Congratulations on your pregnancy! Now let’s talk about some of the best postpartum essentials to consider having on hand once your bundle of joy arrives.
Whether you’re one planning to head to the hospital early to ensure you can get an epidural or planning a home birth, there are certain essentials that can better help you transition from mom-to-be to mommy. These best postpartum essentials are items that you won’t want to do without after you have your baby.
Postpartum Essentials
While everyone knows to have a bag packed for the hospital, not everyone considers mom’s needs after the baby arrives. So, while planning your baby registry, or just shopping in general, add these items to your list to help have a smoother recovery. After all, moms have needs too!
Items to Have After Giving Birth
Belly band
Your body changes a LOT during pregnancy. A belly band helps your body regain shape and helps you feel more confident when going out and about. These belly bands are a passive abdominal exercise that helps by keeping the muscles in place and can help with recovery.
Nipple Cream
If you’re planning to nurse for just a little while or for an extended period of time, having nipple cream (that’s Amazon’s BEST SELLER right there- grab it while you’re thinking of it) will keep the sore, raw feeling at bay. Don’t forget the clothes that go well with breastfeeding. Nursing bras are a given, but shirts that are adjustable make nursing that much easier.
Sitz Baths
Especially for those moms who give birth vaginally, having a sitz bath will help that soreness from pushing get better faster.
Learn all about the benefits of using a sitz bath and all you need to know about them here. Check out that post so you’re well prepared since you won’t feel like learning new things when you’re trying to recover.
Donut Cushion
Again, that stretching and pushing can take its toll. A donut cushion makes sitting a bit easier if you end up with hemorrhoids especially.Â
Large Underwear Pads
No one tells you how much bleeding you’ll go through, but after pregnancy, you’ll need some underwear that will definitely get dirty. Add to that is a need for postpartum pads for absorption. Sorry, those new absorbent underwear just do not cut it for postpartum bleeding.Â
Again, Frida Mom really knows what they’re doing to help a new mama out! They created the best post partum absorbent pads, but these bad boys have a built in ice pack in them! Yes, this is great for helping with pain and recovering faster.
Peri Bottles
Have you seen the tik tok video of the guy not knowing what a peri bottle is and thinking it is for drinking? Yeah – it was funny to watch now, but the necessity of it post-partum for easy cleaning cannot go unsaid. Even if you have a bidet, having a peri bottle helps focus the water where you need to clean.
Frida Mom who makes a lot of great baby care items has created an upside down peri bottle that is so much easier to use and makes it quite obvious that it’s not something dad needs to be handling, lol. If you’re looking for a great peri botte, this is it!
RELATED: 4 Best Postpartum Leggings
Water Bottles
You’ll need to drink a lot of water to prevent constipation (so up that fiber as well!) and having water bottles that stay cold make it easier to have them around, especially if you’re breastfeeding. Having an ice cold bottle of water near your nursing chair and nightstand means you’ll always have a way to quench your thirst nearby.
Pre-made Meals
Whether you have friends bringing you meals, or subscribe to a meal service, it is essential to have those meals taken care of. That whole “sleep when the baby sleeps†advice is great, but hardly practical when the rest of life continues on!
Friends
This is something that money cannot buy, but having friends who can help out is important. Whether it is running to the store, sitting down and having a chat, or help you with laundry if needed, have some friends on standby.
Conclusion
When it comes down to postpartum essentials, buy the items, and if you don’t need them you can always gift them to a crisis pregnancy center or return them if unopened, but it is better to be prepared than without! Giving birth is hard. Raising children is essential. And, if can only happen if mom has her basic needs met as well.