My Castle Heart Publications

* Appreciated by non-breastfeeding moms, too.

Have a baby shower coming up or a friend? Or maybe you’re due yourself?

This is my all-time favorite “baby” gift.

I give it to every expecting mother I know. While other friends and family are picking out the perfect tiny this or cuddly that, I know from experience: Mom is doing the hard work growing that baby, and the hard work has only begun.

Give her something that will make her say in the middle of the night,

[Your name] is a life saver!

Breastfeeding Station

The Basics
Pick and choose as needed, but these are what I put in mine:

• Small bin: to place on an end table and/or carry from room to room.
• Snacks: non-perishable and healthy.
• Drinks: small bottles of water, a reusable water bottle, or non-perishable juice boxes.
• Notebook: to keep track of early stats (feeding times, poops, etc.) as well as the occasional moment of wonder. January 20, 2014: Caught her examining her hands today with such fascination and awe!
• Pen: practical and pretty.
• Pocket calendar: for all those appointments and reminders to remember.
• Tissues: small travel packs for any hormone-induced fits of happiness or overwhelm.
• Wipes: a small pack for the many inevitable messes babies bring.
• Lavender lotion: to soothe hands (and mom) after one too many diaper changes and bottle washes.
• Burp cloth(s): I like finding cheap, pretty homemade ones on Etsy.
• Baby toy: something small and quiet to help distract baby, when needed.

For Dads
I also like to include a note, kindly asking the dad to be in charge of refilling the stations. Babies are so mom-dependent in those early days. It’s nice to give him a proactive way to help his wife, and by proxy, his child.

You can even give a bag of refills with it, too, which brings me to…

For Moms Who’ve Done This Before
If they already have something similar from a previous pregnancy, you can give them refills as a gift, too. For my friend Shanon, I gave her special refill packs for her, for the new baby, and for the big sis (to help decrease poaching of Mom’s stuff).

Have your own ideas for helping new moms? Please share them in the comments below!

And I owe a special shout out to Laurel Garcia Wang, who helped inspire this idea. When I was pregnant with my first, Laurel told me to make a couple of portable bins of snacks for myself… which snowballed into this.

Every mom who’s ever had one these (including myself) thanks you, Laurel!

Follow me on Google+