10 Affordable Postpartum Essentials You Never Knew You Needed

There is so much to focus on after giving birth and coping with postpartum recovery. These 10 affordable postpartum essentials you never knew you needed will be the postpartum must haves you will be so thankful to have.

I went a little rogue when I was preparing to give birth to my first child, Zoey.

Instead of attending any birthing classes, I listened to tons of podcasts and did a lot of reading about pregnancy, birth, and early postpartum days.

Over the course of two weekends, I cooked over 30 freezer recipes to ensure I had plenty of freezer meals on hand.

I didn’t find baby clothes cute, but rather an impossibly small necessity that I meticulously washed.

I spent hours planning for my maternity leave. Still being a teacher at the time with 6 separate classes as the ESL Specialist, AVID Teacher, and Reading Interventionist, I was required to leave detailed lesson plans, copies, and materials for all 6 classes during my time away.

I scoured Pinterest and blogs for birth stories and lists of what items I would need both at the hospital and once I was home dealing with postpartum recovery.

While all of these things had me well prepared for the actual arrival of Zoey, there were a few more affordable postpartum essentials I wish I had at the ready once we brought her home and started getting into the swing of newborn life.

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Common Postpartum Essentials

These 9 items listed below were key to my body comfort in those early postpartum days. I highly recommend you pack these with you to go the hospital.

Reach out to your birthing center and find out which of these items they might provide for you. The birthing hospital wing in Colorado provided about half of these. The one in Minnesota provided about a quarter.

Definitely arm yourself with the commonly affordable postpartum essentials of:

• Lanolin Nipple Cream – I used this cream throughout my breastfeeding journey with all 3 kids.

• Medela Soothing Gel Pads – These felt so so good in between feeds those first few days.

• Pads – Opt for the longest you can tolerate with the highest absorbency for those first 1-2 weeks. Then you can down shift to a less absorbent, but still go with the longest version.

• Large, Comfy, Moisture-Wicking Underwear – Don’t spend too much money here as you might throw out a few pairs. Definitely opt for the moisture-wicking version to help with all the changing hormones.

• Reusable Nursing Pads – I loved that I could wash these ones and they were super comfortable. I had a few of the disposable ones in the diaper bag at all times in case I needed some back up. The disposable ones were a bit bulkier, but they worked.

• Stool Softener – You won’t need this many, but just a few in that first week.

• Ibuprofen – With all the running about you have to do, especially if you have a few little ones at home already, this will be so welcome in the early days.

• Cozy Baby Carrier. I adored our ring sling and so did all 3 babies. You don’t need to bring this one to the hospital, but have it ready for you when you get home.

10 affordable postpartum essentials you never knew you needed

Apart from the common items listed above, I highly recommend having these other affordable postpartum essentials at the ready.

1. Lots of Freezer Meals and Snacks

Having freezer meals and snacks on hand were key to me when I was home alone with Zoey. Dinners were relatively easy to get on the table as Rob would cook when he got home from work, or hold the baby while I threw something together.

The real struggle was putting together food during the day. One handed snacks, one handed meals, and meals that didn’t need babysitting were vital.

There was one point in those first few months when I tried to make some pasta. Zoey started crying just as it was time to drain the pasta. I left it on the stove (turned off) and went to tend to her. When I got back, the pasta was completely ruined, having absorbed all the water left into the pot into the noodles.

Blame it on hunger or postpartum hormones, but I sat on the kitchen floor and cried.

Seriously, do the prep work now (or enlist a friend to help you) and get your freezer stocked.

You can get my epic recipe ebook, Freezer Feasts, of over 40 tried and true freezer meals and snacks that the whole family loved. These are the best recipes that I made from over a 100 freezer meals.

Freezer Feasts is organized into sets, with a breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snack in each set. Each set comes with a shopping list, plan of attack to maximize your kitchen time, and ideas of what to do with those odd and end leftovers.

2. A Big Water Bottle With a Straw

Whether you are breastfeeding or not, your postpartum body needs tons of water. Not just for the adjustment in hormones, but to compensate for all the missed sleep.

Get yourself an obnoxiously large water bottle with a straw. Keep this water bottle wherever you feed the baby most often. You never know when you are going to be happily stuck under a sleeping babe and to maximize your cuddles, having a water bottle right near you gives you that chance.

3. A Mattress Protector

My postpartum hormones were a bit crazy in terms of body changes. For those first 3 weeks after all the kids were born, I couldn’t stop sweating at night.

Like a lot.

On top of the sweat, I would often wake up in a little puddle of breastmilk. Having a mattress protector under your sheets is an easy way to protect your mattress so you can sweat and leak all you need to on the rare occasions you actually get some rest.

Heads up on the Amazon choice for mattress protector: We had this one on Zoey’s bed for a while (for night time accidents) and she really didn’t like it. It would crinkle when she moved around her bed and she found that frustrating. We replaced it with this one, which is much softer and makes no noise when you move.

4. A Really Good Deodorant

My postpartum body stinks. Worse than pregnancy body. Worse than post-marathon body.

All those shifting hormones, all the stale milk, all the spit up, all the showers I didn’t have time to take, all the spilled meals I tried to eat one handed. It all added up to being extra smelly.

Get a really good deodorant that you don’t mind putting on 2-3 times per day as needed. If you already have one that you like, stock up before baby arrives so it is one less thing you have to hold in your postpartum brain.

5. A Blue Lightbulb

Now hear me out on this one because I know it is kind of out of the blue (I couldn’t resist).

I went to teacher training when I was pregnant with Zoey and the instructor, finding out it was my first baby, had all kinds of advice to give.

While most of her advice was pretty standard, the one that stood out was to get a blue lightbulb to put in the light where I would feed the baby most often during the night. The goal is to make a softer light in the room and as she put it, “Red is too murder house-y.”

I have to tell you, it worked.

I bought one blue lightbulb when Zoey was born and used the same one for both William and Hazel. It creates a nice soft glow, doesn’t fully wake anyone up, and still allows you to see what you are doing for those 2am diaper changes and on-demand feedings.

6. A Strong Breastfeeding Pillow

A breastfeeding pillow is essential whether you breastfeed or bottle feed. Having that extra support under your little one makes it so much easier to feed her without worrying about a cramping arm or juggling for a good position.

I had a Boppy pillow for all three kids and really loved it, up until the third child. It lost a lot of its fluffiness because it was used so much. It didn’t lose it’s comfort to the kids (as you can see from this passed out William on top of the Boppy), but it did get harder to comfortable feed a baby using it.

I highly recommend the My Breast Friend pillow as it is more structured. You can go with a Boppy as well, it worked great, but know that it doesn’t withstand the use through three children.

7. A Chest Freezer

Having extra freezer space for baby’s arrival works to your benefit in two ways.

The first, it gives you extra space to store all those freezer meals. Let’s not forget that even though you made a bunch, your friends and neighbors are going to want to drop off some more for you. Let them and then stash what you can in the freezer.

The second, you have plenty of space to store that pumped breastmilk. It gets a bit heartbreaking when you have to choose between more stored milk in the available freezer space versus a frozen item you like to have on hand.

Adding a chest freezer to your freezer storage options can be game changing.

8. A Second Bassinet (or Bouncer or Pack ‘n Play)

Sure you have a bassinet in your bedroom for the baby to sleep at night, but where do you put the baby down during the day?

I know, I know, you don’t want to put the baby down at all, but there will be moments when you get to hop in the shower or go to the bathroom alone and having a second spot to put your baby would be ideal.

When we first brought Zoey home from the hospital, we quickly realized we had no place to put her down. This included a bedside bassinet as Zoey arrived 3 weeks and one day early, so we were a bit unprepared.

We soon found ourselves with a beside bassinet for upstairs, a bouncer for the kitchen (we absolutely adore the Baby Bjorn one), and a Rock ‘n Play for the living room. Rock ‘n Plays have since been recalled, but something like this baby swing would be perfect.

If you have a kid thrift store near you, you can easily find these items there. We went to a Once Upon a Child for a bassinet and a pack ‘n play for a deal. It really helped to make these affordable postpartum essentials easier on the wallet.

9. Bluetooth Headphones

Zoey was a slow eater as a baby. She is still a slow eater as a 5 year old. In those early days, I found myself quite bored and craving having something to listen to that wouldn’t disturb her or anyone around me (sleeping or awake).

A pair of bluetooth headphones works perfectly in these situations. Easily carried around in a pocket and when I found myself in a slow eating trap, or happily cozied up under a sleeping babe, I could still listen to a podcast. I am a big fan of these Soundcore ones.

10. A Video Streaming Service

I realize this one is very popular as everyone already has one or multiple streaming services, but back when it was only Netflix, I could not have been happier to have an endless supply of shows and movies to dive into on those languishing with a baby days.

Find a show on one of those streaming services that you can get really into and let yourself enjoy those baby cuddles as much as you can. (I also realize this is mainly only possible with your first child, but still highly recommend.)

11. The Vagina Coach

I know this post is only 10 affordable postpartum essentials you never knew you needed, but this one has to be added.

After William was born, I had a bladder prolapse, which was scary and uncomfortable. My OB even let me do my postpartum check up two weeks early because I was so freaked out about what was happening.

From then, I learned so much about strengthening my pelvic floor, how to prevent and correct prolapses, all about diastis recti, and what kegels actually do.

It would have been wonderful to have a course like The Vagina Coach’s, Prepare to Push. This program starts while you are pregnant and carries over to postpartum. Not only will you be preparing your body to have the best labor possible, but you will be completely empowered as you navigate those postpartum vagina changes.

Once Zoey arrived, there was so much to deal with – your own body, hormones (hey sweat everywhere), bleeding (no one talks about this!), breastfeeding (it didn’t go well), high blood pressure (thanks HELLP syndrome), trying to feed myself (it was really hard), and attempting to be productive while she napped (I wasn’t).

Get your 10 affordable postpartum essentials you never knew you needed in place now so you do not have to fumble and futz around to get what you need while you are trying to care for a newborn, yourself, and any other children.