Don’t Forget These When Packing Your Hospital Bag for Baby

Is your due date creeping closer and closer? Are you sick of people asking you if you’ve packed your hospital bag yet (which is then usually followed by their personal experience of how their baby came 6 weeks early)?

 Well, let’s get you organized! So, we’ve talked about what you need to pack in your hospital bag for you, but what about for baby?

The items I suggest you pack for baby is based on my experiences of a 5-day stay in hospital after having a Caesar for both my babies. To make it easier to find everything I put all of baby’s items in a separate bag to my stuff.

·       Onesies x 5 (have enough for at least one a day). You will soon learn that babies are very messy! Leaking through their nappies or bringing up milk are their favourite things so some extras won’t go astray). Oh, and make sure you have the ones with the zips! Read about that here.

·       Singlets x 5 (get the ones with the buttons on the crotch so they keep the nappy secure and don’t bunch up).

·       Hat- the hospital provided a knitted beanie but it was a bit big so lucky I had packed one.

·       Muslin wraps/bunny rugs x 3. If you don’t know what to do with these, you midwives will soon teach you the art of burrito wrapping your baby!

·       Nappies and baby wipes (I didn’t actually use the ones I packed as the hospital supplied them, so check with the hospital prior). If you do need to bring nappies, plan on your baby going through about 10 a day!

·       Blanket- it was a cold day when we were discharged from hospital so I had a nice warm blanket to wrap baby in when heading to the car.

·       Plastic bag- to put all the dirty clothes in.

·       You may also want to pack a cute ‘going home’ outfit for baby.

From one mum to another, I wish you all the best with your birth and hope you have a good experience in hospital. I hope you find this list useful and that it helps you feel well prepared. Share it with a friend who’s about to have a baby or let me know what other items you would add to this hospital bag checklist!

Make sure you’ve had a read of our other checklists so you don’t forget to pack the important stuff for you too!