Top 12 Things to Prepare for Your Confinement

So, you’re a mummy-to-be, perhaps a first-timer, and you’re getting amped up and ready for the delivery day because your beautiful little one is going to pop up real soon. But of course, you know it’s not all rainbows and unicorns, because there are a ton of things to prepare. And sometimes, more often than not, something gets missed out, then chaos ensues at the last minute. 

Not to worry, because we are here with you with a mini checklist of sorts, with the top 5 things that we think must be prepared for after the baby comes, for your confinement. And without further ado, here we go.

1. Schedule your current work and errands

If you’re planning to follow traditional Chinese confinement practices after giving birth, the common practice is for postpartum mothers to rest at home for at least 28 days, whereas some mummies would choose to do confinement for 40 days or even up to 100 days, depending on their body condition and preference.

Since you’re going to take a break for a considerably long period of time, it’s best for you to arrange and schedule your current work and errands on hand. 

Do you have a few project due dates that fall within your confinement period? Let your team members know how long you’ll be away and discuss with them how to reschedule or delegate the tasks. Do you have monthly bills and payments to make? Consider setting auto-debit payments so that you don’t forget to pay when life gets busy with a baby.

The key here is to make sure all your current tasks are taken care of so that you can focus on your recovery and taking care of your baby when the time comes.

2. Make your home comfortable for confinement

If you’ve had the opportunity to work from home for a while, we are sure by now you’ve understood how the state of your living space can impact your mood and productivity, and the same can be applied to doing confinement at home as well!

Since you will be spending a long time at home, making your home a comfortable and convenient space for confinement can make your postpartum period more pleasant and relaxing. 

This doesn’t necessarily need to involve expensive renovations or buying fancy home decor. It can be as simple as making your bedroom airy and dust-free, getting a new set of comfy pillows and blankets, and buying thermal flasks so that you’ll always have warm drinks within reach.

Furthermore, if possible, try to confine yourself in a room with an attached bathroom or near the bathroom; this can help prevent you from walking too far every time you need to use the bathroom. Also, it is best to have your baby’s room near your room so that you can attend to his or her needs quickly.

3. Include some entertainment

The confinement period is not just about the baby and recovering. It might get quite boring to constantly be on bed rest and not do anything aside from breastfeeding and eating. So, it is a good idea to keep yourself occupied with your hobbies or even pick up something new—watching dramas, reading books, knitting, listening to podcasts, or doing the crossword. 

4. Plan your finances

While this isn’t exactly the most fun or exciting thing to do before your baby arrives, it’s something important that has to be done. So, if you haven’t already, sit down with your partner and start planning your budget and expenses for the following months.

The expenses involved in being new parents can be overwhelming, and this includes fees related to confinement planning, newborn essentials, breastfeeding essentials, and emergency funds in case of health complications, just to name a few. 

To start, identify how much income both of you have per month and set a realistic budget for each expense. If needed, discuss how you can decrease your current spending. Cutting down on takeouts and food deliveries and cancelling any unused subscription plans are a few suggestions you may consider.

5. Get trusted help

We understand how you might feel like you want to personally be in charge of every part of your baby’s daily care routine, as well as how you want to spend your confinement. However, as your body will be under recovery after delivery, it’s highly recommended that you get trusted help during the first few weeks during postpartum.

While you can get help from your family members, if you are looking to spend confinement hassle-free for you and your loved ones, engaging with in-home confinement ladies services is a great option. They are often experienced professionals who are specifically trained in confinement and newborn care.

Don’t worry — getting help doesn’t mean you must give up on what’s important to you during this period. You can always communicate your expectations and doubts with your confinement caregiver. 

Not to mention, getting help from an experienced person means you can get guidance from them that can be useful even months after your confinement. At PEM, our award-winning confinement nanny Singapore service is trusted by over 15,000 happy mummies and counting.

6. Prepare your newborn’s clothing

When it comes to clothing for your baby, focus on getting outfits that are soft, breathable, and gentle on the skin. Avoid clothes with rough fabric or embellishments to avoid hurting the newborn’s skin, and prepare extra clothing for changes, too! Remember to get socks and mittens too so your baby’s hands and feet don’t get cold.

Also, keep both of your clean clothes in a wardrobe without camphor balls or other products that emit strong odours, as these can harm your newborn’s sensitive respiratory system.

7. Prepare essentials for you and your baby

The whole reason why you would have to go through confinement is because you’re pushing a human out of you. So of course, things must be prepared for when said human is ready to live outside your belly. And it is no small list. A baby needs a lot of care and you would need a lot of support and equipment to help you with it. 

Essentials needed for when the baby is here are:-

• Sterilisation tools: To clean anything that goes into your baby’s mouth, ie. bottles, pacifiers, spoons, and many more.
• Baby-approved bathing essentials: Babies’ skin is more sensitive and requires gentle cleaning especially in the initial stages, so make sure to get products that are meant for them. Aside from that, you’d need a basin or baby bathtub and soft towels, nappy cream, and moisturiser or lotion. 
• Baby clothes: Goes without saying that babies need clothes. Remember to get socks and mittens too so your baby’s hands and feet don’t get cold.
• Consumables: As a baby is unable to fend for himself, it is up to you to clean and feed him, and this requires items that will be needed on a daily basis such as diapers, wet tissue, cotton pads, pacifiers, and sanitiser.
• Baby cot
• Bag to store all baby essentials for on-the-go

8. Get daily mummy essentials

Once your baby is out of you, you will need to take extra care of yourself too. It is said that any illnesses or ailments that a woman gets during confinement will either stay with her for her whole life or will come back to bite her when she’s older. Thus, recovery is the focus here. What you need are:-

Confinement Soup for Mom – PEM Confinement

• Comfortable clothing
• Confinement herbs, both for bathing and consumption as they help with relaxing, are nourishing, and alleviates some discomfort. Having confinement soups like herbal soup and ginseng soup are very comforting to drink during this period.
• Maternity essentials: Pads for post-pregnancy bleeding, sitting pillow, and cleaning items for wounds like cleaning potion, cotton balls, towels, and perhaps maternity wash as well.

9. Buy and store food

Once your baby reaches home, you will be occupied. It’s best to have a grocery list of the food you plan to buy and consider buying ingredients that can be kept for a longer period of time in advance.

To get the right ingredients to prepare confinement food, focus on getting food ingredients that are fresh, nutritious and well-balanced with a wide variety. Some examples of nourishing dry herbs are red dates, longan, wolfberry, dang shen, and dried mushrooms. Meanwhile, fresh produce includes ingredients such as chicken, fish, lotus root and ginger. Choose your ingredients carefully, and purchase early, but don’t buy too much to avoid deterioration, especially vegetables and fruits.

If you are engaging a confinement nanny Singapore service from PEM, we will give suggestions and guidance on the list of food ingredients that you can prepare in advance, so when our nanny arrives at your home, you can have warm and nutritious confinement meals at home from the first day without much hassle!

10. Buy herbs and supplements

Recovering the body after giving birth with herbs and herbal supplements is a big part of traditional Chinese confinement practice. Other than raw herbs, some herbal supplements commonly consumed by postpartum mothers include Wu Jin pills, Su He pills, and Bo Ying pills. If you’re looking to add these herbal supplements to your confinement diet, be sure to consult a medical professional before taking them and understand how the ingredients are sourced.

With your convenience in mind, PEM’s confinement nanny service also comes with an add-on confinement herbal package for herbal soups and bath water. Each packet is pre-measured with ingredients carefully selected to improve your postpartum recovery.

11. Take care of your health

Before your delivery date, schedule a routine check-up with your doctor to ensure you and your baby are healthy and ready for delivery. As much as you can under your doctor’s guidance, try to prevent getting a cold and manage your blood pressure and blood sugar before giving birth.

Another key thing to note is getting enough rest right before your delivery. So try your best not to get too stressed about everything that is happening around you, and take good care of yourself to be mentally and physically prepared!

12. Confinement care

Whether you go through your confinement at home or at a confinement centre, engaging a confinement agency Singapore is absolutely recommended. Not only are they experienced and professionals, but they also offer many services from maternity confinement care to baby care. They are able to whip up delicious confinement soups and scrumptious, healthy meals to boost your recovery, while also imparting knowledge on breastfeeding and how to better care for your newborn. All you need to prepare is a room or a space for them to rest and have some time to themselves if you will be going through your confinement at home.

If you’ve decided on getting a confinement nanny, you might want to look at confinement nanny services Singapore for a confinement package Singapore. And where better to consider than PEM Confinement Nanny Agency? 

Our confinement nannies are professionally trained to give quality services, among them preparing nutritious confinement dishes, preparing confinement herbs, providing day and night care for both mummy and baby, and even domestic chores and laundry to ease the burden on parents. What more can you ask for? 

So if you’re looking for a trustworthy confinement nanny who is able to do all that while also being your friend while you’re recuperating, we’ve got you covered. Learn more about our confinement nanny service today!