People LOVE baby showers. Buying baby presents is fun time for most women. I know I, personally, love looking at baby clothes. Because of this, most presents at a baby shower are baby-centered. Not too many people focus on the new mom. For my sister (who’s due in a few weeks) I decided to get her a couple things that really helped me after David was born.
A lot of these things are based on my own experience with childbirth & postpartum recovery which you can read about here.
Alright, now onto the good stuff 😉
1. Nipple Cream:
- This is essential if you are breastfeeding! I would recommend using it before you need it, as a preventative.
- Pictured I have the Nursing Care brand and also Lansinoh Nipple Cream which had great reviews. A lot of people have said they prefer it to the Medela brand. I used The First Years Nursing Care Lanolin Free Nipple Butter with David, which also has good reviews. I liked it, but it had a funny smell.
2. Disposable Breastfeeding Pads:
- Again for breastfeeding moms. I originally had some re-usable ones. I personally don’t recommend them. They leaked through my shirts so I ended up running to the store and picking up some disposable ones instead.
- Pictured above are the Evenflo brand, I’ve tried this, I’ve tried Medela , I’ve tried Lansinoh, it’s all really the same. I’d just get the cheaper brand.
3. Nursing Cover:
- Great for breastfeeding in public spaces, or even just on the couch when you have company or other children around.
- Pictured above is the Balboa Baby brand, they carry this at Babies R’ Us & are fairly affordable.
4. Manual Breast Pump
- Breast pumps are life savors! Check with your insurance first, mine gave me a free double electric Medela breast pump so that was awesome (saved me $150). The only bummer was that they don’t send it out til either your due date or the day your baby is born (whichever comes first) so you may have to wait a week after baby til you get it. I had a hard time getting David to latch and the engorgement got too painful so I ran to Walmart and picked up the Philips Avent Manual Comfort Breast Pump.
- A manual pump is great because it’s cheaper than the electric one, it was around $20-25 and it is easy to use. It was the perfect temporary solution for me and I highly recommend it. Plus it comes with an Avent bottle which is always a win!
5. Dermoplast Spray
- I have the red can in the picture, but I think I am going to return it. In the hospital they give you the blue can. That’s the one you want. They just didn’t have that one at Target. I thought the red would be fine since they’re basically the same thing just this one is also anti-bacterial, but everything I’ve read online suggests otherwise. Go for the blue!
- This is a soothing, pain relieving spray that really helps the recovery process after birth. Grab an extra when you’re leaving the hospital if you can!
6. Tucks Medicated Cooling Pads
- They give you these at the hospital, but I would buy a pack as well for when you run out.
- These are soooo soothing!
7. Diaper Pads
- This is something you get at the hospital, along with extra long & thick normal pads.
- Ask for extra. I liked the security of the diaper pads & knowing it wouldn’t leak. I would place one of the hospital’s thick, long pads in the diaper pad in their disposable mesh underwear with the Tucks medicated cooling pads on top. It was quite the process, but it was worth it.
8. Kotex Regular Pads (with wings)
- This is personal preference. I like the Kotex brand for pads. They make them a little longer which is great postpartum. I didn’t get the heavy duty pads for myself. I used the ones the hospital provided and then when I got home I switched to a lighter Kotex pad for a couple days and then onto a liner.
9. Kotex liners
- This goes along with number 8. Maybe it’s different for other people, but my main heavy bleeding days were the first 3 days in the hospital. After that it pretty much died down so I switched to liners, which I wore a majority of the recovery process. I hate pads & really didn’t want to where big, giant, bulky ones any longer than I needed to.
10. Colace Stool Softener
- Pretty easy to understand. Makes going number two easier. I started taking it a few days before labor.
11. Gerber Tshirts
- I LOVED these Gerber Short Sleeve Side Snap Shirts after David was born. You don’t need to pull it over the babies head, they just snap right on & they’re not onesies, which get annoying when you’re constantly changing diapers.
12. Bellefit Postpartum Girdle
- This is a little pricier, but worth it. It helps give you support & moves all your organs back into place after having a baby. It is also recommended for those with Diastasis Recti.
- It’s not in the picture above because I just barely ordered it for my sister, but now looking back I guess I could’ve just put mine in the pic.. oh well. Here’s a picture from their website.
My sister is having her baby shower on Tuesday & so I decided on a gift that I felt would help her most during the postpartum recovery process. I included these 8 of the 12 items listed above:
- postpartum girdle
- gerber tshirts
- colace stool softener
- Tucks medicated cooling pads
- Dermoplast spray (blue can)
- nursing cover
- disposable nursing/breastfeeding pads
- nipple cream
Definitely try to get most of the 12 items, if not all, before your due date so you are prepared (and not running back & forth to the store after you have your baby, like I had to).
Leave a Reply