Postpartum recovery stations around your house

Setting your timeline starts with the due date. Use the calculator to know exactly when to have stations ready.

Why stations work

In the first 2 weeks postpartum, your body hurts. Your hormones are crashing. Your sleep is shattered. Your brain is foggy. Your milk is coming in. You're learning a tiny new human's signals.

Every trip to get supplies is a real cost. Going to the kitchen for water is a 50-step journey. Going to the bathroom requires a peri bottle, mesh underwear, pads, and witch hazel pads. If those aren't right there, you walk through the house in pain, possibly with a baby in arms, looking for what you need.

Stations solve this. Every place you'll spend time has the supplies you need within arm's reach.

Station 1: Bedside

You'll spend a lot of time in bed for the first 2 weeks. Stage on a bedside table or rolling cart:

For mom

• 32-ounce water bottle with a straw (refill nightly).
• Phone charger (10-foot cable).
• Lip balm.
• Hair ties (you'll lose them).
• Lanolin or breast cream.
• Nursing pads (a few in a small dish).
• Burp cloths (3 to 5).
• Spit-up bib (an absorbent one).
• Pain reliever (the brand your provider okayed).
• Stool softener (Colace).
• Tissues.
• Snacks (granola bars, trail mix, dried fruit, dark chocolate). Refill every morning.
• A small flashlight or dim phone light for night feeds.
• Notebook and pen for tracking feeds, diapers, and weird-3-AM-questions.
• A book or e-reader. You may have surprising stretches of awake-but-stuck time.
• Remote, glasses, anything personal.

For baby

• A few diapers within reach (in case of a middle-of-night change).
• A small pack of wipes (warmed if you have a wipe warmer).
• An extra swaddle.
• An extra onesie in case of leak-through.
• A pacifier (if using).

Station 2: Bathroom

The bathroom is where most postpartum care happens. Stage on a basket or caddy beside the toilet:

• Peri bottle. The FridaMom upside-down version is significantly better than the hospital's. Fill with warm water. Squirt while peeing to dilute and reduce sting.
• Mesh underwear. The hospital's mesh underwear is great. Bring extras home. Many moms wear these for the first 5 to 7 days.
• Adult disposable underwear (Always Discreet, FridaMom). For the next 2 to 3 weeks.
• Overnight maxi pads. Two or three packs. You'll bleed for 4 to 6 weeks.
• Witch hazel pads (Tucks). Apply to the perineum.
• Padsicles in the freezer. See below for the recipe.
• Spray bottle of cool water (alternative to peri bottle).
• Numbing spray (Dermoplast). Apply after using the bathroom for several days.
• Sitz bath kit with epsom salts and a herbal blend. Use 2 to 3 times daily for the first week.
• Hemorrhoid cream (Preparation H). Postpartum hemorrhoids are common.
• Stool softeners (Colace). Start the day after delivery.
• A small trash can with a lid. Strict no-look pad disposal.
• Hand sanitizer. Save trips to the sink.

Padsicle recipe

Take a large overnight maxi pad. Open it on a tray. Drizzle: 2 tablespoons witch hazel + 1 teaspoon aloe vera gel + 5 drops lavender essential oil (optional). Refold pad in the wrapper. Freeze. Use one whenever you change a pad in the first week.

Make 20 to 30 of these the week before due date. They keep in the freezer for months.

Station 3: Feeding chair

Whether you breastfeed, bottle-feed, or both, you'll have a primary feeding spot. Usually a glider or comfortable chair. Stage on a side table or small cart next to it:

For breastfeeding

• Nursing pillow (Boppy, My Brest Friend, or a side-lying pillow).
• Burp cloths (5+).
• Lanolin or breast cream.
• A small dish for used breast pads.
• Nipple shield (if you use one).
• Haakaa or other passive milk catcher (catches let-down from the other side).
• 32-ounce water bottle with straw.
• One-handed snack (granola bar, trail mix, banana, lactation cookie).
• TV remote, phone charger, book or e-reader.
• A blanket for warmth or modesty.
• A spit-up rag for your shoulder.

For bottle-feeding (formula or pumped)

• 3 to 4 clean bottles.
• Formula (if using) in a labeled container ready to scoop.
• Small water pitcher or thermos of warm water if you premix.
• Burp cloths (5+).
• Bottle brush within reach for quick washes.
• Water bottle for you.
• Snack.
• Bib (the kind with sleeves for spit-up).
• Phone charger, remote, book.

Station 4: Diaper changing area

Don't rely on a single nursery changing pad. In the first weeks, you'll change diapers in 3 to 5 different rooms. Stage mini-stations:

Main diaper station (nursery or wherever you'll do most changes)

• Changing pad with a fitted cover (and a backup cover).
• Diapers in two sizes (newborn and size 1; you'll move through them fast).
• Wipes (the box, not single travel packs).
• Diaper rash cream (Aquaphor for prevention, zinc oxide cream for active rash).
• A diaper pail or trash can with a tight lid.
• 3 to 5 onesies in two sizes.
• Burp cloths.
• Hand sanitizer.
• A small mobile or distraction toy at the changing table.

Downstairs diaper station (if your nursery is upstairs)

• Portable changing pad.
• 10 diapers in two sizes.
• A pack of wipes.
• Diaper rash cream.
• Extra onesie and burp cloth.

Living room caddy

• A small caddy with diapers, wipes, and burp cloths next to wherever you sit most.
• Reusable change pads.

Wipe warmers are optional but loved by parents in cold houses. Babies (and you) appreciate not having a cold wipe in the middle of the night.

Station 5: Partner station

The partner needs setup too. Stage what they need to do their share without asking:

• Their own water bottle.
• Snacks.
• Phone charger.
• A "shift bag" with diapers, wipes, burp cloths, pacifier, and a swaddle for nighttime feedings or changes.
• A list of important numbers (pediatrician, lactation consultant, your OB, the hospital).
• A simple cheat sheet for baby's feeding amounts if pumping or formula feeding.
• Earplugs (for when mom is on baby duty and partner needs to sleep through a feeding).
• Headphones (for not waking baby).
• A book or device for the night shift.

What to pre-stage in the kitchen

Not technically a station, but worth doing:

• One-handed snacks at eye level (granola bars, trail mix, dried fruit, chocolate).
• Easy-grab breakfast (oatmeal cups, yogurt, instant oatmeal).
• Freezer meals (lasagnas, soups, casseroles, breakfast burritos). Aim for 10 to 15.
• Electrolyte drinks (Liquid IV, coconut water, watered-down Gatorade).
• Lactation tea or galactagogue (if breastfeeding and looking to support supply).
• Big water pitcher with a wide handle, on the counter.
• Paper plates and disposable utensils for the first 2 weeks (no one is doing dishes).

When to set up

Week 37 to 38. Late enough that you're nesting and the bump is huge. Early enough that you're not racing against actual labor.

Items to buy: order most of this online by week 35 to avoid last-minute panic. Padsicles take a day or two to make and freeze.

What to skip from "every postpartum kit list"

• Fancy nursing teas. Most don't do much. A simple oatmeal-and-water diet supports supply more.
• Adult onesie sets you'll only wear for a week.
• Belly binders. Some moms love them; many don't use them. Wait and see.
• Multiple breast pumps. One pump is enough.
• Specialty nursing covers. A muslin blanket works.
• Anything that requires charging if your phone already does the job (white noise machine in the bedroom is the exception; phones die).

The minimum viable version

If you can't do all five stations, do these three: bathroom, bedside, feeding chair. They cover 90% of the trips you'd otherwise have to make.