6.30pm then got given 2 slices of toast afterwards which didn't even touch the sides. The postnatal ward I was on had a kitchen where you had to make your own breakfast which is hard when you're hobbling around after a 2nd degree tear and trying to carry a newborn. Luckily after mithering everyone by asking every 15 minutes when I would be discharged they decided to let me out just after 8am so I jumped in a taxi and sent DH a message that I was on the way home and to sort me out some food for when I got in. MIL was alerted and arrived 5 mins after I did with a giant latte and a slab of chocolate brownie 😀

cereal bars are a good shout, I’m not a super sweet fan so tried to pack things that were a bit more savoury (mostly crisps/mini popcorn/ritz crackers/mini boxes of cereal to nibble) also packed some squeezy squash as their water can be a bit warm and grim on its own. Most recent dc I had there was a lot of bottled water though which was great!

Flapjack bars were good and like cereal biscuit bars for energy. My husband made loads of sandwiches but I didn't fancy them after birth as they were warm 😆 jelly babies, lucozade sport and a squeezy squash were also used.
If you end up asking for an epidural then quickly eat something first; I didn't know you couldn't eat after and I was starving

The hospital was roasting and it really put my off eating but I did take a flask of cold water which was a life saver! The snacks I did take are just things I enjoy eating and some things for dh too.

Thanks everyone for the great ideas! My brain has completely gone to mush so these are brilliant :)

Don't forget to take some snacks that'll help digestion, hospital food tends to clog you up which is the last thing you'll need! I've always good my husband to bring in a bit of salad and fruit post baby was they're better fresh and had things like cereal bars and nice biscuits and sweets with me. Lucozade sport is also good in the squirty bottles.

Sweets (jelly babies, Percy pigs etc), fruit juice, cereal bars, fruit (grapes etc). Nothing too dry because gas and air will make your mouth super dry - they were shovelling shortbread biscuits down my neck when I was in the pushing phase and it was like trying to eat sand!

Chocolate raisins and dried apricots help with going to the toilet after. Make sure you get a mcds breakfast brought in the following morning too

I had an elective c section too, and took ritz crackers (the individual packets), nakd bars and a bag of dried apricots as I was worried about constipation! We didn’t end up going up to the ward until gone 11pm and all I’d eaten for the 24 hours before that was 2 slices of toast which I’d vomited back up so I was ravenous. Fortunately Costa was still open so I had the best toastie I’ve ever eaten!

Make sure you take a water bottle with a straw built in so you can drink while flat in bed. Good luck!

Some of those individually wrapped flapjacks. Had no idea just how hungry I would be when I had my last baby (I had missed lunch and the evening meal in hospital and it was late), so I would definitely load up on snacks. Pack some for your birth partner too.

I felt nauseous the whole time and could only eat things that I could normally tolerate while I was having morning sickness.
Flapjacks, sour bear yoyos and cucumber.

Lucozade sport is a my must have to help give me energy! When i was expecting my first lots of women recommend this and glucose sweet/tablets

After my section I found stuff like harribos handy to have close by for a quick sugar dose. Cereal bars were good too

Oh and don't be afraid to tell them your partner is popping out for takeaway. I sent mine for a chippy as had missed a few meals and it was absolutely divine, the midwifes weren't officially meant to let him back in but were really reasonable when I said I needed it. Snacks you can pack just don't hit the same way 🤣

Big bags of haribo and bottles of lucozade! I really needed the sugar.

Don’t forget snacks for your other half aswell….mine sat scoffing all mine and even when my hospital meal would arrive he’d be there like “oooo what are we on today?” Like it was a bloody tapas sharing platter 🤣

So many fantastic ideas! I’ve been out today and bought some stuff, including for DH- I’d forgotten about snacks for him. Thank you :)

Grapes! Helps with the bowels too 🙈 (isn't being a mummy glamorous!
Flajacks
Crisps/pretzels
Sweets
Still isotonic drink, I was so thirsty after DD2 and downed 4!

Flapjack! I ate a whole tray of Tesco's Miss Molly value flapjack overnight after both of my DSs were born. Particularly valuable for DS1 when I'd been in labour for 15 hours, didn't really eat at all in labour and missed all meals as he was born at 7pm. I still think fondly of that flapjack years later...

I wished I taken more ‘proper’ non snacky food-like a sandwich or fruit or something.

Fruit is a good shout. I ended up on a magnesium sulphate drip and could have no fluid for 12 hours then only 25ml of water per hour for the next 12 hours. My partner got sent out for 'wet fruit' luckily the M&S in my hospital had watermelon slices!

I lived on Cadbury's raisin cereal bars. Delicious. Also fruit gums and Haribo. Yum! DH brought himself pasties and crisps. Neither of which seemed palatable once contractions got going.