When to buy maternity clothes

[Augustina123]

Hi all,

I'm pregnant for the first time and seem to be gaining weight sooner than I had expected. I'm currently 14+5 weeks, but haven't been able to do up my jeans for a few weeks already. I'm getting to the stage of not being able to hide the gaping hole between the buttons under big jumpers anymore, so have had a look at maternity jeans. However, they all seem to be either styles I don't like at all (hate skinny jeans) or for ladies with much bigger bumps, with massive elasticated fabric waist bands which would fit over a third trimester bump.

Am I too early to buy maternity clothes yet and should wait until I develop a proper bump, and just go with 'normal' clothes a couple of sizes up for now? I've been thinking of just buying a cheap pair of jeans a couple of sizes up form my usual size, assuming that I might not get back to my usual size anyway and so could potentially wear them later, but thought I'd check in with you first to see if there were any better options available.

I'd rather buy in a shop than online to have a look at the trousers first and try them on, but the two or three shops I've been to only had a very limited selection comprised of the above-mentioned models of maternity jeans.

I'm hoping that my work trousers will still fit tomorrow when I go back to the office after a week's annual leave...

[Icklepickle101]

I was in maternity jeans at 12 weeks!! The over bump ones fitted much better between weeks 14-28 than they do now I'm in the third trimester, they are far too tight over my bump now and I'm much more comfy in under bump style

I've got a couple of pairs of GAP maternity jeans which are so so comfy and some leggings from next.

Tops I've just bought a few longer strappy tops and am still wearing most of my old jumpers and cardi's.

[Augustina123]

Thank you, Icklepickle101! Just looked at the GAP maternity jeans, they look much more like 'real' jeans than the ones I had seen in the shops.

Daft question re sizing for maternity clothes: do I just go for the size I used to be pre-pregnancy? Cheers.

[cloudjumper]

Unless you live in/near a big city, you'll be lucky to find any maternity clothes in shops, it's nearly all online.

Every pregnancy is different, so everyone is different in terms of when needing clothes. For trousers, I can really recommend Vertbaudet and Next, and maybe New Look. You mind find the under-the bump style better now, but that might well change when you are further along. Once I reached a certain size, I could not stand the under the bump ones anymore...

Oh, and I found an elastic hairband very useful to hold my trousers together, once I couldn't do the buttons up anymore

[teamrigby]

I was about 13-14 weeks when I need to get mat jeans and work trousers because everything started to dig in.

I found the best ones from the Vertbaudet website. You order your pre-pregnancy size - can't fault them really :)

[Icklepickle101]

No worries, think they are a little more expensive than most but I will wear mine after pregnancy as they are just so comfy!!

I got a job lot of 6 jeans on eBay for £12 which helped me choose which brand/style I liked without having to travel to the next 'big city' to actually find some in the shops!!

I have a mix of pre pregnancy size and the next size up.

[Brummiegirl15]

I live in Birmingham and I really struggled finding maternity clothes in shops, even if a big city.

I was in maternity trousers by 12 weeks as was so uncomfortable. Don't feel you have to wait , do what makes you feel comfortable

[cloudjumper]

Re sizing - I actually went up a size for maternity trousers because I put on quite a lot of weight
And yes, you will be wearing your mat clothes for a while after giving birth as well...

[lemon101]

When I was about 16 weeks I had a proper 'I look so fat' meltdown! Buying maternity clothes made me feel so much better. They are just much more flattering than trying to squeeze yourself into clothing that you bought when you were quite a different shape (i.e. still had a discernible waist line!).

I felt much more confident just not having waist bands biting into me and longer length tops covering an expanding belly.
My top tip is mammalicious - they do really nice clothes. I've actually only bought a few things, you don't need to go mad. But don't wait if you are getting uncomfortable in your current outfits.

[villainousbroodmare]

I managed with three pairs of maternity jeans. Some of my pre-pregnancy tops continued to fit almost until the end. Long vests with a long cardigan were my main fall-back. For me, fairly fitted clothes looked better than voluminous blimp clothes.
I bought the same size as usual in jeans, a size or two up in non-maternity tops, and found that over-the-bump jeans were much better for me and remained wearable for the whole pregnancy and afterwards. Under-bump just fell down. Try to find jeans with belt loops so you can adjust as needed.
My best buy was a pair of Mamalicious jeans. Still love them.

[spacefrog35]

I've gone up a clothes size but my bump is still small. I can dress it to look 'bumpy' or hide it if I want at 22 weeks. I've been alternating between bigger trousers & maternity trousers for a while, now mostly in maternity ones. I went with Next & whilst we call them my clown pants (as I can pull them up to my armpits and could in theory go out without wearing any other item of clothing) they're so comfortable .

[1frenchfoodie]

Have you tried over bump maternity jeans? When my normal jeans stopped being comfy (about week 22) i got some bootcut ones from H&M (in my normal size) and despite the band looking very OTT initially I now need to be prised out of them, they are so comfy.

[Mermaid36]

Ha! I'm only 4.5 weeks and am so bloated I have already bought new leggings (one size bigger, not maternity ones)...suspect I'll be in maternity stuff pretty quickly.....

[Katarzyna79]

aww OP don't worry about showing early. It doesn't mean youre going to have a bigger bump than those who show later, the growth may slow down after sudden peak. Has to do with amniotic fluid, and uterus expanding.

Ive had 4 kids and I showed slightly at 6 months. I'm expecting again now and I swear ive been showing aslight bump since 13 weeks!!! I feel so bloated all the time and I just feel huge. I;ve got visions of multiples.

I'm almost 16 weeks now and I now need maternity trousers, I can't do up the top button, and it feels tight on bump that in turn makes me feel more nausea so I need some fast.

I personally just buy it online, I go to the stores and find nothing much is in stock or its very limited.

I prefer the under the bump trousers.I used to get branded goods. But since theyre only worn for a short time subsequently I went for supermarket brands to keep costs down, the cheaper the better. I don't want to pay high prices for items I don't intend to wear for long.

[Mummageddon]

The gap black trousers look amazing (and I've been looking online for ages for the perfect work trousers) but they're out of my size - nooooo!

Hopefully they'll get more in soon!

Thanks for this thread, I've really struggled to find non skinny maternity jeans/trousers this time round (loose was "in" when I was last pg), so I've appreciated all the suggestions.

[Loki17]

I found leggings and long, floaty dress/tops the best types of early maternity clothes.

[Augustina123]

Hi all,

Massive apologies for not having thanked you for all your very helpful replies before. Thank you!!!

I now own a pair of Vertbaudet jeans which come with a zip around the abdominal area and an 'under the bump' and an 'over the bump' extension, so should hopefully be good throughout the pregnancy. Secondly, a very nice pair of H&M 'over the bump' jeans (which I found in the shop!), and a pair of Debenhams work trousers. The latter were more pricey at £25 than what I'd normally go for, but I had ordered so many different work trousers from Next, Gap, H&M and New Look and all had to go back because none fitted, so pleased with this pair.

I have to admit to having spent the holiday period in tracksuit bottoms though - not looking forward to going back to work and having to wear work trousers again!

Next challenge: a swimsuit...
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/pregnancy/2539679-Maternity-swimwear