What to pack for hospital:
For Baby:
- Newborn and size 0-3 onesies as some babies don’t fit in newborn
- Swaddle if you want your own, hospital will provide blanket
- Hat, onesie, swaddle & props if wanted for pics
- Baby socks & mittens
- Extra swaddle or blanket if you have a pet at home
For you & SO:
- Mini Speaker and playlist for labor, makes room soo much more pleasant
- Long phone charger and portable charger
- Nightlight so you can feed without turning on overhead lights
- Baby sound machine to drown out hospital noises while trying to sleep
- Comfortable warm robe, or sweater to place over hospital gown
- Nursing Bra
- Slipper socks
- Flip flops for shower
- Toiletries for shower
- Hair ties and brush
- Chapstick, makeup for photos
- Organic Coconut Oil, natural nipple cream, safe for baby to eat (unlike what hospital provides)
- Prenatal vitamins
- Going home outfit
- Gatorade packets for water as you will get dehydrated
- Snacks: protein & granola bars, fruit, crackers
- Washable overnight bag
- Extra overnight bag filled with gift baskets for nurses and doc, one to labor floor and one to night floor since staff is different. I filled mine with healthy snacks and candy. My 1st born my MIL brought two jars of m&m’s – nuts and no nuts pink and blue since we didn’t know what we were having. I will use this extra bag to take home the supplies the hospital provides.
Corona specifics:
- Trash bag for car seat to carry into hospital, bring it in when you first get admitted. Can be used for dirty laundry on way out.
- Car seat cover so you can cover baby as you exit hospital since they won’t wear a mask
- Your own masks for you and SO, they might be more comfortable than the hospital ones
- Disinfectant wipes for your phones and overnight room
- There most likely won’t be hospital photographers so I am going to pack my mini Tripod to snap a few photos of the 3 of us without having to bother nurses
Items to buy for baby that you will need right away…
- Baby thermometer
- 100% petroleum jelly
- Infant Tylenol
- Gripe water (good for gas we used this a lot)
- Baby wipes (we like honest)
- New born and size one diapers with pee line! (pampers)
- Travel Poo bags
- Swaddle blankets
- Diaper pail and bags
- Diaper bag
- Changing pad travel and home
- Pacifiers
- Baby shampoo (I like honest, babyganics, and Shea butter coconut)
- Baby bath tub
- Onesies that zip you don’t want to be doing 10 snaps at 3am, size newborn and 0-3
- Bassinet
- Baby lounger; somewhere to put baby down while you shower, eat, etc
- Baby Bottles
- Breast Pump
Items to buy for you leading up to delivery…
- Hospital will give you pads but they don’t have wings, get one pack of large and light day pads for long term healing.
- Motrin
- Colace
- Witch Hazel pads
- Drink Red Raspberry leaf tea
- Dates – Women who eat 6 dates a day for the last 4 weeks leading up to due date are significantly more dilated and more likely to:
- Have intact membranes upon admission to the hospital
- Go into labor spontaneously
- Avoid pitocin
- And have a shorter first phase of labor
- Nursing bras – I wore mine through pregnancy also
