General Rule of thumb: If it’s not nailed down - bring it home.

1. Those cute pink pitchers for ice water are great accessories for your older kids play kitchen.
2. Gauze - hey it doesn’t grow on trees…
3. Pads - if you don’t use them all up yourself they can be handy for female guests that might need ‘em.
4. Baby Nasal Aspirators - my toddler prefers these to be used on her rather then the bigger models. Also great for basting a tiny turkey.
5. Wash clothes. While hospital grade linens seem to be the scratchiest cotton on earth, they’re handy for cleaning rags.
6. Those thin receiving/swaddling blankets. Since my boy chose to be born on a very hot week in September these have been the best option for swaddling him. They get dirty so the more, the better.
7. Diapers. I felt guilty at first for bagging up so much stuff yet at the end of my hospital stay I grabbed the almost full bag of diapers from under the hospital bassinet. Then when the nurse noticed it was empty she brought in a new bag of them and said, “Dont’ forget to take these home!” So it’s obviously a well known secret that us moms do this kinda thing.
8. Witch hazel/Tucks pads. I was a lucky gal that didn’t get any ‘roids with any of my pregnancies and/or labors but again - if a guest needs it, I’ve got some.
9. Icy Spray - Dermoblast was given to me after my daughter’s birth but not after my sons (different hospitals) I had bagged so much extra the first time around that it didn’t matter that this hospital didn’t have it.
10. Disposable panties - after all why ruin the ones you actually bought? Sure these things look like support shorts an old woman would wear under her tennis dress but better these take’n’toss ones then your cute ones at home.