Postpartum Prep Guide

I created this handy guide for my clients so that you can narrow down what you actually need, and forget the marketing machine of modern parenting. You don’t need nearly as much stuff as you’re made to believe, but there are a few items that can make your 4th trimester a little bit smoother. If there’s something that’s not on this list and you’re curious about it, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

Sleep

First, let’s set the foundation on one of the biggest topics on parents’ minds: sleep.

One of my favorite resources on parenting and specifically sleep is this incredible company called Hey Sleepy Baby. Rachael, the founder, is a San Francisco based sleep consultant and mom who has a wonderful approach of providing intuitive parenting guidance, and the evidence behind why it’s good for your and your babies. A message from Rachael on her approach: “My approach focuses on relationship and development before everything else. I do not use sleep training methods, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have tons of ideas for gently leading a baby toward better sleep. There are “baby-led” changes as well as “parent-led” changes, and I aim to equip each parent that takes my courses with the knowledge and confidence to decide the best path for them! Babies and families all function very differently. Infants have totally different needs, temperaments, and rates of development. Two babies the same age might require a difference of 8 hours in daily sleep for optimal functioning and health (right?!)- and families all have different goals and values!”

Two of my favorite articles from Hey Sleepy Baby that I highly recommend you read:

The Research on Responsive Caregiving

Safe Bed Sharing Guidelines: How to Co-Sleep More Safely With Your Baby

More on the topic of rest for you, as the parent, is the 5-5-5 rule. I have had many a 2nd time parent tell me that after following this protocol with their 2nd postpartum, they felt so much better than after their first birth. Read more in detail here.

Nourishment

What does nourishment mean? My interpretation of the word is feeling whole, and completed by what you are giving your body and soul, particularly as it relates to food. In postpartum, especially for those who are breastfeeding, nourishment is of the utmost importance. When you are breastfeeding, you require a minimum of 500 extra calories per day. You certainly do not need to count, but I’m mentioning it so you understand you need to be eating about 25-30% more food than you would typically. Breastfeeding requires 25% of your body’s daily energy… that’s more than your brain!

Lily Nichols is a registered dietitian who has written several books on pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. She has a blog post linked here explaining the key principles of postpartum foods and some great recipes. Making some freezer meals ahead of time is a great strategy for postpartum.

If you have someone in your life who wants to nourish you, but maybe isn’t the best cook, you can share these items, or maybe add them to your registry.

  • Milk Moon Herbs Postpartum Restorative Tonic: An herbal syrup built around nettle, alfalfa, oat straw, raspberry leaf, dandelion, ashwagandha, ginger, and rosehips, formulated to help rebuild iron and mineral stores and support recovery during the postpartum window.

  • OMA Seaweed Soup: A ready-to-eat version of the traditional Korean postpartum soup miyeok-guk, made with organic seaweed and bone broth (a vegan option is also available). Just add hot water.

  • The Kitchen Doula: An Oakland-based postpartum meal service using local, organic ingredients. Their starter pack ($150) includes 3 stews, 2 soups, and 1 drink, delivered frozen so you can heat and eat.

  • Earth Mother Meals: Another local, organic postpartum meal delivery service.

  • Pushee POST Hydration: An electrolyte mix formulated specifically for postpartum hydration and breastfeeding recovery, made with food-grade ingredients and no artificial sweeteners or dyes.

Feeding Your Baby + Lactation

There are a million ways to feed your baby in our modern world. In my practice, most of my clients intend to breastfeed primarily when they are home with baby, but have the option of pumped milk and bottles available for when they go back to work or have other activities that require them to be away from their baby. While this is mainly targeted towards that group, if you intend to only directly breastfeed or only provide bottles, you’ll still get some good information here!

If you fall into this majority group with breastfeeding goals, best practice is to exclusively directly breastfeed for 1 month, and between 4-6 weeks begin pumping and offering a bottle weekly, or a few times a week, so your baby can learn and retain the skill of feeding at the bottle.

Here are some pumping basics, per The Lactation Network and Lactation Loop:

Bottles and Pacifiers

The single most important thing to look for in a bottle is nipple shape, not brand, not price. Kaylee Rabaja, RN, IBCLC of Lactology Group developed a simple visual technique called the Triangle Test® to help parents evaluate bottle nipples: touch your fingertips together to form a triangle, then compare the shape of the nipple (base to tip) against it. A nipple that fills the triangle with minimal negative space supports a deeper, more natural latch; one with visible gaps does not.

A few important notes from her research:

  • Latching at the breast is the biological norm, so a bottle nipple should be selected to support similar oral engagement, not just marketed as "breast-like."

  • Nipple shape (round vs. flat) also matters. Some bottles, like the MAM and Herobility, have flat nipples that can look like they pass the Triangle Test from one angle but fail when rotated.

  • The Triangle Test is meant as an educational tool for evaluating shape, not a medical or developmental assessment.

Bottles that pass the Triangle Test include Evenflo (Wide Balance, Standard Balance, Classic), Pigeon, Lansinoh, Gulicola, Numvim, NUK Perfect Match. The linked options are all glass bottles.

Bottles that do not pass include Comotomo, BIBS, Nanobebe, Tommee Tippee, MAM, Philips Avent (Anti-Colic and Natural), Dr. Brown's Wide, Medela Calma, and Haakaa, among others. See the full Triangle Test pass/fail list for the complete breakdown.

How many bottles do you need? If you're planning to primarily breastfeed, 3–4 bottles is plenty. If you're planning to exclusively bottle feed, aim for around 12 so you only need to wash a full batch once a day.

Pacifiers can be evaluated with the same triangle logic to support healthy oral function. Having 3–6 on hand is reasonable. A couple of notes: it's not appropriate to offer a pacifier to a hungry baby, and it's best to wait 2–3 weeks before introducing one so breastfeeding has a chance to get established. The Ninni Co pacifier is a widely recommended option among IBCLCs for its wide base and single-piece, easy-to-clean design. Other good options include the Mōmi Babyspace Pacifier, the Dr. Brown's HappyPaci Silicone Pacifier, the Itzy Ritzy Latch & Soothe Pacifier, the Philips Avent Soothie Baby Pacifier, and the Nanobebe Baby Pacifier.

Bottle Washers

By no means a necessity. Washing bottles and pump parts by hand after every single use is one of the more tedious parts of feeding a baby so it can be a real time-saver, especially if you're exclusively pumping or bottle feeding, have multiples, or are working full time. (A regular dishwasher works fine too, if you'd rather skip the extra appliance.)

The Eufy wins on capacity and certification out of all the ones on the market (it's the one most often recommended for families not planning to nurse at all). I don’t recommend the MomCozy one, though it is the most popular, because this brand is unethical and makes cheap products. The Papablic and Grownsy are better options for less money than the Eufy.

Pumps

General guidance on when to start, per IBCLCs at Lactation Loop:

  • If nursing is going well, it's often fine to hold off on routine pumping in the first month.

  • If you're separated from baby, returning to work early, or have supply concerns, start pumping routinely.

  • If you plan to exclusively pump, start as soon as possible , ideally within the first few hours after birth.

The Main Categories of Pumps

Hospital-grade rental pumps: The traditional gold standard for establishing supply, especially for NICU parents. Effective but costly to rent, and generally not necessary now that high-quality personal pumps are widely available.

Personal electric double pumps: The most common choice for most nursing parents, and the category most likely to be covered by insurance through the ACA. This is where Spectra, Pumpables, Motif, and Lansinoh live (see the pump breakdown below).

Wearable / hands-free pumps: Brands like Eufy, Willow, Baby Buddha, Elvie, the Pumpables Genie, and Momcozy fall here. They're genuinely convenient for pumping while multitasking, but they typically don't empty the breast as completely as a traditional pump, and flange sizing is harder to judge inside them. Most IBCLCs recommend using a wearable as a supplement to a traditional double electric pump for the first 6–8 weeks, then transitioning it to a primary daytime pump once supply and flange size are well established.

Manual pumps: Useful as a backup, for travel, during power outages, or if you simply prefer them. Output and efficiency can actually be quite good, but the physical hand motion isn't for everyone.

Spectra S1 vs. S2

The Spectra S2  is one of the most widely recommended personal double electric pumps among IBCLCs, and for good reason: it's a hospital-grade, closed-system pump with a quiet motor, adjustable suction, and reliable performance. The S1offers the identical motor and up to 270 mmHg of suction. The only real difference is that the S1 has a built-in rechargeable battery for cordless pumping (up to about 3 hours), while the S2 must stay plugged in. Both pumps offer 12 suction levels, a massage mode (fixed at 70 cycles per minute to encourage letdown) and an expression mode with five adjustable cycle speeds (38–54 cpm). Most insurance plans cover at least the S2 at no cost through the ACA, with some allowing you to pay the difference to upgrade to the S1.

If you'll regularly be away from an outlet (pumping at work, in the car, or moving around the house) the S1's battery is worth the extra cost. If you'll mostly pump in one place near a wall outlet, the S2 delivers identical performance for less money.

Pumpables Genie Advanced Portable Pump

The Genie Advanced is a compact, hospital-grade-performance pump designed to be as portable as possible while still rivaling larger machines. It weighs about half a pound, fits in the palm of your hand, and runs on a rechargeable battery (roughly 3–4 hours per charge, USB-C rechargeable).

What sets it apart is its Liquid Shield flange system: instead of standard hard plastic flanges, the Genie Advanced uses soft silicone inserts that mold to the breast and compress with each suction cycle, mimicking the compression of a baby's palate during nursing. Flange sizing runs from 15mm to 29mm, and the pump is also compatible with standard flanges (including Spectra and Maymom) if the Liquid Shield system isn't your preference. It's a popular next step for moms who already pump well with a Spectra S1 or S2 and want a smaller, more travel-friendly option that doesn't sacrifice suction strength, though the Liquid Shield kit does have more parts to hand-wash than a standard flange.

Baby Buddha 2.0 or 3.0

The Baby Buddha line has built a reputation for punching well above its size. It’s small and portable, but with suction strength that rivals or exceeds full-sized pumps. The newest version, the Baby Buddha 3.0, adds a fourth pumping mode (Double Drop Expression) on top of the existing Soft Stimulation and Classic Expression modes, bringing the total to 30 settings. It ships with the EasyFit Flange Kit, which includes multiple flange inserts so you're not stuck buying sizing separately.

Other options worth knowing

  • Eufy also makes the best hands-free wearable pump that includes flange inserts in the box, so you don't need to buy them separately.

  • Medela Harmony is a simple, affordable, well-reviewed manual pump, a good backup or early-days option, or if you intend to pump rarely and don’t care to buy a large pump.

Which pump should you actually get?

There's no single right answer, it depends on your plans:

  • Exclusively breastfeeding, going well, no plans for separation: You may not need a pump right away. Reassess as your circumstances change.

  • Occasional pumping / building a small stash / infrequent separations: A personal double electric like the Spectra S1 or S2 is the most common and most likely to be insurance-covered starting point.

  • Returning to work and need portability and discretion, and already know your flange size: A portable double electric like the Pumpables Genie Advanced or Baby Buddha 3.0, or a wearable, once your supply and fit are established.

  • Exclusively pumping from day one, or a NICU stay: Start pumping as soon as possible after birth, and consider a hospital-grade rental pump if one is accessible to you, or the Spectra S line.

  • Need a backup for travel, power outages, or the very early days: A manual pump like the Medela Harmony.

Whatever pump you choose, flange sizing matters more than the pump itself. According to Lactation Loop's IBCLCs, a poorly fitting flange is one of the most common causes of pumping pain, low output, and recurring clogged ducts or mastitis. Your nipple should move freely in the tunnel with only a small amount of areola drawn in, no rubbing, pinching, or pain.

Lactation Supportive Products

  • Elvie Catch: A passive milk collection cup that fits inside your bra to catch letdown and leaks without suction, so it won't contribute to oversupply the way a Haakaa can. It also doubles as protection for sore, healing nipples by keeping fabric from rubbing against them.

  • Silverette Nursing Cups : Silver cups worn between feedings to support healing of sore or cracked nipples. Any 100% silver brand works.

  • Medical Grade Honey: Used between nursing sessions to help heal cracked or bleeding nipples.

  • Nipple Butter (e.g., Earth Mama): A lanolin-free option for everyday nipple care.

  • Reusable Nursing Pads for Breastfeeding

Vitamin D for Baby

Vitamin D drops are recommended for all breastfed babies to help prevent rickets. If you'd rather take a high-dose supplement yourself instead of giving baby drops directly, Thorne's Vitamin D-5000 is a commonly recommended option — just be sure your total daily dose stays between 4,000 and 6,400 IU if you go this route. More on the research here.

Baby Wearing

Wrap carriers: for newborns specifically, wrap-style carriers like Solly Baby, Moby, and Boba wraps are the only style generally recommended. They're fully customizable to your body and your baby's size, which matters most in those early weeks. I like the Solly Baby the best because it has the thinnest, softest material.

Structured and hybrid carriers: As baby gets a bit older (or if you want more structure sooner), the Lenny Lamb is my favorite. It’s pricey, but you’ll get a few years (or more if you use it for more than 1 kid) out of it. It’s also hand woven! The Ergo Baby is another great, classic option.

Everyday Basics

  • Electric nail file: makes trimming tiny newborn nails much easier and quicker than clippers.

  • Sitz bath: a toilet insert filled with warm water to soothe your perineum after a vaginal birth. Herbs can be added for extra healing.

  • Diapers, wipes (skip the wipe warmer — they don't actually work), a diaper trash can, muslin burp cloths, baby blankets, and baby clothes (secondhand is a great option here).

  • Postpartum diapers for you : Depends or similar work well.

You'll leave the hospital with Dermoplast, pads, cold packs, and other perineal care items, plus prescription-strength ibuprofen, acetaminophen, and stool softeners on discharge — see what you actually use before buying more.

This page is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult your physician, pediatrician, or a qualified IBCLC regarding any medical concerns or questions specific to you and your baby.