That maternity and nursing dresses are 2 different things?

[sparkling123]

Googling 'nursing dresses' and majority of nursing dresses also double as a maternity dress. Which is it? I feel like they should just pick one or the other, surely not everyone who is breastfeeding is also pregnant / still has baby tummy?!
It just feels a little lazy on the part of the designers, like: yeah, pregnant / post natal / breastfeeding, whatever, it's all the same thing.. AIBU?

I would see it more from the angle of people want to get their money's worth- one wardrobe for 4-6 months of pregnancy then another for the early stage of bf, and potentially a 3rd for when you lose some weight soon adds up.

I think it's just because these are clothes which you will probably only wear for 12 - 18 months (per child). You may only buy a couple of nursing dresses and, initially at least, you will still have some baby tummy so they may as well be maternity-fit. After a few months I agree it is nice to have less commodious clothes and it can be difficult to find things that are really convenient for breastfeeding.

Makes total sense, otherwise you don't get any value out of them and are just contributing to the unsustainable fast fashion industry. Most people have a bit of a belly for a while after having a baby too as it takes time for your uterus, etc. to shrink so dresses that cover both help with the transition back to regular clothes

Drives me insane! I breastfed for a year with DS- I wanted clothes that fitted my non pregnant body but they were impossible to find! Everything had space for a 9 month pregnant tummy!

The Facebook group “can I breastfeed in it” often has some good ideas for clothes that are non maternity and easy to feed in.

It’s mostly good value but I wish they would have the option of just nursing dresses too. I went to a wedding at 3 months PN and struggled to find a smart dress that I could breastfeed in but which wasn’t way too loose around the tummy.

I hated this. I breastfed for two years each time, and ‘nursing’ clothing only looked half decent for the first few weeks of that. After that it became the most unflattering clothing I owned.

The things that make nursing clothing convenient for nursing are usually pretty hidden, so it makes no sense to combine them with maternity wear for longevity. If nursing tops and dresses didn’t have space for a 9 month bump they’d be wearable as regular clothing long after you stop breastfeeding. With the excess fabric they’re only good while you have a tummy.

Yes! Should have added I meant dresses as in nice dresses you would wear to a wedding, maybe 6 months post partum!

I agree with you OP. I'm BFing my 6 month old and have no plans to stop, I don't want to be wearing maternity clothes forever.

Try the weekly roundup on the cibii (can I breastfeed in it) website. The find all the best non maternity highstreet clothes each week that give easy access for BFing.

Its irritating from the other side too. Not all pregnant women want to breastfeed, and it puts quite a restriction on styles to make them dual purpose.

Www.tilbea.com do dresses meant for nursing rather than maternity. The dress I got from there is well fitted, though I did have to have it taken up by about 10cm as they as made for tall people!

I'm still bf DC1(2) and 8months pg with DC2. I discovered the majority of my first maternity wardrobe was not suitable for nursing, so I have invested in lots of wrap dresses and vest tops, to save spending a fortune on nursing maternity wear. It would be great if there were more options of just nursing or just maternity or multi purpose!

I see the points re stuff lasting but I lost 2 and a half stones while pregnant as I had Gestational Diabetes so when DS arrived all my old clothes hung off me including my pregnancy stuff. Can I breastfeed in it? Is a great help, I mostly wear jeans, a vest and a top over to do OUOD, for a forthcoming wedding I have a Lady V wrap dress to pull the top down, and a pashmina thing to use to be slightly discrete.

True hugthrduggee, but not a problem in practice - IMO most maternity brands carry an extensive range of dresses in bf-hostile styles where you’d need to strip to your knickers in order to get your breasts out.

At the time DS1 was born primark had a range of loungewear (jimjams to you and me) that had long sleeved plain coloured thin tops with buttons that went down quite low.
These were great to feed in and cheap.

This drives me mad! Feeding my 8m old and struggling to find nice summer dresses which aren't huge on the tummy.

I've managed to get a couple from new look but they aren't very summery/smart.

I saI'd to my husband last week I wish I had the skills and money to start a fashion collection

I didn’t really want to get my breasts out whilst pregnant but sadly did still have a tummy big enough to appear pregnant when breastfeeding

FindPrimeLorca, its been a problem in practice for me...

Probably not quite as much of a problem as the other way round admittedly, but I'd love some more seperare clothing.

It also makes for it being all very samey. Folds and flaps for hidden boob access and floaty across the tummy for pregnancy. More styles would be nice.

I guess it’s just Sod’s law duggee. If you go in looking for something multi purpose you’ll find racks of high neck Empire line. If you go in looking for a one-off number that you’ll never need to use post partum then you’ll find a sea of wrap dresses.

Yep!!

Just like before pregnancy I found myself accidentally browsing maternity wear many times, and once baby was in board, all the shops seem to have abolished their maternity sections.

H and M actually do some nice-looking non-maternity nursing dresses (this is very much my pre-pregnancy style). I do agree r.e. the maternity/nursing thing - I'm currently pregnant and suspect I'll be pretty bored of my capacious maternity clothes once I get some sort of waistline back!

What with the realisation that H and M has a reputation for good maternity clothing for short people, and that their baby clothes are apparently good for fit with cloth nappies, I'm rapidly becoming a convert...

My biggest gripe with maternity clothing was that so much of it failed to accommodate my bump and bust into the 3rd trimester. I was still size 8 across the back and shoulders, just considerably expanded out of the front.

The Jo Jo maternity/ nursing dresses and tops were best value for me and lasted longest through pregnancy. As my tummy and bust gradually retreated through breastfeeding, they did get more saggy at the front, but there was a stage where upsizing to size 12 to accommodate my front looked horrendously saggy on my back anyway. By the time the maternity/ feeding wear did look saggy, I was getting closer to my usual size and feeding less frequently in public. I did end up buying extra feeding tops because of my awkward proportions against standard sizing.

I wish I had known that EMCS= total replacement of trousers. I had to have under the bump as my bump was too big by halfway through the second trimester, then had to buy over the bump postnatally as the waistbands were right on the wound. Since the abdomen and wound settled, all trousers still need high waists to keep the overhang and spare skin tucked away.

I think it's silly they advertise maternity clothes as suitable for breastfeeding, it's more a marketing ploy to make you spend, thinking you're getting a good deal.

I found my mat dresses looked awful after giving birth, when you're pregnant they're nice and snug and fitted to the bump, as soon as that's gone they just hang loose and flappy and make you look bigger. I hate having baggy runched material, it gets in the way. Empire lines emphasise a post partum bump as does anything clingy. And most mat clothes are stretched out of shape by the end of pregnancy!

I found normal wrap dresses better postpartum or dresses with a wide adjustable waistband. My mat leggings fell down within days so I bought some supportive high waisted leggings from a normal range (in a bigger size at first). After birth your tummy muscles are stretched and need support, I was more comfortable with tight supportive underlayers (including a belly bandit) and a stretchy tunic or dress on top, with buttons up the front or a low stretchy neckline for bf.

Lots of women breastfeed for over a year and there's a real shortage of nursing clothes that aren't maternity.