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The one item every new mom needs (but never buys)

You won’t find this on her registry

The one thing all new moms need Credit: Amazon
Brigitt Earley
Written by Brigitt Earley

Updated April 15, 2024

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As I was leaving the hospital after giving birth to my son, my mom asked: Is there anything your dad and I can pick up for you? If nobody has told you this yet, it’s a question new parents should always say yes to. Whether you could use a great meal, or didn’t anticipate needing onesies for preemies, there is always something someone can get for you in those first few days.

But, as I stood in the hospital in massive mesh undies with an equally large feminine pad wedged inside of them, I knew food or onesies wasn’t what I needed. All I could think about was those beautiful and oh-so-expensive sheets we had registered for just two years prior, and what was about to happen to them.

Everyone warns you about the amount of laundry you'll do as a new parent: I didn't know I’d be thinking a lot about my own sheets, too.

I asked my mom to pick up a pair of cheap sheets and this waterproof mattress square to put beneath them—you know, the kind of thing that look a lot like a dog’s wee-wee pad. Why? My doctor informed me in our first post-birth conversation that I could bleed for up to 12 weeks (say what!?). And in my first lactation consult, I learned that I may face engorgement and oversupply issues, too (translation: milk, everywhere).

I chose this particular mattress pad because it has a large coverage area (boobs, check; bottom half, check), has three absorbent layers to protect that mattress, and is machine-washable. It also has a non-slip backing so it won’t move while sleeping and is quilted for comfort. With 4.8 stars and over 2.6k reviews on Amazon, it looks like I'm not alone.

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Credit: Mattress cover

By the time I got home from the hospital, my boobs were leaking—er, pouring. Six weeks later I was still experiencing menstrual-like bleeding. Those cheap sheets were taking a beating, but my mattress had been spared blood, milk, baby spit-up, and even a massive diaper blowout at 4 a.m.

It didn’t make me feel good to ask for a product with the word incontinence in its name—sadly, I’m no Princess Kate—but this is real-life childbirth, and it was the only way to save my nice bedding and my even more expensive mattress. (I’ve got daycare bills to pay, after all.) So I humbly slept on a slightly crinkly piece of fabric and changed my little bed pad every couple of days. Thankfully, the universe spared me any particularly gory events that would have necessitated anything more.

A few weeks ago—nearly five months after my son was born—I caught my husband staring at our stained sheets in disgust. With no more postpartum bleeding, a managed milk supply, and only the occasional diaper mishap (hey, stuff happens), it was time to bid adieu to our trusty cheap sheets and the pee-pee pad beneath them. Truthfully, I had kind of just gotten used to making the bed that way. But those luxe sheets? Slipping into bed that first night was like a little slice of heaven.

Get the Waterproof and Washable Bed Pad Sheet Protector for $19

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