I thought that I would do a post on the little things that have been helpful for us when preparing for a baby. Some of these tips were an afterthought with our first baby and now that we've been through this three times we have a better idea of what has been helpful for us. Of course there is a common list a mile long of things you need to prepare for baby but I wanted to go over some not so common things that help us in the early weeks.

For the Hospital:

*Bring an extension cord- the outlets in the hospital rooms are usually located far enough from the bed that your phone charger is out of reach. Having an extension cord allows you to reach your phone while it's charging.

*Download a white noise app- My favorite is Sleep Pillow this was perfect to play all night to block out the noises in the hospital.



 * Download a nursing app- The one I'm using right now is Nursing Log and so far I really like it.

* Bring an eye mask for either you or your husband to wear during the night. The nurses typically come in your room all through the night and immediately turn on the bright lights.


For the Home:

* Keep a small lamp in your bedroom that calls for a 15 watt lightbulb. This seems to be the perfect amount of light to allow you to see the baby all through the night yet dim enough to get good rest. Turning on a lamp to nurse or change a diaper in the wee hours seems to disrupt both baby and Mama from going right back to sleep. I usually find these at Hobby Lobby.



* Oxi-clean- Keep a plastic tub full of concentrated oxi-clean and water in the laundry room for when baby has an explosive diaper that covers an outfit. It's so nice to just throw it in the tub of water until you are ready to do a load of laundry. When it is time to wash a load just pour the tub of oxi-clean water into the washer and you shouldn't have to deal with stained clothes. (I run an extra rinse when washing with oxi-clean)




For Mama:

*Use the same soap as baby or a very mild and unscented soap. You will have the baby on your own skin very often in the first few days and weeks so you will want to make sure to not have a strong scent.



* Purchase clothing in various sizes BEFORE baby comes. It's much easier to buy plenty of clothes in various sizes just before baby comes and send the Hubby to make returns on what doesn't work than it is to try and make it to Target or the Mall to shop post baby.

* Buy a Shapewear cami or tank to wear post baby. In those first few weeks when your tummy is still very "floppy" it's nice to have just a little something extra to help hold it in.

I would love to hear any ideas or tips that you may have. Like I said this is just a list of what works well for us and I'm always up for hearing your ideas!