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Hospital bag question

mitchipmitchip member
in November 2024 Moms
I’m not packing my bags yet but I’m seeing a lot of posts on various media of checklists and I have what may be a stupid question: 

how often do you have to change your nursing bra? I will wear the same bra a few days in a row (I only wear it to my desk job and it comes off when o get home). 

All these lists say to bring multiple nursing bras and I don’t understand why. I know leaking happens but isn’t that what the little nipple pads are for? 
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Re: Hospital bag question

  • etnyahetnyah member
    I’ve only ever brought one nursing bra to the hospital. Both times I stayed just over 24 hours, and I only wore a hospital gown while there anyway so the bra was just for going home in. I plan on doing the same this time. If you think you’ll prefer wearing regular clothes in the hospital, including a bra, maybe bring two? But that would be just in case you end up with a prolonged stay, you don’t need to change your nursing bra more often than a regular bra. 

    Your milk won’t even “come in” to the point of leaking until 2-5 days after birth anyway. And even then, the constant leaking milk phase only lasts a few weeks (3-8) while your supply adjusts to your baby. After that you’ll barely even need the nipple pads. It’s smart to have them on hand just in case you go longer without being able to nurse or pump, but if your plan is to mainly nurse/pump, that shouldn’t happen regularly anyway since it can hurt your supply. 
    DS born 2/18/2019
    DD born 4/1/2023
    Baby #3 EDD 11/21/2024
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  • mitchipmitchip member
    Thank you! That's what I needed to know.  I'm a 'bra when necessary' person so I'll only bring one. 

    Did you collect any colostrum in the later weeks of your pregnancy? Does that make a difference to how soon your milk supply comes in? 
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  • etnyahetnyah member
    You’re welcome! I’m also a “bra when necessary” person, can’t stand them. I mostly wear nursing tanks when nursing/camis with a shelf bra when not.

    I never collected colostrum before birth (or after). I think that might be a new trendy thing, it wasn’t ever something anyone did or talked about even with my last baby and now I see people talking about it in all the breastfeeding fb groups.

    I don’t know much about it, but from my understanding the goal is to maybe induce birth naturally and try to jump start your milk supply, maybe increase it if you’re nervous about having a low supply? There doesn’t really seem to be any research or evidence on it working though, but I don’t think it can hurt so it’s probably just a personal preference thing. I’m not going to do it this time either, I hate pumping with a passion and will avoid it when I can lol.
    DS born 2/18/2019
    DD born 4/1/2023
    Baby #3 EDD 11/21/2024
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  • MrsCaliRNMrsCaliRN member
    I brought one nursing bra and stayed in the hospital 12-24 hrs post-delivery w all 3 kids. I prefer wearing a bra under my hospital gown because my boobs are huge and are all over the place if I don’t and they’re super-sensitive, too. Also, the bra does help support bigger chests when breastfeeding (instead of having to literally hold your boob in your hand LOL).
    I’m just planning to pack a nursing bra and a mini-style dress to go home in. I’ll proudly wear my hospital undies stuffed full of pads under that. 
    I personally like to pump one breast while I feed from the other. If you don’t want to do all of that, I at least recommend having a cup or something to catch any let down from the non-feeding breast. It feels like such a waste to let the other boob just leak into a nursing pad. Also want to add that pumping during the early days to store colostrum will prob lead to overproducing. It happened to me with my first and led to a lot of discomfort when baby boy was done feeding before I was “empty” or if he happened to sleep for a longer stretch than expected. 

    Me: 31         DH: 34
    Married 11/09/2013
    LO#1: LMP 09/14/2014  BFP 10/15/2014  EDD 06/24/2015  DS Born 06/14/2015
    LO#2: LMP 09/18/2016  BFP 10/19/2016  EDD 06/27/2017 DD Born 06/27/2017
    LO#3: LMP 05/16/2018  BFP 06/18/2018  EDD 02/20/2019

      
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  • cornichonmamcornichonmam member
    edited August 2024
    One to two should be fine for the hospital. I think I ended up with 4 total. Just bring some nursing pads, I leaked loads and from months and months. My favourite are the lansinoh ones because they have the gel in them like a nappy so they can hold a lot of liquid.

    I expressed colostrum with both of mine. I'd definitely recommend it. It's a great way to get in tune with how breastfeeding works before you've got to do it with a hungry baby. Mainly you'll learn how to hand express and you can go into hospital with some backup colostrum incase you can't feed them for any reason. My second had to have some because I'd had a hemorrhage I was too weak to hold him for a few hours. I was also really over due with both of mine so I was trying everything to go into labour. 😅
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  • cornichonmamcornichonmam member
    At the moment for my bag, im looking out for mini toiletries to take with me. Especially as it's summer holidays time and they are more easy to find.
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  • mitchipmitchip member
    Yes! The mini toiletries will be handy! 
    WalMart usually has a travel section with a bunch of minis year round. 

    Anybody have a handy checklist of things they actually used that they are planning to pack? 
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  • etnyahetnyah member
    @mitchip lol I plan on being very minimal this time because I hate lugging stuff around! But it all depends on what you prefer. 

    Some people like their own stuff: birthing gown, nursing friendly PJs for after delivery, their own pillow, nursing pillow, slippers (one pair for showering in and one pair for wearing around the room), a couple outfit changes for baby (one for photos, a couple different sizes in case baby is larger or smaller than newborn size). Some people prefer to use the hospital stuff and that’s definitely the camp I’m in. 

    Things I will bring for sure: fuzzy socks with grip soles, one going home outfit for baby and one for me (although it might just be what I’m wearing while going there) extra long phone charger, stroller fan (they’re great for delivery), kindle, my own toiletries. They give you everything you need for baby care, at least they do in the US: diapers, wipes etc, so no need to pack those. Same goes for postpartum pads and panties, so no need to pack underwear. 

    Your partner should bring PJs for themselves and an extra change of clothes, snacks etc. Last time, my husband got a horrible headache and it turns out the hospital can’t give out painkillers to partners since they’re not the patient. So this time he’s bringing some Tylenol too. He felt so silly complaining about a headache while I was literally in labor but I mean… a headache is a headache. I don’t want him to be in pain just because I’m in worse pain!
    DS born 2/18/2019
    DD born 4/1/2023
    Baby #3 EDD 11/21/2024
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  • mamahen521mamahen521 member
    At one of my L&D classes the lactation consultant gave out a list of “extras” to add to your bag. They included:
    hair ties, flip flops, earplugs or a sound machine, makeup remover wipes, baby book to write in fresh memories, an extra empty bag for take-home items, phone charger, and baby outfits in different sizes. 
    Report Reply
  • mitchipmitchip member
    These are all great. Thank you! 
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