Do These 7 Things to prep Your Home for life with a newborn
Coming home from labor and delivery can be quite a shock. One minute you’re surrounded by nurses who help with your new baby on schedule. Two short days later, you’re home alone trying to figure it all out. You quickly discover you can no longer accomplish simple tasks around the house as you did before.
If you can, stay in bed with baby for three weeks. Longer is great, if you can. Healing yourself and supporting new life is enough work to focus on in these early days.
Doing a little prep work before you leave for the hospital can make the transition home much easier. Doing this work now—while you’re still pregnant—is far less challenging than doing it while sleep deprived and with a new companion who may or may not let you put them down. As they say, better to make hay while the sun shines. Here’s the 7 things we recommend doing before leaving for the hospital.
Make your birth plan
Do you want to be medicated? Or not at all? Do you want cord blood saved? Do you wish to donate it? Do you want an episiotomy? There are so many matters to think about before you feel your first contraction. Document some of your decisions and share them with your medical team. You cannot fully control this process, but your team will likely accommodate your wishes when possible. As unexpected circumstances often arise, they may still need to ask you questions. But better to make the tough decisions before you’re in the heat of the moment.
There’s a lot to do before a baby. We can help with some of this work. Our birth plan template will help you share your desires with your medical team.
Batch cook meals and freeze portions
Meal delivery is great, but can get expensive quickly. If you don’t have a meal train coming, pack your freezer. Before labor starts, portion broths, and other restorative foods that will help you heal. Ready-made frozen meals are fine in a pinch, but usually have high sodium content. This time is important for healing and you’re still eating for two, if you’re planning to breastfeed. Opt for the healthiest foods you can find that help with milk supply and speed healing.
If you need inspiration, we like this post from The Everymom, “20 Freezer Meals to Make Before Baby that Aren’t Lasagna.”
Launder sheets
If you’re expecting visitors or not it never hurts to have clean sheets. Having three complete sets on hand ensures a clean set is always ready. One set on your bed, the second may be in the hamper and the third clean in the drawer waiting to be put to use. If it’s just you, rest easy knowing your spare set is ready for action should you sweat through the bed, have an accident, or your little one has a diaper blow-out. If you’re expecting visitors, you won’t be caught off guard trying to make them comfortable.
A word about visitors. It’s great having people close to you to come see your new baby. While they are there ask them to help with housework. This concept is foreign to many of us, especially those of us who have trouble asking for help. However, you’ve just performed the most physically draining task of your life and your focus should now be on supporting this new life. Do not get busy trying to be a good host; visitors should be there to support you. If they’re just there to get a hit of baby love, feel free to send them home.
Prep for them. Wash the bedding and stock up on toothpaste, spare toothbrushes, towels etc. And, let them show their gratitude for the life you’ve just created by doing a load of laundry, dishes, or some other act of service. If you are already too pregnant to do all this work, hire some help with Handy. Here’s $55 off to get started.
Wash baby clothes
Remove the stickers and tags and wash those onesies ahead of time. Even though they’re tiny, babies make a lot of laundry. Having drawers full of clean baby clothes will help you adjust to just how much more easily.
Clear counter space for a baby dish drying rack
Reevaluate what belongs on the kitchen counter, so that you can create space for a separate drying rack for baby. For now, the Centers for Disease Control recommend washing, drying and storing baby’s bottles and other feeding tools with in a closed cabinet or other closed space used only for storing clean dishes. As baby gets older the drying rack will be useful for sippy cups, straws and the millions of little pieces that come with children’s feeding vessels.
Sterilize bottles nipples and rings
After drying, place them upside down in a cabinet or seal them away in bags that zip closed. Leaving them out on the counter is fine while they are drying but increases the likelihood of them becoming re-contaminated. Store them away so you won’t have to work twice.
Invest in a nursing bra or several
Your girls will thank you. If you’re breastfeeding, this will make short work of feeding baby on demand, especially when you have to in less than private setting. And, if you’re pumping you can still feel some support while you go to work extracting that liquid gold. Opt for a daytime and night time version. Night time might be a wireless bra for night time feeds and extra support at bed time. Day time might have a little more structure to better support your growing food store.
We didn’t add pack your hospital bag to this list because you’ve probably already done that. If not see our labor & delivery box for an out of the box solution. If you’re just looking for a few restorative luxuries to add to your bag see our botanical water, rincit or try some afterbirth tea.