Motherhood Mondays: Packing for the hospital Part II

A couple of weeks ago I shared my list of essentials to pack for when you're about to go into hospital to deliver your baby. Today, I've compiled a list of the baby things I packed in my baby's hospital bag that I found most useful.
The hospital I delivered at (Medi Clinic Cape Town) provides new mothers with a baby bag packed with all the essentials, including one pack of newborn nappies, wipes, vaseline, and cotton wool. There were lots of other goodies included too - I just can't seem to remember them all (must be all the morphine I was on after my c-section!). They also provided babygros (which belong to the hospital), so parents who plan on giving birth at Medi Clinic Cape Town only need to take a 'going home' outfit for their baby. However, I packed about three outfits for every day that we were in hospital (so a total of 12 baby outfits) because I knew that I'd want to dress Bean up in his own little clothes. Here, my list of baby essentials to take along:

1 pack of nappies

As I mentioned above, the hospital provides one bag of nappies but I wasn't sure how many nappies Bean would go through in one day, so I decided to pack an extra bag, just in case. I ended up not using the extra bag, but I think it's worth packing all the same, because you never know!

1 pack of baby wipes

Again, the hospital provided these for me, but your hospital may not necessarily provide you with a pack. I found that cotton wool and good old water worked just as well, though - especially on a newborn baby's super-sensitive, brand-new skin.

Baby wash

Pack the gentlest baby wash you can find - I'd personally recommend Naturals Beauty RR Baby Range Gel Body Wash and Shampoo, which is a gorgeously silky wash that's free of parabens, sulphates, soap and allergens. It's not necessary to bath your newborn baby daily as they don't get very dirty, but it's a good idea to ask the nurses to show you how before you head home.

Baby lotion

Again, something gentle and free of parabens and other nasties is a good bet. Naturals Beauty RR Range also does a fabulous, all-natural baby lotion that contains avocado oil, shea butter, jojobo oil and aloe to soothe and nourish your baby's delicate skin. (The Naturals Beauty RR range consists of the gel body wash and shampoo, body lotion and a milk wash and costs only R200 for the set on Hello Pretty).

Bum cream

The nurses at Medi Clinic Cape Town recommended that I use vaseline, but I prefer using a specially-formulated bum cream. My ultimate bum cream is Fissan Baby Paste but I find that Clicks Baby Bum Cream is a similar product that works just as well, but at a fraction of the cost. (Think over R50 versus R18!)

Baby outfits

I don't know where I came across the idea to pack three outfits per day, but that's what I did. I figured that babies have a tendency to spit up and have other 'accidents' all over themselves, so I wanted to be prepared. In the end, I didn't use more than about two outfits per day (so a total of 7 for my four day, three night hospital stay), but I'd still recommend packing three outfits per day so that you have several outfits to choose on, depending on your mood, the weather, etc. 

Baby blankets

The hospital also provided us with blankets for the duration of our stay, but I was glad that I packed my own as well. 

What were some of your baby bag essentials for your hospital stay?