Must-Have Items Post Baby Delivery

From postpartum healing tips to your recovery checklist after giving birth, here’s what you need to know about postpartum recovery.

This post is for my future mommy’s out there. If you don’t plan on having any more kids or if you will never have kids-read no further. This post will not be pretty and may be harrowing for you to read.

If you’re going to be a mom. I wrote this for you.

Click here to download a PDF postpartum recovery checklist.

This post may contain affiliate links. Please see my full disclosure pol icy for details.

Click here to download a PDF postpartum recovery checklist.

Must Have Post Baby Items

Help your body heal

Help your perineum heal. Ice and spray warm water over the area before and after peeing to keep your urine from agitating torn skin. Try warm sitz baths. It’s important to stay regular. Eat fiber-rich foods, stool softeners, and don’t force anything. Acemenatophin will help alleviate the pain as well. Your doctor will probably prescribe you pain medication.

OUCH!

Hemorrhoids. Have you ever had them before? They are so uncomfortable and painful. When you are “pushing” your baby out, you will be pushing like you’re going to have a bowel movement. Labor will cause tremendous rectal pressure and you must be prepared for immediate relief. I recommend purchasing tucks and keeping them down there until healed replacing every time you toilet. I’ve read that freezing aloe vera on a pad helps with alleviation.

Buy pads with wings or even adult diapers, extra large. If you have a vaginal birth, you will probably bleed for weeks. Your body is just catching up on that cycle you missed for the last ten months….I’m kidding. You just pushed 6-9 pounds through your birth canal. I found some here. Mesh underwear or large cotton underwear work well too.

Be Cozy

Buy a cozy set of pajamas with a button-up top if you plan to breastfeed. I got a pair from Victoria Secret and lived in them. Buy a second pair if you can swing it. A heating pad will also alleviate aches and pains.

Nourish Your Body

After you’ve had this baby, you want to drop a little bit of that pregnancy weight don’t you? If you’re breastfeeding, it’s especially important to eat nutritiously dense food. Send your husband or mother, better yet, mother-in-law, to Trader Joe’s Organic Boneless & Skinless Chicken Breast Strips. Sure, you could buy a bunch of breasts, cook and slice them yourself while holding a newborn. These could not be more convenient. They’re USDA-certified organic and from free-range chickens. Buy individual bags of lettuce, spinach, arugula and make big delicious salads. Or make sandwiches, a stir fry. Eat up.

Be cautious regarding the amount of fiber you are putting into your system. Eating cauliflower, broccoli, beans will not only cause gas for you which is fine of course but also for tour newborn which is painful.

It’s so crucial to stay hydrated so I alternated between water and Powerade /Gatorade zero.

I ate a lot of Greek yogurt and berries because it is filling and a quick snack in between baby nursing, diaper changes while living in zombie land.

Breastfeeding?

If you’re breastfeeding, there are specific foods that aid in producing more milk. I religiously made flourless lactation cookies consisting of bananas, oatmeal, flaxseed, brewers yeast, chocolate chips, cinnamon. Comment below if you would like me to share the recipe. I also had savory oatmeal with salt pepper and a fried egg. I love it.

Your doctor will probably recommend an additional calcium supplement while breastfeeding. I bought calcium chews shipped directly from “>Amazon.

I took Fenugreek Seed capsules every day with my prenatal to increase milk

I drank ginger tea at least once a day to help aid with digestion.

Invest in at least two hands-free pumping bras and two nursing bras. Replenish your nipples with cream.

Buy storage bags for your expressed milk.

Buy nursing pads because your boobs will probably leak. They may not leak all day and the one hour you run to Publix you have two circular wet marks in the middle of your chest. You just paste them in your bra.

My health insurance covered the Medela electric pump. I bought a second pump used by a local mom. I kept one pump by my bed at home and a second pump at my work.

Click here to download a PDF postpartum recovery checklist.

Bottles

My friend Kristin recommended the Como Tomo Bottles. We bought them in 8 oz so they would last longer but they also sell them in 5 oz. The bottle is designed like a nipple so it made a transition from breast to bottle seamlessly. As Harper has grown older, she feels at ease gentle holding the soft bottle in her tiny hands. These bottles do not leak! They are durable, squishy, and clean very well.

Good Changing Table Covers

Unless you buy an easy to clean, wipe-able, changing table cover, purchase several changing table covers. I don’t know about other babies but Harper peed as soon as that diaper came off. I love this one.

Baby Supplies To Have On Hand

I would have diaper cream and hydrocortisone cream readily available. I got Boudreaux’s Butt Paste.

I would have a stash of Mylicon in your baby supply as well. Harper got gas (less when I realized that I was probably causing it). Gripe Water was helpful for hiccups and gas. We bought Saline drops for Harper’s runny nose that she got at eight weeks old. We also used a humidifier in her room to help clear her nasal passages.

A Good Show

Find a good show on Netflix to binge breastfeeding. Or download a book on tape from your local library or Audible.

A Good Book

My husband and I were told to read the book The Baby Sleep Solution. Did we read it? Yes. Did we follow it? Not until a year later. I have an entire blog post on My Favorite Books here.

Pre Wash Clothing

You need a baby detergent to wash your little one’s clothing. I bought Dreft.

Good Night Light

I found a great light to keep next to your bed while you’re breastfeeding or formula feeding. Your husband may be sleeping. Your baby may even be sleeping while eating and you need soft light to see the sweet baby of yours.

Diapers

I recommend buying two boxes of newborn diapers. We went through two in 7 weeks and then switched to size ones. Every baby grows differently. We love Pampers. You will also need loads of wipes.

Diaper Pail

We are constantly changing Harper’s diapers with one finger plugging our nose. Pueeee. I recommend the Ubbi Diaper Pail and Ubbi Plastic bags.

Swing or Vibrator

We loved having a baby swing. Any contraption where your baby vibrates, rocks or swings is a lifesaver a swing allows you to run to the bathroom or pour a well-deserved goblet of coffee. I found the Graco Slim Compact Baby Swing which is slim and easy to tuck away.

Swaddle?

Taylor and I had a really difficult time with cloth swaddles even though they are so darn cute. We got Velcro swaddles and they helped significantly. I heard zip ones are great too. Love the Halo swaddle too.

Baby Carrier

The Solly Wrap has been my saving grace. I wear Harper everywhere in the house and on walks. I highly recommend a fabric wrap for the first few months. Your spouse can wear them too. I love baby carriers. We love the “>Ergo Carrier. I have gotten my money’s worth tenfold.

Boppy pillow helps a lot with breastfeeding. I brought it to the hospital. I use it every day. There are several variations of the nursing pillow. I definitely recommend investing in one. They work well for bottle feeding too.

Click here to download a PDF postpartum recovery checklist.

DockaTot

We got a DockaTot as a gift. It’s nearly $200 and never bought it because I just didn’t know. We received it when Harper was four days old and I’m so glad we were able to experience it. She slept in her DockaTot in her bassinet. She sleeps in it on the couch. On the dining room table. When we travel. It’s incredibly multi-functional for sleeping, lounging, and playing. The purpose of the DockaTot is to reinvent the womb. It is safe, portable, and easy to wash.

DockaTot founder Lisa Furuland came up with the idea for DockaTot after she had her first child. “When my son Ilias was born in 2006, I searched unsuccessfully for an alternative to the blanket, the cot and the baby lounger,” she says. “I craved something more snug and at the same time more versatile.” Lisa wanted to create an environment that was as safe and comforting as a mother’s womb. “I wanted our docks to serve as secure place for parents to place their little ones,” she says.

Bassinet

If you can swing it financially, I HIGHLY recommend the SNOO. The SNOO was made in collaboration with Dr. Harvery Karp. The results of this collaboration are what Happiest Baby (the company that manufactures the Snoo baby bed) calls “the safest baby bed ever made” and “like a night nurse* for around $7 per night”. If you like to sleep, this will be the best investment you ever made. I am absolutely purchasing one for our next child.

The SNOO comes with a sack so your baby can’t roll over and gently rocks your baby and plays white noise. Of course, you will still need to feed and change your baby. If your baby does wake up, the SNOO recognizes it with its sensors and attempts to calm your baby with several levels of greater intensity – both in white noise and rocking. Ideally, your baby is calmed and goes back to sleep without you having to lift a finger – or get out of bed.

Do you know you can rent the SNOO for a little over $3 a day? That’s one less coffee. There is no reason why you shouldn’t sleep at night.

Car Seat

You will not be able to leave the hospital without showing the nurse that you can safely strap your newborn into his or her car seat. Figure that sucker out ahead of time. I recommend purchasing two bases to match your car seat. One will come with it and buy additional. That way you keep a base in each car and then switch car seat. We went with the B-Agile B Safe Britax stroller and car seat. We found one with cow print interior and I think it’s fabulous. You need to buy one additional base for a second vehicle. There are so many wonderful options out there. Do your research. Read consumer reports.

I will write a follow-up post going into more detail regarding the stroller and reviewing essentials that I consider necessary for babies first year of life.