Get Ready for Baby - 7 Tasks to Complete BEFORE Baby Arrives

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The time immediately after having a baby you may find yourself completely sore, tired and not wanting to move very much. Although this time is not the easiest physically, there are ways to make your postpartum time easier so you can spend more time snuggling your new bundle of joy.

Meals/Food

After having a baby, the last thing you want to do is figure out how to get a meal on the table. I found using Once a Month Meals to be a lifesaver after the birth of my last two babies. I spent a couple weekends cooking specifically to fill my freezer and anytime I made a meal that would freeze well, I made a double or triple batch of it then froze 1 or 2 meals from that.

When I made my meals, I included not only dinner but breakfast and lunch too. Having a second and third child meant that I had other kids dependant on me for meals, so I wanted to make sure to have food that was somewhat nutritious but didn’t require a whole lot of thought or energy to prepare.

Nursing Basket

Prepare a basket to make sure to have next to you when you are nursing your baby. In this basket, you want anything you might want while you are nursing your baby and can’t get up.

Some items to think about including are

water bottle
non-perishable snacks (Cliff Bars or some trail mix in a baggie) if you know you will be consuming it soon, some fruit
chapstick
a book or magazine
breastfeeding book
some sort of burp cloth/spit up rag
extra blanket
nursing pads (you can get 10 free breast pads by going to www.breastpads.com and using the coupon code “53EDB4“)
nipple cream
phone charger if you think you’ll need it
anything else you think you need

If you are planning to or end up needing to bottle feed your baby, you will still find a basket useful, just take out the nursing pads, breastfeeding book and nipple cream.

Add anything you find that you need to the basket. If you are constantly getting up to grab something or asking your husband to while nursing, add it to the basket.

Padsicles

After birth you will be sore. Make some “padcycles” to put between your legs, up against your nether regions. This will help ease some of the pain.

Padcycles are maxi pads (either disposable or cloth) that you add soothing ingredients to such as aloe vera and witch hazel to the top of, then freeze. This helps to soothe the pain/irritation and heal you.

You can find instructions on how to make padcycles at http://www.hobomama.com/2015/02/make-your-own-soothing-postpartum-pads.html

Lactation Cookies in Freezer

If you are planning on breastfeeding and you are having difficulties with supply after a few days, you may find that you want to try eating lactation cookies, but don’t want to spend the energy making them. You can make up a batch (or several) of cookies before you give birth, put the cookies on a cookie sheet like you would do before baking them. Instead of putting them into the oven though, you will put them into the freezer. After the dough has frozen, take them out and put them into a freezer safe container, label it and put it in the freezer.

When you are ready to use these cookies, you can take out how many cookies you want to eat, stick them on a cookie sheet and cook according to the directions. You don’t need to defrost first, but they will need an extra few minutes. Check them at the time the recipe says they will be done, then keep checking on them every minute or two until they are done.

Here is a great lactation cookie recipe if you need one.

Flexibility

You have all these plans on how things are going to be after you have your baby. It won’t be exactly as expected. Be prepared to be flexible.

I had thought our first baby would sleep in a bassinet in our room for the first couple months. That first night home from the hospital, I’d get him to sleep, then gently place him in the bassinet and he would wake up within a couple minutes crying. I don’t know how many times I did this, before my husband said, “just have him sleep in bed with us”. So I tried that and he slept and therefore my husband and I were able to sleep too.

I have a cousin who thought her baby would sleep in a bassinet in their room for the first couple months as well. Turns out her baby did sleep in the bassinet. My cousin’s anxiety was so high though, she couldn’t sleep because she was listening to every noise her baby was making on high alert for her baby needing her. They moved the bassinet just outside their door to the hallway and that worked for them.

Have a loose plan, be prepared for it to change.

Friends/Family on Speed Dial

Make sure you have some family and friends that you can call incase you need help. If your baby tends to cry a lot, you will want help, you might want this help even if your baby doesn’t cry a lot. You might be surprised how many people are happy to drive over and hold your baby. You may just want someone to come over to hold your baby while you get some errands done or some time just for you.

My cousin recently called our Aunt and asked her to come over to hold her new baby so she could wrap some presents and our Aunt was thrilled at this opportunity.

Diaper Changing Station

If you have a changing table, make sure to set it up before bringing your baby home from the hospital.

I found it helpful to be able to change my baby in the family room. That is where I spent most of my time and I didn’t want to walk to the bedroom to change my kiddo all the time. I kept a small basket set up with some essentials in the family room and I also kept some essential set up under his bassinet for middle of the night diaper changes

To start with my husband would change his diaper in the middle of the night, but once he went back to work it was up to me. I wanted as much sleep as possible so I had something to lay over my bed for quick middle of the night diaper changes.

For a diaper changing table you want the following:

diapers (all the parts of a diaper if you are using cloth diapers or a hybrid system)
some way to dispose of the dirty diaper – if using cloth diapers a wet bag or a diaper pail for either.
diaper rash ointment (my favorite was CJ’s BUTTer, but it appears to have gone up significantly in price. If you use cloth diapers you need to make sure the diaper rash ointment doesn’t ruin the diaper. CJ’s BUTTer is safe for cloth diapers)
wipes & optional wipes warmer if using a changing table – also you CAN use a wipes warmer with cloth wipes, just make sure the opening is large enough. Check out Prince Lionheart Wipes Warmer if you want to see one that works.
changing pad and cover for baby to lay on

If you are setting up a diaper changing basket you should have the following in it:

something to lay your baby on while you change his diapers. A blanket works well.
diapers (all the parts of a diaper if you are using cloth diapers or a hybrid system)
if using cloth diapers a wet bag or you could keep a diaper pail in an inconspicuous spot.
diaper rash ointment
wipes
change of clothes for your baby
something to lay your baby on while you change his diapers. A blanket works well for this

After having your baby you will just want to spend time snuggling it. By doing the above, this makes your time postpartum a bit more comfortable and less stressful. Mom Smart Not Hard has even more great ideas on preparing for baby.

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