It has been exactly 3 weeks since miss Avery was born! I love her so freaking much! It is pretty wild what a blur the first few weeks are when you have a newborn. And it’s amazing how many online orders I’ve placed since the day she got home. I thought I had everything ready to go for when we came home from the birth center, but I was incorrect. I had many things I didn’t even need and never even used. Obviously everyones needs are different, but hopefully my list helps you prep for your own postpartum period a little more! All these items were game changers for me, along with my postpartum meal prep freezer meals!
Most Helpful Items For Myself
Frida Postpartum Underwear – I wore this underwear for the first two weeks and wore a couple pairs per day if any bleeding leaked through from my pad into the underwear.
Frida Peri Bottle – I filled my bottle with a sitz bath brew to help with healing.
Gigantic Pads – I bought a bunch of ice pack pads then didn’t use them at all. I just found them really bulky and uncomfortable. So I had my SIL head to Walgreens when I got home from the birth center and buy me as large of pads as possible. I don’t have a brand I recommend because they are all gigantic and annoying, but they saved me during those first few days of heavy bleeding.
Haakaa – This is fantastic with catching letdown when you’re breastfeeding on one side. I’m able to get a couple ounces at a time and use that to feed Avery from a bottle later that night.
Elvie Milk Catchers – And when I don’t feel like messing with the Haakaa, these catchers are super helpful because you can just slide them into your bra.
Manual Breast Pump – I thought I would use my electric pump more, but I’ve found that this manual pump works a lot faster than the electric and I get a few ounces in minutes.
Silverettes – These are a breastfeeding must. One of my nipples cracked after the first day of feeding while I was still getting the hang of it and these healed them within a day. Silver is incredible!
Nursing & Pumping Bra (Code PALEOMG20 for 20% off) – I love this bra so much and wear it almost every day. It’s my favorite of all the nursing bras I’ve tried.
Lily Pads – If your breastfeeding boobs are like mine, they like the leak everywhere and ruin every bra and top you have on. These pads stop leaks all together! Such a game changer.
Nursing Pillow – This pillow is by far the best. I also have a boppy and kind of hate it. This one is so much more comfortable.
Water Bottle – Get a water bottle for every room in the house that you plan on being in. When you’re breastfeeding, you’re constantly thirsty. I have a water bottle in our bedroom, the nursery, and living room.
Electrolytes – Make sure you’re getting enough electrolytes in so you’re actually absorbing your water! I have an electrolyte packet every morning and every evening now.
Most Helpful Items For Avery
Snuggle Me – Avery is in this multiple times per day, every day.
Super Soft Blankets – We’ve never used so many blankets in our life. So thankful to all the friends who gifted us blankets. I never thought we would use them all and we absolutely do. This one is my favorite because it’s breathable, but still has some weight to it.
Pacifiers – These are saving us right now. Avery is a bit fussy at this stage and the pacifier is really comforting to her, which really saves my nipples at times.
Pack & Play – We have this set up in our living room and it’s so helpful for a changing and napping station. Can’t recommend it enough when it comes to the room you’ll be in the most.
Baby Bjorn Mini – I’m using this carrier almost every day. It’s super easy to put on and get her in, without having to do all the wrapping like other carriers. And it puts her right to sleep as soon as I start walking around.
Stability Ball – We bought a nice rocking chair for our living room and a beautiful rocking chair for our nursery…all Avery wants is to be bounced on a stability ball. Our backs are killing us. But bouncing on the balls soothes her so we keep bouncing awayl
Slow Flow Preemie Bottles – I didn’t think I would give Avery a bottle this early on, but it has been a game changer for sleep. I go to bed at 8pm, Brian gives her a bottle in the evening while I’m sleeping, and then he brings her to me to breastfeed her at 1am, and then he goes to bed. We both are getting 5-7 hours of sleep per night because of this arrangement and it’s all because of introducing a bottle early on.
Baby Bottle Sterilizer – I use this for Avery’s bottles many times per week and it cuts down on cleaning time.
Doona Carseat to Stroller – Having a carseat that turns into a stroller makes life SOOOOO much easier.
Thank you for this list of recommendations. I am having my 3rd baby due in late December and would love to make my postpartum experience even better than the first two. I have definitely used some of the items such as the Hakaa which really helped in the beginning with the leaking before my supply stabilized to my baby’s needs. Hope you and your family are doing well during this joyful time.
Thank you for this Juli! I’m not even pregnant yet, and I’ve found myself saving sooo many things you’ve mentioned, haha. Love following along with your journey! Thank you for sharing and being so relatable!
Holy shit! You guys better have larger than life salaries to keep up with all of this- and it’s just the beginning. Good luck- I’d rather enjoy my own life and treat myself instead!
i totally get that. and that’s an awesome way to live life, too!!
Your list of “must-haves” is great! Thank you!
I had my second child on August 6th, so I’m by no means a pro, but my best advice is to buy everything from Target or Amazon through a registry. Not only do you save 15% with the discount, but things are easily returnable for an entire year. This is so important because every pregnancy and every baby is unique, so you never know what your favorite items will be! I know prior to having my first, I bought everything from every list I found, and really I ended up wishing I’d have left tags on so I could return an alarming amount of things.
First pregnancy favorites: dockatot, halo swaddle, poise giant pads and hospital underwear, post pregnancy compression pants, extra spectra bottles for pumping (I was unable to breastfeed), boon grass drying rack, Kindred Bravely pumping bra.
Second pregnancy favorites: a convertible stroller (capable of holding 2 children) with attachments (can use with a car seat). We have the Uppababy vista and we love it, it’s great for children close in age. Hakka (I’m able to breastfeed this time), nursing bras, nursing shirts, a good nursing coverup (yet to find my favorite), boppy (I also have the my breast friend, but I think I prefer the boppy so far!), baby nail file (both kids were born with long nails), newborn clothes with feet and mittens (to protect from scratching).
Wubbanub! Best pacifier ever invented.
https://www.wubbanub.com/
Great list. These were most of my must haves as well. The stability ball was our MVP. My older son also wanted to be bounced ALL DAY LONG! He eventually used the rocker as a climbing apparatus so it didn’t go completely to waste, ha. No idea why the Boppy has such a cult following. I found it useless for breastfeeding but did end up using it a few times for tummy time. A few other things for me that I couldn’t live without were nursing tanks (Kindred Bravely), a robe and comfy socks.
Agree with everything on your list plus the Ollie swaddle. I love that I can just lay baby down on top of it and easily wrap it around him while he sleeps without waking him up. I think it’s also one of the lighter weight swaddles which was important to me to prevent overheating in the summer. Second I would probably add the la vie breast massagers for clogged ducts. Congrats on sweet Avery. I’m only a couple weeks ahead of you and have enjoyed following along your journey.
The instant pot!
You can use it to sterilise bottles! I have 14 month old twins and we used it multiple times a day (at one point we had 24 bottles a day to wash and sterilise!).
All you do is put 1cm of boiling water in the bottom, place the trivet in, pop the bottles on top and set to low pressure for 5 minutes. Total game changer!
Also taking cara babies sleep course for 0-5 month olds was the best thing my husband and I spent money on.
Not sure if you’ve come across these but I lived in them while breast feeding/pumping and exercising. And they are sexy!
https://sweatandmilk.com/?utm_campaign=Inbound-Sol8&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_matchtype=e&utm_term=breastfeeding%20sports%20bra&adgroupid=134933548746&gclid=CjwKCAjw6fyXBhBgEiwAhhiZsghbCJOpy7nmv1UPr2mxYSm-sRhUU3mBe7BTNAhJ6OWrWVEXfxO6KhoClwAQAvD_BwE
-the rocking chair!! kiwi babyletto for all those late night feeds and wakeups
-I also used the snuggle me lounger for months and months for my baby!
-solly baby wrap—could carry him around everywhere with me while he slept/fell asleep to do chores and go on walks to get outside!
-vava baby monitor—so clutch to keep really good eye on him in other room
-hatch sound machine—self explanatory!