15 Things You Should Do To Prepare for Your New Baby
On October 12, 2020 by Megan FolsomThere are a few simple things that you can do a few weeks before your baby is born to make life go A LOT smoother!
Once that baby comes, you will be running on no sleep, your hormones will be all over the place, and your body will be recovering for weeks. Things will slip through the cracks and you won’t even realize for awhile because of sleep-deprivation.
The more prepared you can be, the better. I’ve compiled a quick list of things that you can do to prepare that will help you. Plus, doing this will help you feel productive and keep you distracted during those dreaded last few weeks of pregnancy!
What to do to prepare for your newborn’s arrival:
- Buy and install blackout curtains. Once that baby comes, you will be sleeping during all times of the day and night when possible. It’s also important to make night as dark as possible to teach baby the difference between day and night. We got these cute curtains and love them.
- Have carseat and mirror ready to go. Contrary to popular belief, you don’t necessarily want to install the carseat very long before baby is born. If you get in any kind of accident with the car seat installed (even if the seat doesn’t appear to be damaged), you actually have to get an entirely new carseat. Most manufacturers will usually replace it for free, but you’ll still have to deal with the headache of contacting them and shipping yours back. We loved this infant carseat!
- We loved having a mirror above the carseat, so that we could check on our baby at all times from the front seat. It’s fun to interact with him through it, now that he’s older.
- Prepare your postpartum care basket. Wondering what you should include? I put together a list of postpartum must-haves!
- Clean out your fridge. No one wants to come home from the hospital to a bunch of expired and moldy food. It’ll also be a good way to do a quick inventory on what essentials you need to stock up on.
- Take care of your finances. Set up auto-payments or make a master list of what’s due when and put it somewhere you will remember. The worst feeling is waking up one day wondering what the heck the date is and if you missed a payment. You can also call or log on and make payments ahead of time.
- Prepare a breastfeeding/formula station. I have a whole post on what I always made sure to have at mine.
- Organize your nightstand. This may or may not be similar to a breastfeeding station for you, but be sure to have any midnight snacks (you’ll be starving if you’re breastfeeding) and other products you need in the middle of the night, like the best nipple butter ever.
- Wash and change your sheets. Nothing will feel better than coming home to your own bed and having clean sheets. You’ll also want to be sure to wash your crib or bassinet sheets before using them and you may want to consider putting them on.
- Get gas. Make sure that you have enough gas in your car to make it to your hospital at all times in your last few weeks. Chances are, you’ll have time to stop on your way if you don’t, but that will be the last thing you want to do while you’re in labor.
- Fill out the hospital pre-registration paperwork. You can ask your OBGYN office for this paperwork if they forget to give it to you like mine did. It’s not necessary to fill out ahead of time, but will save you a lot of time in the waiting room before getting checked in.
- Mani/Pedi. Go somewhere to be pampered before your big day or do your own! Either way, you will feel so much more prepared and put together in the hospital, especially when you’re feeling all frumpy and gross the first couple of weeks after birth. Plus, your hands will be in a lot of pictures holding your cute baby and you’ll never have to worry about them looking good. Learn all about at home gel manicure must-haves on my site soon!
- Finish packing your hospital bag. It’s hard to have everything completely packed if you aren’t sure what day you’ll be going to the hospital. To help myself remember everything, I kept a list on top of my partially packed back with all of the last minute things I would need to through in that I was still using daily.
- Check out all of my must-haves for mom, partner and baby along with my printable checklist!
- Prep your letter board. Whether you already know your baby’s full name or just the last name and birth month/year, fill it with all the info you have so far. This will save time when you are trying to take a cute letter board announcement picture in the hospital or at home.
- Last minute returns and exchanges. Once that baby comes, you will definitely not want to be running around exchanging things from the baby shower or make returns of maternity clothes you never wore. Try to get all of these last minute errands out of the way before you leave for the hospital. Your house will feel less cluttered, you’ll have more money back in your bank and you won’t be stressing about errands once baby comes.
- Sanitize. Pull out your breast pump parts, your haakaa (a must-have!) and pacifiers (our favorites and only ones we ever used). Boil them or use a sanitizer, so that everything is ready for baby.
Most importantly, try to enjoy your last few weeks of quiet. It’s normal to feel antsy for baby to come, but try to remember they will be here so soon!
RELATED POST: All of My Newborn and Baby Registry Must-Haves
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