Make your own padsicles with this easy DIY for postpartum recovery and relief. These postpartum cold packs can help relieve pain and swelling after birth where you need it the most.

Our bodies really take a beating during and after labor. Childbirth is a beautiful thing but still very messy and painful.

Bringing a new baby into the world is messy business and the postpartum aftermath and recovery is no joke. It’s important that we take care of ourselves, especially our lady regions, after a vaginal delivery.

One of my friends is due with her third baby soon. I wanted to make her a little postpartum care kit, to help her after she delivers the baby. After a vaginal birth, everything down there can be really sore and needs a little extra TLC with the healing process.

I whipped up these padsicles for her so she would have them after delivery. I know she’ll love having these on hand whenever she needs a little extra relief!

These padsicles were so easy and inexpensive to make. Make a batch of these as you’re checking items off your pregnancy checklist, or make some to give to a friend who’s expecting.

Include a pack of these DIY padsicles as a great addition to a gift basket for a new mom or in a new mom survival kit.

What Are Postpartum Padsicles?

So padsicle is not technically a word, but I bet it will be soon enough. A padsicle is a frozen sanitary napkin or postpartum cold pack, providing instant cold therapy. It’s similar to a frozen maxi pad with all-natural healing ingredients soaked into it to help heal postpartum pain.

Think of it as a combination of a regular pad and an icicle—a frozen pad that brings much-needed relief for new mamas postpartum! Sounds amazing, right?

A batch of these padsicles can be made in about 30 minutes or less and frozen for later. Ingredients like witch hazel and aloe vera are all-natural and help promote healing to your most needed parts after childbirth.

When Should I Start Using Padsicles?

You can start using padsicles as soon as you are home with baby! You could even pack these in your hospital bag, or the hospital might even provide you with some to take home. Many women use them for the first six weeks postpartum to help relieve the soreness and pain.

Ingredients for Postpartum Padsicles

This padsicles recipe includes simple items you can find at drug stores. Make this handy postpartum tool with these healing ingredients:

Absorbent Maxi Pads—Grab your favorite brand to help make these.

Aloe vera—We have all experienced the healing properties of aloe vera on a sunburn. It’s cooling and soothing properties provide much needed relief down there too.

Witch hazel—Contains anti-inflammatory properties, witch hazel helps relieve inflammation, reduces skin irritation, and can help treat hemorrhoids. (Yep, you might get those too.)

Lavender essential oils—Helps relieve soreness and heal wounds.

Do Padsicles Still Absorb Blood?

These padsicles act like an absorbent pad and should still absorb your postpartum bleeding. Wear these with the disposable mesh underwear or an adult diaper if your flow is extra heavy or you want a little extra support. Childbirth is fun, right?

What You Use to Make Padsicles?

I spent about $30 to make 30 padsicles. This is an easy and inexpensive DIY that will bring you lots of postpartum relief when you’re in too much vaginal pain.

Make these in during your third trimester while you’re preparing for baby so they’re ready to go when you need them. Your lady parts will thank you!

Supplies for Padsicles:

How To Make Your Own Padsicles

These padsicles are simple to make! Follow these steps to make homemade padsicles.

Step 1: Carefully unwrap each of the pads, leaving the sticky liner on the bottom and the wings.

Step 2: Generously spread aloe vera all the way up and down the pad side. Yep, you’ll want relief from front to back, not just in the middle so cover the entire pad. Make sure to saturate the pad with plenty of liquid so it freezes up. We’re talking full coverage here!

Step 3: Next, spread the witch hazel on the pad. (Be careful, it comes out fast!)

Step 4: Add a few drops of lavender essential oil to the pad.

Step 5: Spread everything around so it’s evenly distributed throughout the entire length of the pad.

Step 6: Wrap the DIY padsicle back up and place it in your ziplock bag.

Step 7: Group all your pads together and stick them in the freezer. All of the ingredients will soak into the pad and provide you with cold, healing relief when you need it the most.

When you’re ready to use them, let the padsicle thaw at room temperature for about five minutes. Unwrap and enjoy the relief!

You could also try combining the ingredients into a spray bottle and making a a mini assembly line. Grab a pregnant friend or your partner to help you and make it more fun.

Bonus Tip: You can use the witch hazel and aloe vera gel mixture as a perineum spray for down-there relief and even for helping soothe hemorrhoids.

Mix everything together and then use a peri bottle to provide cooling relief.

How Long Can You Keep Padsicles in the Freezer?

Depending on how many padsicles you made, you may be wanting to space out their use over a longer period of time . Or maybe you want to save some in case any soreness comes back.

You can store these padsicles in the freezer for up to 3 months. The longer they are in the freezer, the less potent the ingredients can become.

Where to Buy Padsicles

If you don’t feel like making your own, you can also purchase store-bought options.

Frida Mom recently came out with their instant ice cold packs. These don’t even need to be frozen! You just crack them and lightly shake to release the cooling qualities. These would be perfect for traveling or on the go for postpartum moms.

These ice packs aren’t absorbent like a maxi pad, but they do provide cooling relief. The good thing about these is you can reuse them. These would be a good option if you’re past the postpartum bleeding stage but still experiencing soreness.

DIY Postpartum Padsicles

Yield: 30 Padsicles

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Make your own padsicles with this easy DIY for postpartum recovery and relief. These postpartum cold packs can help relieve pain and swelling after birth where you need it the most.

Materials

Absorbent Maxi Pads
Aloe vera
Witch hazel
Lavender essential oils (optional)

Instructions

Carefully unwrap each of the pads, leaving the sticky liner on the bottom and the wings.
Spread aloe vera all the way up and down the pad side. Make sure to saturate the pad with plenty of liquid so it freezes up. We're talking full coverage here!
Next, spread the witch hazel on the pad. (Be careful, it comes out fast!)
Add a few drops of lavender essential oil to the pad.
Spread everything around so it's evenly distributed throughout the entire length of the pad.
Wrap the padsicle back up and place it in your ziplock bag.
Group all your pads together and stick them in the freezer. All of the ingredients will soak into the pad and provide you with cold, healing relief when you need it the most.

When you're ready to use them, let the padsicle thaw at room temperature for about five minutes. Unwrap and enjoy the relief!

Notes