I already shared my recipe to my
Amazing Dark Chocolate Lactation Cookies earlier this week and now I'm back to share how I packaged up this yummy new mommy treat with a care package full of my favorite postpartum/newborn things.
Let's be real, the 3-4 weeks after the baby is born are overwhelming. No matter how many kids you've had and how many times you've done it, newborns are weird little creatures that literally suck the life right out of you. They are amazing and adorable too, don't get me wrong. But I've always wondered why none of the moms I knew warned me about postpartum.
Oh sure, everyone shares their bloody birth stories, but no one says - "Oh, by the way, you'll have to wear mesh underpants with frozen maxi pads strapped to your nether-regions for at least a week afterward, all while continuing to bleed, and learn how to nurse your newborn on little to no sleep, while you sweat for no apparent reason. Good luck!" Nope, no one said that to me once!
So, if you know soon-to-be first-time mom, give her a little heads up. Don't scare her, but let her know that postpartum isn't a Saturday afternoon picnic at the beach and she might want to reconsider being induced a week early and keep that baby inside for just a little longer. Then, put together a little care package for that new mama to enjoy that will make those first few postpartum weeks a little less overwhelming.
Like I mentioned before, a friend of mine recently had her second set of twins and I made her the
yummy dark chocolate lactation cookies to help keep her milk supply up. I packaged them in sets of two in the square zipper snack bags from Walmart and then I added a cute little sticker to the front to cute them up!
I'm sharing the
cute cookie printable sticker with you so that you can package them up nice cute as a gift for a friend too. They come eight to a page and they are the perfect size for the square snack zipper baggies. You could make them into a cut file and let your Silhouette or Cricut cut them out for you, but I just cut them out by hand.
Then, it's time to put together a box of your favorite postpartum/newborn/baby things that will make life a little more pleasant for the new mama. I love it when another mom shares a favorite product that saved her life during those first weeks home with a newborn. So, I find a lot of joy in gifting the things that I love to a new mommy.
Back when Grace was born I shared
15 Products Every Mom Needs and I included some of them in the gift box for my friend. I think that everything I included in this new mama gift box comes from that list.
In the gift box I included:
If you use a white noise machine in the baby's room, then this is a must! We all know that unless you're the first baby, most likely you're taking most of your naps on the go. This lets you take the comforting sounds of home with you wherever you need to go.
The adorable burpcloths catch all the spit that happens. They have a cute jersey knit print on one side and absorbent terry cloth on the other. They are soft, cute and functional.
If you're nursing a baby, you need these. They are amazing and will save your poor, sore nipples. Yep, I just said nipples.
Yep, I just said nipple again. Did you know that if you have a wool allergy or sensitivity that lanolin won't help your sore nipple problems because it's made from sheep's wool? True story. Nipple Butter is a plant based balm that contains essential milk proteins and contains no mineral oil. You're welcome.
I still swear by swaddling. Since babies aren't supposed to sleep on their tummies due to the increased risk of SIDS, swaddling is really the only way a newborn will stay asleep for more than 10 minutes. Also, a true story. Let me give you the deets on why - since I feel so passionately about it.
WHY SWADDLE?
The safest position for a baby to sleep is on her back, but newborns have a built in reflex called the
Moro Reflex (aka startle reflex) - read more about it
here. It makes sleeping for longer than like 10 minutes pretty hard for a newborn unless you're holding her the entire time. Also, a true story.
So the ergobaby Swaddler - unlike the burrito method with a plain blanket- swaddles the baby with her arms in the "hands to heart" position instead of down by her side. It also has a hip positioner strap to keep her legs in the ergonomic "frog-leg" position and helps avoid hip dysplasia.
So, please don't tell me your baby doesn't like to be swaddled and in the same sentence tell me that she only cat naps for 10-15 minutes. Swaddle your baby with the ergobaby Swaddler and it will change your life. Also, swaddling works best to calm the Moro Reflex if it is introduced at birth. So, if you make it part of your sleep routine, then swaddling will help signal to your newborn that it's time for sleep. So do it. Stop telling me your baby doesn't like to be swaddled. Because I don't believe you.
Sorry, I didn't mean to get up on my swaddling soap box, but it just had to be done.
Now, my friends new twin babies have three older brothers. And there is nothing worse than being the oldest child and everyone is obsessed with the new babies and you feel like no one remembers that you're even around. I'm not speaking from experience at all.
So, whenever I give a postpartum gift, I always include something for the older siblings. It's kind. Just do it. And include some of these
Big Brother Stickers from Lil' Luna while you're at it!
So enjoy making the
dark chocolate lactation cookies, packaging them with cute stickers, and then putting together a box of your favorite things to gift to a new mama. It will brighter her day - I promise!
