Ever since my 5th child was born back in 2007, I have kept a basket in the living room filled with mama and baby supplies I want to have readily available following a new baby’s birth. One of my lovely readers reminded me just the other day that I needed to get mine ready.
This summer, I purchased a rectangular basket for this purpose. I had been using a much smaller square basket with graduated sides prior to this and had not been happy with how scrunched everything was in there. This size of basket I am sure will prove to be much easier to find things in.
The contents of the basket vary according to what my needs are with each baby, but some staple mama and baby supplies are as follows:
*diapers – as you see in mine, I have both cloth diapers and disposable diapers available. I also have sizes for both Micah and the new baby. This makes it easy for anyone to change the baby and/or the toddler.
*wipes – need I say more? 😉
*nursing pads – even after 7 babies, these are a must for me. My favorite kind are made by CURITY. I’ve never had a leak with them, unlink all the others I’ve tried, cloth included.
*chapstick – my fave is the Peppermint Lip Balm from HardLotion.com. It is actually going to the hospital with me as well. I use it every single day and LOVE it!
*diaper rash cream – also a HardLotion.com product that I mentioned in this post. This rash cream is wonderful and soothes and heals very quickly.
*burp rag or receiving blanket – with my first child, receiving blankets were burp rags (he was one of those spitty babies!) I like to have one handy for those times when you are caught off guard by a little extra spit or simply need to clean up a spill nearby (from a toddler who thinks your drink is his no matter how full it is and no matter how breakable the glass is).
*pen & paper – it never fails, I sit down to nurse and the phone rings or I think of something I need to do, but by the time I am ready to get up, mother-brain has taken over and I can’t remember diddly. Having a pen and paper nearby takes the pain out of mother-brain!
*a book – although sitting down with baby tends to induce snoozing, I do like to have a book handy for those moments when I am coherent enough to read. Right now I am reading Let Us Highly Resolve (can’t wait to share more of what I am reading about in this book!), but I imagine I’ll also be adding some Sonlight read-alouds to the mix in a couple of weeks.
And if you look closely at the photo above, you will see my rice pillow sitting on my chair. {it’s the camouflage looking thing} This pillow is worth its weight in gold! All it is is a twill piece of fabric, sewn up like a pillow, filled with long-grain rice, and stitched shut. You can do this with a tube sock and simply tie it off, but I wanted a larger surface area. I usually put mine in the microwave for 3-4 minutes and enjoy a good half hour of ache-soothing bliss!
So, there you have what works for me when it comes to nursing and taking care of essentials. What little tips and tricks do you have for making mommyhood more efficient after the birth of a new baby?
Grace Wheeler says
I do this too!
Vickie says
I LOVE my rice bag too. In fact, I was using it tonight on my shoulder. I need one more session before going to bed.
What a neat idea (the basket). I wish I’d thought of this when I was still having babies. Now I adopt ‘kids’ lol But I’ll try and remember this when the next set of grandkids come along 🙂
God’s Blessings
Annie @ Beauty In The Surrender says
I too have a mom’s basket in my home. It has a handle and everything so that I can move it from room to room as needed. One thing that has just occurred to me is the fact that this would be a great idea for giving as a gift to an expectant mom! I don’t know why I have never thought of this before! I have two special people in my life who are expecting babies and this would be a wonderful, practical gift! I could take a basket and fill it with some goodies!
Thanks for the inspiration Amy! ?
Blessings!
Amy says
That is a good gift idea, Annie!
Christine says
What a terrific idea! I love it, Amy!
Sally says
I too, used receiving blankets for spit up. My daughter would spit up BUCKETS after each feeding and those rinky dink little spit cloths that Walmart sold did absolutely NOTHING. Then, my sister-in-law, who has five children and is having no more (she says the factory is closed), gave me all of her “spit towels”. They were bathroom hand towels!!! WOW! They were absolutely WONDERFUL. They were absorbent, soft and the perfect size. I highly recommend them to any new mom. They are cheap too!
I had a small basket near me when I nursed as well…gassy drops were a must! I also threw in some nail polish, some clippers and a file. I was able to do a little manicuring while baby nursed…relaxing and refreshing!
Great ideas, thanks again! Hope all is well with your baby…I check every day for “news”!!! 🙂
Betty says
I have a nursing basket for me, and an activity box for our toddlers to play with while I nurse our new babes. 😉 Love feeling a bit ready for their needs and my own. 😉
Milehimama says
I do the same thing! But I also have pain reliever (for after a new baby), an extra onesie and plastic bags (for blowouts.) And I add put the thermometer in there too – so I can find it if I need it, LOL.
Angela says
I always set up a changing table in my living room when a new baby is about to arrive. I would keep diapers, wipes, diaper rash cream, hand sanitizer, burp rags, receiving blankets, and extra sleepers on the shelf of the changing table. When the twins were born, I instead set up a pack ‘n’ play (with changing station attached) in the living room to make not only diaper changes convenient, but also daytime naps. This always worked great for me since our bedrooms are on the upstairs level of our two-story home.
Enjoy these final moments of preparing for baby!! I prayed for you last night!
Love,
Angela
Amy says
Great idea! I have 4 1/2 weeks left until #5 arrives (or less!), and I wasn’t even thinking about this! I’m off to find a basket 🙂
Natalie @ Naddy's Blog says
What a great idea! Definitely will try this this next time around. 🙂
Jenny says
I have one of those baskets too! Mine is not as pretty and has become a catch-all basket as of late, but when I have an infant it MUST contain a snack (like crackers), the TV remote, a good book/magazine, my cell phone, and chapstick. There is nothing like getting all settled with a nursing baby and then realizing your lips hurt. I always make sure to have a glass of water with me as well, even though it can’t go in the basket. Basically the only the thing my basket can’t help me with is if the baby falls asleep and I realize I have to pee 🙂
Grateful for Grace says
Immediately I noticed your diapers! I heart my Rumparooz!! And I agree about the Curity pads. They are the *only* ones that worked for me. Only one store in town sold them when I had my first. I remember driving there soaking wet because I had run our and My Sweetie was out of town. Sigh. I, too, tried all kinds, including cloth.
Just stopped by your blog for the first time because you were rec’d by a friend.
blessings!
Autumn Beck says
What an awesome idea! We’ll have our 5th in December and I love that I’m still learning new tips every day. This is going to help so much 🙂
Sara says
I do this too and it saves my sanity. However, I don’t keep diapers in there. We bought a small bench with cubbies in it. The cloth diapers go in there, sorted by size (since we usually have two in diapers at the same time.) There are baskets on top for the wetbags, snappis, rash creams, extra set of clothes, etc. In my nursing basket, which has a handle, I keep a small snack in a recloseable container, my knitting bag, waterbottle, book, chapstick, and any other little things I think of. Usually the basket needs to be emptied and restocked at the end of the day as I pick up odd things and run out of things. I also stock a special basket of activities that are easy to clean up and only available to the toddler during nursing sessions. Finally, I have a special closed basket that sits on the back of the downstairs toilet, to hold my peri-rinse bottle, mama cloth, wipes, etc. I keep another one upstairs. That way I don’t have to carry things up and down with me.
Sarah says
Great idea! I just had my 3rd child, we home school and due to the need of money I work part time teaching preschool in my home. Since I know we’ll spend a lot of time upstairs and downstairs I’m going to have to have two baskets…one for up and one for down. I know with my other kids I had a stash of diapers and stuff downstairs, but I love the idea of a basket with handles. When it needs to be restocked I can simply take it upstairs to restock it. Thanks for the great idea..when I’m ready I’ll create my baskets. For now I mainly nurse in my room in bed (most comfortable seat in the house since I had a c-section) so I have everything in my room, including my favorite clothes of his. A basket would sure make everything look nicer though.
Amy says
Yes, a basket does contain it nicely. Congratulations on your new little one!