Let me help you become the best gift-giver for a new postpartum mom. These are the things I wish I had, or bought in that first year postpartum, that I don’t let a new mom in my circle go without.
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My Credentials? I just had 2 baby girls 22 Months apart.
I’ve listed everything in chronological order of when a mom will need them from giving birth onward.
Breast Pump Flange Inserts
Here is the link to the exact set I’ve bought for myself and friends. If the new mom intends to pump at all (which I would recommend counting on if planning to breastfeed), these are absolutely necessary.
With my firstborn, I planned ahead and brought my pumps to the hospital only to find out I couldn’t use them without flange inserts. This was disappointing given that I was dumb enough to not take a lactation course before I went and gave birth. Then I found myself not knowing how to unlatch a baby and just pulling her off my nipples. Thereby damaging my nipples and desperately needing to pump a bit to get some relief.
If you don’t know that theyre for, essentially they make a breast pump fit a woman’s individual nipple. Pumps come in standard sizes, and these fit into them.
When these arrived in the mail my first week postpartum, I can honestly say they saved my breastfeeding journey.
New moms should take these to the hospital with them.
Ice Packs for Undies and Disposable Underwear
The hospital is pretty good about hooking you up with the necessary hygiene and care items when you leave, but there are products that I found myself buying the second time after being gifted them the first.
A dear family friend with two kids of her own at the time dropped off the Frida Mom postpartum set for me before I gave birth the first time, which, at the time included a peri spray bottle and box of ice pack pads to put into undies the first few days postpartum. I honestly looked forward to the relief of these the second time.
There are other options out there worth exploring, such as reusable ice packs meant to be put into undies postpartum and even nipple soothing ice packs for early breastfeeding. I considered them but didn’t end up getting these. If you tried them, comment and let me know what you thought.
I gained a lot of weight both pregnancies. Undies have been bought, grown out of, and ruined. I bought a pack of Depends for postpartum the first time that I was able to finish using the second time. you dont have to worry about them fitting; you don’t have to worry about bleeding; you can throw an ice pack pad in them. Overall, they’re great.
Have these ready for when you come home from the hospital.
A Sound Machine
We were gifted a Hatch sound machine off our registry for our firstborn. The newest iteration of this is a cute kinda abstract lamp.
Hatch is the brand that kinda owns the space, but there are more affordable options. A newly postpartum mom needs this if she wants to sleep. Apparently the womb is super loud. A sound machine helps a baby sleep by creating a constant hum around them, and it also helps drown out sudden noises from the house so siblings, pets, or parents doing chores, etc., don’t wake a napping baby.
We got one for our second-born too.
Have this before or during the first few weeks postpartum.
A Walking Pad
I was influenced during my second pregnancy by Emma Logsdon Springer, who, if you don’t know, you should check out, to buy a walking pad pretty early postpartum. I had both my girls during winter months, and I wasn’t going outside to walk during that time. This allowed me just a little exercise, and BONUS: putting the baby in a carrier and walking was the only way my second-born would fall asleep for several weeks. So it became a lifesaver.
Recommended this to a friend who also had a baby in the winter, and she got it and loved it.
Set this up 2-6 weeks postpartum.
Zipadee Zip Sleep Sack
This is for later in that first year postpartum. At about 4 ish months, when the baby starts getting wiggly and then the wiggles start to mean that the baby doesn’t know how to settle at night anymore. This is marketed as a swaddle transition sleep sack, and while that’s what it worked as for my firstborn, we never swaddled my second-born, and she still went into the zipadeezip. It’s the only reason she doesn’t wake a zillion times at night.
There are lots of cute colors and a range of sizes. Here is the link.
Mesh Baby Feeder
These are convenient when you’re looking to give the baby some interesting new tastes and textures without them having to understand how to chew and swallow.
The ones we use come in a two pack and help me introduce foods to baby. They also can be filled with ice to safely ice baby’s gums when teething. They love it.
You’ll want these when baby is 6-7 months old.
These are all well-loved items, I have recommended them to many new moms in the past couple years, and I know that if I had to start over, these are the things I’d need.
let me know your favorite postpartum and newborn essentials!
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