Food care package for single mom surprise pre-term birth

[Anonymous]

What kinds of things would you include? She has not had time to stock up on anything

Baby is still in NICU but they will soon be coming by my house soon to pick up other things I have Amazon’d for them in the last 2 days like diapers, wipes, car seat, some newborn infant clothes I have gathered from my neighbor whose baby is 1, front carrier, Destin, cases of enfamil (not breastfeeding) bottles pacifiers etc. and so on

What would be helpful - cup noodles, cheese sticks, snacks, even stupid stuff like tissues, toilet paper, frozen breakfast sandwiches

There’s also that potentially big storm coming up this weekend

Thank you so much in advance!

[Anonymous]

If you can do it, single serving meals that can be frozen. Like a piece of lasagna per container. Some soup frozen in small containers. Etc. I had a preterm baby and I remember every person who gave us food! It was so appreciated.

[Anonymous]

Send an Amazon/Uber Eats/Door Dash gift card. You can send any of these through your phone, no physical card/delivery is necessary. As a new mom these were by far the most helpful and appreciated vs. people guessing at what we would like.

[Anonymous]

Don't buy junk that you're not sure she likes/will use. A gift card is better, or as PP said, something frozen that's easy to reheat (but again make sure you know that she's not celiac/allergic to dairy before making a big batch of lasagna!).

[Anonymous]

How big is the baby? My cousin had a surprise preemie years ago (baby is 100% fine now, and not a baby), and I sent them a preemie size onesie from their alma mater - they loved it and said it was the only thing they had that fit the baby.

Newborn clothing will be useful in the future, but likely won't fit the baby now. If its possible to buy a few things that will actually fit I bet they'd appreciate it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you can do it, single serving meals that can be frozen. Like a piece of lasagna per container. Some soup frozen in small containers. Etc. I had a preterm baby and I remember every person who gave us food! It was so appreciated.

Thank you for suggesting this !! I was thinking of dividing 3 bags …

1 non perishable snacks (chips, candy, new jar of peanut butter, tins of spam and deviled ham, velveeta, sleeves of bagels)

1 bag for paper goods and some scented small trash bags, menstrual pads she may not have, paper towels

1 bag for cold things, I have a case of frozen bottled water on my porch now and maybe I can pack the other things at the time. I just want to have it ready in my head as to what to pack. I absolutely DO have some things like individual servings of pea & ham soup in containers in my freezer that she should be able to re-use to freeze baby food later.

the whole pregnancy was a complete surprise so we’re going from zero to 60 here, thank you everyone for being so cool

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Send an Amazon/Uber Eats/Door Dash gift card. You can send any of these through your phone, no physical card/delivery is necessary. As a new mom these were by far the most helpful and appreciated vs. people guessing at what we would like.

I may need to ask the advice of one of my adult kids to know how to do this but this is a great idea

It’s well past the old thing of calling the pizza place to deliver and paying with cash at the door or ahead of time on an account … that was embarrassingly my last era

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you can do it, single serving meals that can be frozen. Like a piece of lasagna per container. Some soup frozen in small containers. Etc. I had a preterm baby and I remember every person who gave us food! It was so appreciated.

Thank you for suggesting this !! I was thinking of dividing 3 bags …

1 non perishable snacks (chips, candy, new jar of peanut butter, tins of spam and deviled ham, velveeta, sleeves of bagels)


1 bag for paper goods and some scented small trash bags, menstrual pads she may not have, paper towels

1 bag for cold things, I have a case of frozen bottled water on my porch now and maybe I can pack the other things at the time. I just want to have it ready in my head as to what to pack. I absolutely DO have some things like individual servings of pea & ham soup in containers in my freezer that she should be able to re-use to freeze baby food later.

the whole pregnancy was a complete surprise so we’re going from zero to 60 here, thank you everyone for being so cool

This is so nice of you. My preemie was totally planned (the baby part, not the premature part) and I was married and had good support. It still was so hard. The people who gave us food are still so appreciated! I did not have the bandwidth to think about food.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How big is the baby? My cousin had a surprise preemie years ago (baby is 100% fine now, and not a baby), and I sent them a preemie size onesie from their alma mater - they loved it and said it was the only thing they had that fit the baby.

Newborn clothing will be useful in the future, but likely won't fit the baby now. If its possible to buy a few things that will actually fit I bet they'd appreciate it.

Baby is up to 6 weeks early but a good weight 6lb4 on Tuesday the 20th. They say due date might have been last week Feb 1st week March

I had kids and remembered how quickly they went out of things so I skipped the newborn diapers and went straight to 1s through 14lbs

got a new package of 3+ months “layette” clothes and onesies and the neighbor’s newborn clothes were free

1 package of 2 dozen size 2 diapers

She didn’t know she was pregnant, that’s why we are scrambling like this. TY again so much

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What kinds of things would you include? She has not had time to stock up on anything

Baby is still in NICU but they will soon be coming by my house soon to pick up other things I have Amazon’d for them in the last 2 days like diapers, wipes, car seat, some newborn infant clothes I have gathered from my neighbor whose baby is 1, front carrier, Destin, cases of enfamil (not breastfeeding) bottles pacifiers etc. and so on

What would be helpful - cup noodles, cheese sticks, snacks, even stupid stuff like tissues, toilet paper, frozen breakfast sandwiches

There’s also that potentially big storm coming up this weekend

Thank you so much in advance!

A couple questions.

1) Is this a first child?

2) Is the baby coming home now, or are you thinking about how to support them while the baby is still in the NICU?

[Anonymous]

Don't buy candy and other junk food. They need healthy, nutritious, real food, even if not but nursing.

[Anonymous]

when I had a premie, spring of 2020, my best friend called maggianos and had them make me a dozen meals. All the various lasagnas, eggplant parm, etc. Containers were freezer safe, but I ate that food up so quickly they never made it to the freezer. I was starving, shuttling between the hospital and home and had a hard time making decisions. It was the nicest thing!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How big is the baby? My cousin had a surprise preemie years ago (baby is 100% fine now, and not a baby), and I sent them a preemie size onesie from their alma mater - they loved it and said it was the only thing they had that fit the baby.

Newborn clothing will be useful in the future, but likely won't fit the baby now. If its possible to buy a few things that will actually fit I bet they'd appreciate it.

Baby is up to 6 weeks early but a good weight 6lb4 on Tuesday the 20th. They say due date might have been last week Feb 1st week March

I had kids and remembered how quickly they went out of things so I skipped the newborn diapers and went straight to 1s through 14lbs

got a new package of 3+ months “layette” clothes and onesies and the neighbor’s newborn clothes were free

1 package of 2 dozen size 2 diapers

She didn’t know she was pregnant, that’s why we are scrambling like this. TY again so much

As another single parent who brought home a preemie unexpectedly, due to an adoption that happened fast, having clothing that my child was swimming in just made him seem tinier and more vulnerable. In particular, she's going to need diapers that fit the baby on the day the baby comes home. A diaper made for a 12 pound baby isn't going to stay on a 6 pounder, especially a preemie who is likely thinner and longer than a full term 6 pounder. I would return those and get newborn, and maybe size 1, but really you will need newborn sizing for a while.

I can't imagine arriving home, having been told that there would be diapers waiting , and having them be for a baby 2 sizes bigger. Do you take the baby right back out to the store and risk germs? Wait a few hours for doordash, and risk diaper rash?

As for food, not cup of noodles. You want food that is either packed with nutrients for the rare occasions when the baby is asleep and not on you, or that can be eaten with one hand, and where spilling on the baby doesn't risk burning you. Trail mix, muffins, and single servings of things like lasagna.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Send an Amazon/Uber Eats/Door Dash gift card.

This. Or ask for specifics.

Do not bring foods unless the recipient requested them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don't buy candy and other junk food. They need healthy, nutritious, real food, even if not but nursing.

Sure. But one of the best things someone brought me post-partum with my first was this chocolate loaf cake that I literally ate in chunks I ripped off as I passed by it in the kitchen. I was starving and holding the baby constantly.

So. YMMV.

I'd go with a DoorDash gift card. Food delivery can be so expensive, that I never would have used it. But having other people fund our door dash was really helpful and we used every penny.