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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Maternity tights - the devils work? I think so!

58 replies

lynlynnicebutdim · 03/02/2012 10:15

I am 24w pregnant with DD2 and have a massive bump. Honestly i look about 30 weeks. I physically cannot squeeze my ever expanding body into normal tights anymore without strangulating myself or ripping them so have switched to maternity tights, specifically marks and spencer maternity tights.

The first time i wore them they seemed fine, stayed up well, no problems. Second time they seemed to sag a bit but i could live with it if i hitched abit. The more i wore them though the more they sagged. It started to drive me a bit mad. i read i think on here that a way to get round the sagging was to wear your knickers over the top of the tights as it helped keep them in place superman style. Ok i thought, that is a good idea.

So this morning i got dressed and put my knickers on over the tights as suggested. It seemed to work. Tights didnt feel saggy so off i set to walk to the station and catch my train. By the time i got to the station they did feel a bit saggy but better than with knickers on the inside. I got a seat and zoned out for the rest of my journey. Arrived at my destination and stood up and low and behold my tights AND MY KNICKERS stayed sitting.

With no word of a lie or exaggeration my tights and my knickers were just above my knee! As i stood up the tights seemed to have just slid down me and taken my knickers with them! leaving me feeling the breeze on my bare arse.

I sat back down and let everyone else get off the train then hoiked them up as best i could before penguin walking across the station to the toilets only to discover they were closed (of course they were! its peak hour, why would the loos be open!) before finding a slightly darkened corner and a very nice lady who worked out what the problem was and helped screen me from the passing masses so i could make the necessary adjustments to stay decent.

Surely it is not unreasonable to expect maternity tights (which are not cheap by the way £6 per pair!) to be wearable beyond the first wash or is this what they mean when they say there is no dignity in pregnancy. Do they do this to us on purpose to get us used to flashing our bits in preparation for birth?

OP posts:
MyOtherNameIsBetter · 03/02/2012 11:29

You need H&M maternity tights Wink

Did you not have an extra pair of pants on underneath the tights as well?

Mandy2003 · 03/02/2012 11:32

Oh, poor you Sad I think that tights are the devil's work anyway but that's another matter.

I'm sorry I can't advise specifically on what brands might be better for you, but I do think that you've been saved the awful fate of getting thrush in pregnancy as you've realised tights under pants won't work.

I am reminded of an old etiquette book I had once that said if a lady's knickers fall down in public she should, without breaking her stride, pick them up and put them in her handbag Smile

Katiepoes · 03/02/2012 11:36

Another vote for H&M - I hate M&S hosiery, I've had holdups slide gracefully down a leg, tights that have a gusset just above the knee, saggy knees...rubbish.

Rhubarbgarden · 03/02/2012 11:38

Yanbu. They are awful. I have given up and only wear trousers now.

angelene · 03/02/2012 11:41

I would avoid tights altogether and go for hold ups. Much more comfortable and you don't get that digging in bit. I started wearing them in my first pregnancy and have continued ever since. M&S do good ones, opaques too. Free yourself from the tyranny of tights!

FutureNannyOgg · 03/02/2012 11:42

I have mothercare maternity tights. They are OK, but I hate all tights, my bump keeps these up better than normal tights. I'd rather wear stockings but noone makes a decent maternity garter belt.

RVF400 · 03/02/2012 11:47

Another vote for hold ups here, I never wear tights anymore. Better value too, as they are not maternity-specific. My faves are from the Sock Shop.

MrsWuh · 03/02/2012 12:09

How did you get maternity tights from M&S? When I asked about them a few months ago, I was told that they don't do them any more! Confused

foreverondiet · 03/02/2012 12:15

I had varying degree of success and failure with maternity tights, depends on your size and size of bump. And whats good at 30 weeks might not be good at 40 weeks.

I bought from john lewis, but they no longer do them. The mothercare ones were ok, esp the support ones as they stayed up better. Seem to remember the m&S ones particularly bad.

Pastabee · 03/02/2012 12:20

Oh that all sounds quite traumatic. I agree with hold ups if you need to dress properly for work. Leggings instead of tights at all other times.

VikingLady · 03/02/2012 12:22

The only brand I have found that stays up are Mothercare. Seriously, how hard can making tights be?

G1nger · 03/02/2012 12:23

Have you thought about wearing two extra pairs of knickers?

Original poster
lynlynnicebutdim · 03/02/2012 12:31

Didnt have knickers on underneath the tights as well as on top. I did think about it but it seemed odd somehow (cause wearing your knickers superman style isnt Hmm ). lesson learned!

have just ordered some H&M ones and will see how i go. DH would LOVE me to wear hold ups but i like the fact that tights contain some of my wobble and make me feel a bit sleeker iykwim, especially under a dress. Am a size 18.

Am taking my 6 unopened packs of M&S tights back to the store tommorow for a refund.

and buying some leggings.

The indignity of it all!

Mrswah i ordered them online from the M&S website. I know they dont do them in their London city stores anymore. Had a big moan at the shop assistants about that.

OP posts:
FutureNannyOgg · 03/02/2012 13:28

Have you tried safety pinning them to your bra? Or trousers.

gazzalw · 03/02/2012 13:31

DW wore M&S maternity tights once, they pinged back under the bump and she was left walking down Oxford Street with her her tights' gusset almost at knee level....Not at all appealing. Never again!

ceeveebee · 03/02/2012 13:36

I had twins so I was massive. M&S tights were rubbish and always around my knees. Despite the fact I hold a very responsible job in finance I just decided to wear maternity leggings, tunics and clarks comfy shoes for the latter weeks of my pregnancy, better to be comfortable than to look polished IMO!

MrsWuh · 03/02/2012 13:38

Oh well, it doesn't sound as if I missed out on much. I ended up buying some extra-large tights instead - they came right up over my bump and over my boobs - DH could not stop laughing! But at 28 weeks I had to concede defeat - I could no longer bend over far enough and simultaneously get my legs close enough together to get a pair of tights on. I have had to resort to wearing socks with my maternity skirts and hoping that nobody notices! Blush

Bearcrumble · 03/02/2012 13:41

Oh dear, you don't want nylon gusset right up against your parts.

Another vote for H+M - they seem to be the only ones that stay up. M and S are crap. Topshop not all that but better than M&S.

KatAndKit · 03/02/2012 13:46

I got mothercare ones. I did buy them a size bigger unnecessarily though. The upside of this is that I can actually tuck them into my bra. Haven't worn them much as tights means you are wearing something that involves effort, rather than the nice stretchy loungewear I would rather be sporting.

whackamole · 03/02/2012 13:47

I had Mothercare ones. I was massive with the twins as well, and very very sensitive so could only wear over the bump stuff. Mothercare were the only ones I had I think.

Diamondback · 03/02/2012 13:51

When I was pregnant I tried M&S, H&M and mothercare maternity tights and they were all crap! I had to wear large size to have a hope of them staying up (and I was not a large pregnant lady, so God knows what actual large pregnant ladies wear), and they were still crap!

You could try smart black trousers for work, but not the Mothercare ones as they leaked dye all over my lovely new cream nursing chair, even after several washes...

Iggly · 03/02/2012 13:54

Sorry but your post has made me PMSL Grin

Sorry

Givememorecheese · 03/02/2012 14:02

I got around it for a while by safety pinning them to the band of my bra.

Though I stopped wearing them altogether at about 28 weeks when the size of the bump and resulting pull caused the pin to ping open in the middle of tesco. I got a lovely long scratch on my bump and spent the rest of the shopping trip doing the trying-to-keep-tights-up waddle walk. Fortunately maternity leggings don't seem to suffer from the same design flaws.

YANBU, they are the devil's work.

Panda1234 · 03/02/2012 14:42

I haven't found maternity tights too bad so far. I am 25 weeks and can just about manage in non-maternity tights, although they aren't very comfy.

Maternity jeans are the bane of my life though - I just cannot get a pair to fit without falling down.

Popsandpip · 03/02/2012 15:07

Oh no! Sorry to hear about your experience!

I wear hold ups as just can't get along with maternity tights - they are the itchiest most frustrating things in the world.