There are things you don't learn in pregnancy books. Concrete, practical details that only moms who've been there can tell you. The choice of baby pajamas for the maternity ward is one of them.
I know because I learned the hard way.
My delivery, in the middle of COVID
My son was born healthy. A beautiful 3.9 kg baby, chubby and vigorous, whom I had been waiting for months. But the delivery itself was long and complicated. I had a fever during long hours of labor. And throughout our stay in the maternity ward, my son had monitoring cables on him.
It was in the middle of COVID. No one could visit me. No one could bring me anything. I was alone in that room, with pajamas I had prepared weeks before, not knowing they would complicate my life with every diaper change, every care, every moment of that stay.
Pajamas with back openings. Pajamas with zippers. Everything you shouldn't have.
The problem with monitoring cables
When a baby is being monitored, small electrodes or sensors are attached to their body, connected to cables. These cables are thin, but they change everything about dressing.
Pajamas that open in the back require turning the baby over, manipulating them, and threading the cables in every direction. Pajamas with a central zipper do the same thing: you have to undress entirely, reposition, rethread. With a fragile newborn, under monitoring, after a difficult delivery, it's an unnecessary source of stress with every diaper change.
And diaper changes, in the maternity ward, are frequent. Very frequent.
What you really need to plan for
When I created Maison Piou Piou, I thought of those moments. Of moms alone in a room at 3 am. Of babies with cables. Of clumsy dads doing their best.
Here's what I recommend for the maternity bag, as an absolute priority:
Front-opening pajamas
The snaps are on the front, from top to bottom. The opening is wide, access is immediate. There's no need to move the baby, turn them over, or struggle with cables. You lay the baby flat, open, change, close. The cables pass freely at the side. Made of jersey, it's soft, flexible, and adapts to the baby's movements without ever being tight.
What to avoid
Pajamas with back openings: impossible with cables, and uncomfortable for a baby lying on their back all day.
Zippers from bottom to top: seemingly practical, but they force you to open the entire pajama to access the lower body. And if sensors are attached to the chest, it's another complication.
Pajamas with too many snaps: at 3 am, in the dark, with a crying baby and cables everywhere, each extra snap is an ordeal. The fewer, the better.
What I wish I had known
If I had known, I would have prepared only front-opening pajamas. Simple, practical, truly designed for those first few days.
Today, that's exactly what I sew. Every Maison Piou Piou pajama opens at the front. Because maternity is already so many emotions, so much unknown: baby's pajamas should never be an additional source of stress.
If you're preparing your maternity bag, you can discover my handmade baby pajamas, hand-sewn in France, made of Oeko-Tex certified jersey, designed for the first few days.
Odile, founder of Maison Piou Piou and mom of two little boys
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