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November 2011 Moms
Supplies to have after baby arrives????
Does anyone have suggestions of what I should have on hand after baby arrives/delivery? trying to be prepared
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Supplies to have after baby arrives????
Surprise BFP# 5 - 9/2/16 - Due 5/13/17
For you:
Tucks pads (aka hemmoroid pads, to place inside your underwear, it helps with the swelling and is soothing)
A Peri bottle (my hospital let me take one home, but it is like a squirt bottle you can dilute your urine with while peeing to take away the sting)
Maxi Pads
Demoplast Spray (you can buy it in the first aid section and you spray it on your genitals for relief)
For Baby:
Alcohol Wipes for belly button care, you can buy the pre moistened one which are super easy to use
Mylicon, or other gas relief drops that are homeopathic
Soft wash clothes or a sponge for the first few baths until the umbilical cord falls off.
I am sure there is more, but I am sick and so is DS so we all slept like crap last night and I am exhausted. My brain is not working right.
This concerns me. You are NOT supposed to do anything to the umblical cord stump. Should it start to look infected (red, pus-like fluid oozing from it), you are to call the doctor and let them direct you as to how to care for it at that point.
We always used alcohol (just a little on the end of a q-tip) with our older two girls. No issues for us.
Anyways, in addition to the post-partem and baby supplies I stocked up on toilet paper, paper towels, napkins, paper plates and all our bath/ shower supplies. I REALLY don't want to have to run out to get things like that. (Oh and light bulbs too!)
You are mistaken. You are supposed to clean around it.
https://www.americanpregnancy.org/firstyearoflife/umbilicalcord.htm
It REALLY concerns me that you aren't planning to care for your baby's umbilical stump. If you had ever seen a child with an umbilical infection, you would understand how important it is.
Research has yielded conflicting results about what is best, alcohol a few times a day or plain soap and water a few times a day however, NO ONE disputes, except for you apparently, that keeping it clean and dry is ESSENTIAL.
Everyone should follow the advice of their pediatrician about what is best. Ignoring it until it looks infected is a profoundly BAD option.
Some supplies I was glad to have last time, that I haven't seen yet:
An inflatable donut pillow (especially nice for the ride home).
Lanolin for nipples (if breast feeding)
Quick, easy to grab nutritious snacks
Baby nail clippers if you have really good hand-eye coordination or baby nail file if you don't. Those suckers are sharp and grow quick!
My hospital discharge paperwork says not to touch it.
As you can see from this article taken from BabyCenter.com, our pediatrician brought us up to speed with the current recommendations. I would have quoted the same info from the Mayo Clinic, however this article has it worded better.
"As for the time-honored practice of swabbing the stump with rubbing alcohol, the waters have become murky. To prevent infection, your doctor or midwife will swab the cord with dye or another antiseptic when she clamps and cuts the cord. And for at-home care afterward, healthcare practitioners have long recommended cleaning the base of the stump with a cotton swab or gauze pad dipped in a little bit of rubbing alcohol once or twice a day.
Many pediatricians still support that practice, but others now suggest that it's more effective to let the cord dry naturally. That's because a 1998 study by the Hamilton Health Sciences Corporation in Ontario, Canada, found that untreated cords healed in eight days, while it took ten days for alcohol-swabbed cords to fall off. (None of the 1,800 newborns in the study developed an infection.)"
Here's the link if you're interested in reading the whole article.
https://www.babycenter.com/0_caring-for-your-newborns-umbilical-cord-stump_127.bc
So you need not be concerned because I have done my homework. Thank you!
Our pedi also advised us to use alcohol on the stump last time
~Working Mom~Breastfeeding Mom~Cloth Diapering Mom~BLW Mom~
Blog - No Longer on the DL ~ The Man Cave
Shawn and Larissa
LO #1 - Took 2 years and 2 IVFs ~ DX - severe MFI mild PCOS homozygous MTHFR (a1298c)
LO #2 - TTC 7 months, surprise spontaneous BFP!
I think it's kind of funny that this has turned into an argument about umbilical stump care. We were advised to use alcohol and the stump fell off at day 7, so that everything went as expected. It seems like we were also told not to get it wet when bathing - sponge bathes until the stump fell off. I seem to remember that they sent us home with the alcohol wipes from the hospital.
As for what to have on had for after baby:
-Super absorbent maxi pads
-Tucks
-Ibuprofen
-Colace
-Granny panties
-Some stuff that will likely be provided by the hospital: Dermablast, ice packs, peri bottle
-Super comfie clothes
-nipple cream
-possibly gel soothers for nipples
-easy to prepare and eat food
-I like to have the Cottonelle moist wipes
For baby:
-sleepers
-diapers
-wipes
-possibly alcohol swabs
~Working Mom~Breastfeeding Mom~Cloth Diapering Mom~BLW Mom~
Blog - No Longer on the DL ~ The Man Cave
Shawn and Larissa
LO #1 - Took 2 years and 2 IVFs ~ DX - severe MFI mild PCOS homozygous MTHFR (a1298c)
LO #2 - TTC 7 months, surprise spontaneous BFP!
I am a FTM so its interesting to read everyones different advice. Our pedi and childbirth class said to avoid alcohol swabs and to just clean with warm water. We were also told that that the new school of though that submerged baths are ok for the umbilical cord (and they will even give the first one in the hospital)and the only reason to delay is if a circumscision is healing. So many opinions my head spins half the time!!
ITS A BOY!!!! Born 11/13/11 BFP #4: 10/29/12 edd 7/11/12
Me too!
We had depends and maxi pads for me and I got a peri bottle from the hospital. That was it as far as extra supplies aside from comfy clothes and lots of food that is easy to make! Oh yeah, and laundry soap and lots of it because you do a LOT of baby laundry those first few days (at least we did because we had a spitter!)
For baby we had diapers, sleepers and wipes and that was about it. In regards to the umbilical chord stump, we also were told to avoid alcohol wipes and that submerged baths were ok. They even did a submerged bath as her first bath before she was 24 hours old! We just watched it to make sure that there was no infection. Her stump was gone before a week old.
Daughter #1 - February 12, 2010
natural m/c March 11, 2011 at 8 1/2 weeks
Daughter #2 - January 11, 2012
Ectopic pregnancy discovered November 6, 2012 at 6 weeks
Daughter #3 - January 19, 2014
Started our exploration into the world of international adoption June 2012. We have no idea what this is going to look like but we are excited to find out!
I have overnight maxi pads that have been working fine for me. at this point (1 week postpartum) they are probably overkill. The nurses told me to take ibuprofen for pain. I also have the cottonelle wipes.
Other things you might need
Nipple pads for when your milk comes in. I didn't realize that breast milk stains
diaper cream. my baby already has diaper rash. I can't wait until he can fit into the cloth diapers we have.
ps, we were also told to leave his stump alone and that we could submerge it during baths. at this point it is completely dried out, but has yet to fall off.
I have had 2 babies, on my 3rd now....hospital pedi and my reg. pedi have always advised me NO care is needed for cord stump. So I've never touched them and they healed just fine. GL!
I'm in the process of stocking up myself. I skipped the Tucks pads though. They are kind of pricey and are really just pads soaked in witch hazel. Instead, I am going to soak tampons in witch hazel and place them in the freezer or fridge. Witch hazel is super inexpensive and I thought about buying a package of round, cotton pads from the cosmetics department which are also cheap. Our birthing class gave a list that included breast milk storage bags as a necessary item from the start of you are breastfeeding. Not sure about this?? I'm meeting with a lactation specialist soon and will ask more questions then.