What to wear to make breastfeeding in public easier?

[BeautifulLiar]

I should know the answer to this - I've already breastfed three children!

I'm due my fourth in March (very early days) but already thinking about this. I was keen to get back into "normal" clothes after giving birth previously but they made it hard to feed.

So what kind of stuff is good to wear?

[ThatsNotEvenAWord]

New look do wrap style dresses that are really easy to pull down.

Vest tops under everything so one can go up and one can pull down.

There's a FB group called 'can I breastfeed in it? U.K.' which has loads of 'non-maternity' clothes discussed

[PourquoiTuGachesTaVie]

Now it's hotter I can't be doing with 2 layers for the vest top trick so I'm just wearing primark stretchy.vest tops.

[oddfodd]

Tunic tops

[Singsongsung]

H & M do some decent tops where one part goes down and the other goes up. I found them really good.

[Quills]

Vest tops and waterfall cardigans

[callamia]

If you can pull it out is the way, you can wear it. I like vest tops you can pull down (I've never bothered with the faff of two vests, double-layer nursing tops were often more confusing than they were worth), and wrap tops are the best. A cardigan and a scarf in early spring should be great if you want a light cover.

[TheCountessofFitzdotterel]

For hot weather I would wear a vest top with an unbuttoned shirt over it.

[Topsy34]

I just wore normal tops that were a bit looser so easy to lift up. I wouldnt use a scarf or muslin over ds head, breastfeeding is normal and barely showed any skin

A vest under your top is great as it covers your tummy so a bit less self concious

[scratchandsniff]

I use primark adjustable straps vest tops. Wear them under other tops. Pull the vest top down and the other top up. That way there's no stomach on show and barely anything visible once baby laid across you. I haven't been too hot either.

[BeautifulLiar]

Thanks for responses!

Ok so the two layer thing seems popular and March will probably be chilly enough to do this.

So what exactly do I wear over the vest?! Surely not two vests??

I freely admit I'm overthinking this but it's a nice distraction from morning sickness!

[BeautifulLiar]

Ooh, good x post Scratch I do actually have loads of those primark strappy vests, and they're cheap enough to buy more in bigger sizes

[soloula]

I liked wearing a cardigan over a top so top could get pulled up but cardi still hung at side so less was on show. I had long sleeve and short cardis depending on the weather. Shirts over a vest are good too for the same reason. I never bothered with any specific nursing clothes (except bras). I just made sure that everything wasn't too tight fitting to make them easier to pull up/down when feeding.

[whatsoever]

I did the 2 tops thing and I breastfed from October until about May. But if it's too hot a floaty scarf and 1 top.

Although tbh I feel awkward with flesh on show - anyone less prudish about their body could just wear anything with a bit of pull down or pull up stretch I think.

[SoupDragon]

Yes, a vest underneath another top - bottom of top goes up, neck of vest goes down. :)

A big floaty scarf is useful.

It really depends how self conscious you are. I preferred to be very discreet because I am shy and didn't want to have any risk of confrontation.

[MarinaCoyle]

I used to wear a boob tube except have it sitting below my boobs covering my belly. Then whatever I wanted on top. Hoick up overlying top, boob tube covers belly. Sorted.

[HeadDreamer]

Stringy vest and a loose top. One up one down.

[Eminybob]

I was just coming on to say the stretchy vest tops from primark. I wore them under everything. V useful for smoothing out post baby tum too!

[trilbydoll]

New Look have crop tops at the moment for about £3 - they're quite good for double layering without ending up quite as hot and sticky as two vests makes you! Tbh though I find nursing tops easiest, purpless.co.uk have some fairly cheap ones.

[happy2bhomely]

I used to wear a stretchy primark vest under everything, but I wore it back to front so it sat under my boobs. Then I would wear either a wrap top or button down top over the vest. I felt more self conscious about baring my belly than I ever did about flashing a nipple!

[museumum]

I had a few loose tunic tops from the likes of fatface.
Personally I hated my huge cleavage so liked quite high necked tops I could lift up rather than pulling tops down.
If the top was loose-ish I didn't feel it exposed too much tummy that ds didn't cover with his body.

[Evabear13]

Hello. I used to carry round one of those GIANT muslin squares, they are great for hiding baby under. Also gives them some shade.A large pashmina also works well!

[avocadotoast]

I'm breastfeeding at the moment and I just stick a Primark strappy vest under whatever top I wear. Mostly just t-shirts to be honest (though some of my tops have had to be put aside as they're a bit too snug to easily pull up and down).

I do the one-up-one-down - unclip nursing bra, get boob out top of vest under t-shirt, bring baby up to boob level, t-shirt up, baby on. Minimises flashing (as much as possible anyway!).

[avocadotoast]

trilby I don't really understand the crop top thing - do you wear it as the bottom layer? How does it work in terms of keeping you covered?

[IhateMagic]

I wore an invisible cloak of brazen shamelessness. It served me well. and a stretchy ahh bra to tuck my top up into

[ClunkyBoobster]

I also did the vest under anything/everything. Tshirt/top lift up, vest stays down and squish boob over the neck hole. Vest covers tummy, tshirt covers top of the boob.

If you want nursing tops that don't look like nursing tops - Serpahine has some cute ones. I also had some good mamas and papas ones that looked like tshirts but had a little second layer that you could lift up and then little boobie holes under neath.