As you can imagine, parents find themselves staying overnight in the hospital. For us, it was actually a short stay with our 3 month old having a bad infection and needing some IV antibiotics.
First and foremost, please be kind to yourself. It is so easy to blame yourself for whatever ails your child, but you are doing your best, and all kids (and adults for that matter) get sick. I was spinning, thinking that I should have brought my son in sooner or that I should have known that this runny nose was different than every other one (and every one of his brother’s), but the doctor reminded me that I did everything that they recommend. That sometimes, you just have some bad luck and bacteria gets somewhere that you don’t want it.
So, despite my husband and my best efforts, we found ourselves in the hospital for a few days with a sick infant while trying to wrangle a toddler at home.
The first night is never easy, obviously, you are thrown into a situation and rarely have time to get everything that you need. Hopefully, at some point you or your partner will be able to head home or to the store to grab a few essentials. Here’s what my husband and I found that worked for us.
FOR BABY
Sound Machine - Our Favorite is the Hatch Rest Go
Until I had an infant with colic, I thought that portable sound machines were unnecessary. Not anymore. Unless we wanted to hear him scream all day, every day, the sounds machine was essential. We love our Hatch Rest Go for several reasons.
Hatch Rest Go is compact and easy to take along with you
It is rechargeable, so you don’t need to be tied to an outlet
It has a great clip to attach anywhere, we were able to attach it to the hospital crib polE
They come in fun, cute colors to match your room or diaper bag
Plus, we use Hatch Sound Machine all over our house, we have a Rest+ in our boy’s room for night time sleeps, a Rest+ in the playroom for mid-day snoozes and a Hatch Mini in the master bedroom. Even though we don’t need to have the Hatch app to use the Hatch Rest Go, we have it for the rest of our sound machines, meaning that whatever room we are in — or the night at the hospital that we didn’t have the Hatch Rest Go, and needed to use the phone app, or wherever we take the portable one; the sounds are the same so that our little one feels like he’s in his bed where ever we go.
Your Favorite Wipes - Pampers Aqua Pure Sensitive Baby Wipes
I know that hospitals have their own wipes, but we are creatures of habit and love the wipes that we use. We just didn’t find their wipes to be as good as the Pampers ones that we always use and they seemed to irritate our little guy’s tushy. All of this to say that for us, it was worth it to have our favorite wipes with us. Plus it helped us to keep our toddler clean when driving to and from the hospital and when we had dinners in the hospital’s family room.
Feeding Pillow - Boppy
I really tired to not use a Boppy when I was at the hospital — both when our littles were born and during our stay, but it just makes feeding frustrating. For one, both my little one and I are used to the comfort of the Boppy pillow and how we’re sink into it when bonding or feeding. Second, trying to feed a sick baby on an uncomfortable chair who is hooked up to wires and machines is difficult to say the least.
Grabbing our Boppy from home allowed us to feed baby with ease and for us to have some tummy time with him as well. Being a mom who had two NICU babies, I didn’t realize that the pediatrics floor didn’t have some of the luxuries that Mother-Baby and the NICU did.
Bottles - Phillips Advent Glass
Thankfully, I had bottles with me when I went to the doctor, but when I was our of the room for a
short period of time, the nurses started to feed my little with a bottle and nipple from the hospital. Suffice it to say, that feeding did not go well. We went from feeding 3 oz to .5 oz because he wasn’t used to the bottle.
We made the decision to go with glass bottles because I liked the weight, but also I didn’t want to deal with the potential issues that come with plastic.
Bottle longevity — glass bottles last longer than their plastic counterparts, which was great because we are using them for our second now
Stability — they are sturdy bottles, and we have dropped them. We have only had one break, and it was just at the threading, no shattering here.
Heat Resistant — We can boil them for a deep clean, and I never worried about heated sanitization
And you will find that with your baby, they are the boss. Ours liked the nipples that went with these bottles, but the old version, while the 3 month old likes the new nipples.
FOR MOM & DAD
Slippers
It may sound dumb to think about your comfort while dealing with being in the hospital, but after being on your feet all day in your shoes, all you are going to want to do is take them off, and really do you want your stocking feet on a hospital floor? I’m going to go out on a limb here and say, NO!
Slippers help you to have just enough comfort, but still allow you to be moving around and taking care of your little one. These slippers are great for hospitals and everyday life. I love them because they have higher sides, so that in the winter my ankles don’t get cold. Plus they are cute to boot.
Blanket & Pillow
I learned about this one the hard way when I was in the hospital for 5 weeks prior
to delivering my little man. I was surprised that the nurses and doctors encouraged me to feel as at home as possible. Now, hopefully you aren’t going to be in the hospital with your little one for too long, but having a nice blanket with you and your own pillow can help you get much needed sleep
Firestick/Roku
At some hospitals, the televisions have ports where you can connect a Firestick or Roku. It’s nice to be able to watch your shows when you have time and when you want to. It’s silly, I know, but you may not want to figure out regular TV during a stressful time when you haven’t had cable in years. It’s a silly
Comfortable Cardigan
I don’t know how much time you have spent in a hospital lately, but the temperature is all over the place. During our last stay, it ranged from 65 -85 degrees at different times of the day. I have no idea who sets the temp in that place, but I found myself having intense temperature swings. A cardigan was perfect. I could wear a short sleeved shirt and when the temperature swung, simply throw on a cardigan and take it off just as easily when the hot flashes it.
Breast Pump
If you are a mom that is pumping, you know the pain of needing to
pump while everything is crazy all around you. Now think about that and using a strange pump all at the same time. Look, I know that hospital pumps are great, but I am used to my pump and how it fits, the amount of suction and how long it takes to get what I need out of it. I could be a lot to bring with you, but for me, it was worth carting the pump back and forward to keep the consistency and avoid clogged ducts and mastitis.
Hopefully, you never find yourself in the hospital with an infant, but if you do, these items should help you and your little to be more comfortable until you are able to get yourself and your little home.
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