Hospital Bag Checklist For Mom And Baby: What I ACTUALLY USED
If you are nearing your pregnancy due date then you have probably at least begun to think about your hospital bag checklist. With my first pregnancy I didn’t do much research or look at any kind of printable hospital bag checklist for labor and delivery, and I felt very unprepared for my hospital stay as a result!
You’re not moving out of your house or preparing for a huge vacation when you start packing for labor and delivery, but there are some essentials you will be glad to have with you when the time comes to recover and meet your little one!
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I am currently 32 weeks pregnant with my second pregnancy and wanted to get a head start on checking off my hospital bag checklist for mom and baby this time around, so I am almost packed and ready to go! (You never know when the baby is going to decide they are ready to enter the world!)
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Here’s what’s on my hospital bag checklist for mom and baby the second time around:
I’ve probably over-packed myself in an effort to be more prepared this time, so if you’re a minimalist you will need to scale my list back a bit!
UPDATE: I came home from the hospital two weeks ago and found that I probably only used half of the items that I packed! I highlighted the items that I ACTUALLY USED in purple below.
Hospital Bag Checklist For Mommy:
Daily Toiletries:
- Deodorant
- Toothbrush
- Toothpaste
- Contact Lenses (If you wear them)
- Glasses (I hope to wear these to the hospital when labor begins)
- Hairbrush
- Hair ties (I’m taking 3)
In-Hospital Clothing:
- 1 Pair of Big Loose Shorts (Expect that you will be a similar size to your third trimester self at least initially after birth!)
- 1 Nursing Cami (I bought these off of Amazon this time around)
- 2 Long Sleeve Nursing Tops (I’m expecting that the hospital might be a bit cool so I can layer these over the cami or wear them with the nursing bra. I got my favorite long-sleeve nursing tops over at LatchedMama.com but you can find a nice selection of nursing clothing available from Amazon as well.)
- Nursing Bra
Shower Essentials:
- Shampoo
- Conditioner
- Face Wash & Lotion
- Body Wash
- Bath Puff (I’m sure the hospital provides wash cloths if you’re good with just that – but when packing for labor and delivery, with all the sensitive skin and body parts, I prefer to have my gentle cleansing puff with me!)
Makeup:
Note: I probably won’t even use any makeup in the hospital (looking good was the last thing on my mind after baby #1!) but just in case I feel the urge I included a few basics on my hospital bag checklist.
- BB Cream
- Neutral Cream Eye Shadow
- Blush
- Concealer
- Light Eyeliner
- Lip Gloss
Misc. Items:
- 2 Soft Headbands (So I’m not worried about doing anything with my hair!)
- Lanolin Cream (I’m not sure if hospitals provide this – but you will probably be sore and oh so thankful if you have this in your bag!)
- Blistex Medicated Lip Ointment (I’m expecting chapped lips after hours of heavy breathing through labor)
- Dry Shampoo (I don’t expect to shower frequently so this provides an easy fix if my hair starts feeling greasy!)
- Face Cleaning Wipes (Getting out of bed can be tough depending on how your labor and delivery goes – so these will make it easy to feel a little bit refreshed even if making it to the sink for a full face wash is difficult)
- A Pack of Depends (These are fantastic after delivery! My hospital provides mesh underwear and big pads, but Depends are so easy to slip on and throw out while containing the heavy blood flow postpartum. Even if I don’t use them in the hospital I will wear one to come home in!)
- A Nursing Cover (With my first birth I did not use one of these in the hospital since breastfeeding was such a learning curve and I preferred to have visitors wait if I was feeding so I didn’t have to cover up. With this second round I’m taking it along since breastfeeding will be a more familiar process and I may be able to entertain visitors while feeding.)
- Boppy Pillow (Again, I didn’t take this when I was packing for labor and delivery with my first pregnancy, and I wouldn’t say I regretted it. However, I thought it might make feeding a little bit more comfortable to include it this time around.)
- Miralax (My hospital provides a stool softener after birth, but I found Miralax to work much more effectively for me last time around so I will be throwing a bottle in my bag.)
- Disposable Nursing Pads (I don’t expect to leak with breastfeeding when my milk supply is just coming in, but I like to have these to insert into nursing camis or other nursing bras or clothing that don’t have any padding just for the modesty and appearance.)
- Manual Breast Pump (My breastmilk supply took a long time to come in with my first pregnancy, so I want to be more prepared to begin pumping right away this time to help stimulate my supply. Your hospital may provide access to a breast pump but I threw my small manual pump in so that it’s easy to use for a few minutes after each feeding while I’m in the hospital bed.)
- A Belly Bandit Original Belly Wrap (Over a year after my first birth I still looked like I was pregnant! This time around I’ve purchased a Belly Bandit Belly Wrap to wear immediately after delivery to help my abdominal muscles heal correctly and take advantage of the hormone relaxin in my system to shrink my stomach back down. You can read more details about the Belly Bandit Wrap and how it works at www.BellyBandit.com.)
Go-Home Clothing:
- One Nursing Cami
- Maternity Leggings (Yes, you should expect that when it’s time to leave you will still need your maternity clothing! It takes time for the uterus and belly to shrink back down.)
Newborn Baby Hospital Bag Checklist:
Clothing:
- 3 Short-Sleeved Onesies (I’m assuming we will have baby wrapped in a blanket much of the time. I’m also overpacking on the assumption that baby will poop or pee through at least one or two onesies.)
- 1 Long-Sleeved Onesie
- 2 Footed Pajamas – (I used 1) in case we don’t wrap in the blanket!)
- 3 Newborn Hats (The hospital provided one last time, but I wanted to have a few cute ones of my own along this time around!)
Accessories:
- 3 Burp Clothes (I can’t remember if we dealt with it at the new newborn stage, but my first daughter spat up constantly as an infant so I just thought I would be prepared!)
- 4 Velcro Swaddles – (I used 2) this is probably a bit excessive, but I just figured I would throw several in since she will be in them quite frequently and we might want to change them up for some photos, etc. Having just one along would probably be enough! (These were an absolute MUST for us! My husband and I CANNOT swaddle with a blanket like the hospital provides and swaddling was oh so important for us to enable our baby to sleep. If you haven’t tried Velcro swaddles they are a life-saver! We used SwaddleMe swaddles like these available on Amazon.)
- 2 Sets of Newborn Mitts (I’m not a big fan of using these, but I threw a few in just in case our little one is born with razor sharp finger nails.)
If you’re starting the process of packing for your birth experience then I hope you find this hospital bag checklist printable and details helpful. I recommend reading a few different lists to get a feel for what each mom finds important to have along – there are many lists out there! This is simply a glimpse into what I’m packing this second time around, but every mom has different needs and priorities for her own recovery and comfort as well as for her baby.
Note: I do not have a hospital bag checklist for dad since he packed his own bag! He simply packed as though he’s planning to stay away from home for a long weekend. It is my guess that he included a few sets of comfortable clothing and I know he grabbed some of his essential toiletries, but his preparation was up to him!
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THIS PRINTABLE HOSPITAL BAG CHECKLIST
Best wishes if you are nearing the birth of your precious little one. I hope this list helps you feel a little bit more prepared, but don’t let yourself over-stress about your hospital packing either. The hospital will have all of the essentials for you and baby. Even if you have to rush there without grabbing a set of clothing for yourself, they will have a gown for you to wear! With my first birth I wore the gown for several days in the hospital since I had neglected to bring any clothing to wear while in recovery. You will be well cared for and the little things you may forget to bring won’t matter in the long-term.
Do your best to grab as much sleep as you can during your hospital stay and cuddle your sweet little newborn!
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Hospital Bag Checklist For Mom And Baby: What I ACTUALLY USED
Once you make it through the trauma of pregnancy and the baby arrives, it’s time to figure out how to survive baby’s first year! Check out my baby schedules below to help you navigate all of your baby’s sleep and feeding needs through those difficult first months and beyond!
- 0-2 Weeks Newborn Schedule Sample
- 2-5 Weeks Newborn Schedule Sample
- 2 Month Old Baby Schedule Sample
- 3 Month Old Baby Schedule Sample
- 4 Month Old Baby Schedule Sample
- 4-6 Month Old Baby Schedule Sample
- 6-12 Month Old Baby Schedule Sample
- 1-2 Year Old Schedule Sample
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