Scared to buy anything, even maternity clothes...

[Cherryblossom200]

Hey everyone,

This is my first pregnancy and I'm 14 + 2 days, and rapidly growing despite the fact I'm only petite! I'm a size 8 normally, but my tummy is really starting to show now and I can't do up some of my work trousers etc but I'm really scared to start buying maternity clothes and things for the baby. I'm going to slowly start buying things for the baby after my 20 week scan, does this sound about right?

I feel so silly with all this supersticious stuff, but I'm scared of buying new clothes so I'm just trying to stay in my normal stuff for as long as possible?! Am I crazy for thinking like this??

x

becca you might not actually be a size bigger after birth though. I think it depends on how much weight you actually gained, vs just bump size. I'm probably the same as splendide. I can still fit my pre pregnancy tunics and dresses at 35 weeks. Though the dresses are lot shorter now. (In fact I'm wearing an old dress with maternity leggings today). I think you just won't know at the start of your pregnancy. And that's why I would caution against buying one size bigger just in case you aren't going to be!

elle I didn't fit any of the maternity trousers last time immediately post birth (the bump is just too small to keep the waist up though my bum had obviously grown in size). But then I don't fit them either now as both my bum and waist are too large to fit! I think tight trousers are just tricky when your lower half changes in size so much. I much prefer dresses, tights and leggings for this reason. They seen to last much longer as they are more forgiving around the waist and butt.

It's hard to dress nicely while pregnant unless you are willing to spend!

Yes I agree with you which is why I think I'm going to invest in some nice pieces from Seraphine. I'm so bloody clueless ha I thought I could just my normal clothes on a few weeks/months after the birth!? So far my friends say I look completely the same apart from my bump! x

I didn't buy anything for baby until 20 weeks but couldn't get away with not buying anything for me before then. Also a size 8/10 and I'm now 40 weeks but have got away with not buying too much and I'm normally always buying fashionable clothes! I got away with bump bands over my work trousers until 35 weeks so never had to buy any maternity work trousers. I also got away with floaty non maternity tops and just cheaper plain maternity tops from New Look for a while. All my maternity jeans came from Primark and pretty much everything else from H&M. I bought 2 nice dresses from Seraphine for weddings. You don't have to spend too much and bump bands are amazing!

Do they do maternity jeans at primark? x

Cherry, yes they do in Edinburgh. Tbh I've never been a big Primark shopper until this pregnancy and found the maternity jeans really comfy. I got each pair for £6 and although they're too uncomfortable now I'm 40 weeks, they have done me well. Bit hit and miss with some of their maternity clothes but I bought a few decent vest tops too.

A lot depends on the waist band and how high you carry.

I'm 35 + 6, size 10 normally, carry high. My lowest waisted jeans still fit with a hair elastic! In fact more comfy than 1 pair of maternity jeans I got.

My staples have been maternity leggings and tunics/dresses. MattAlan and an online shop called Purpless were where I got mine. Loose jersey basics from H&M and Primark normal ranges also- a size or 2 up.

Oxford St Primark has maternity if you're in London.

Thanks ladies ??

I'm almost 34 weeks and I've barely worn any 'maternity' clothes - bought 3 dresses for work, but aside from that I've been wearing harem pants (in one size up - fit right over the bump), and non maternity tunics. Next have short harem pants and long ones, I've worn Fat Face and White Stuff tunics mostly - they're gathered under the boobs.

In terms of not wanting to buy stuff - I didn't get anything for the actual baby until 26ish weeks - that was the buggy off ebay. Didn't buy anything else at all until 32 weeks, when I went and did it all in one day. Put it in bags and hope not to see it until at least mid September!!

I felt exactly the same about buying my first maternity clothes. Then I realised how amazingly comfortable maternity trousers are. I thought, f*ck it! I'm wearing these forever - miscarriage or no!

The carrying low or high comment is probably spot on. I'm so uncomfortable with any non maternity trousers probably because I'm carrying really low. Even underpants are uncomfortable! And my bump is actually very tiny as everyone keeps telling me that I don't look 35 weeks at all.

Bit of an insensitive comment for those who HAVE had to get shot of maternity clothing after a loss.

I found ebay great for testing maternity clothes. I was really struggling with work trousers so bought a couple of secondhand pairs of mothercare ones with a small elasticated waistband, a bit like old lady trousers! They have been useful and I didn't feel like I was committing to maternity wear too early in my pregnancy, especially as the problem was more continual bloating than bump! But I didn't want to buy larger sizes as I'd still havd felt porky and bloated around my tummy with the added discomfort of knowing my trousers were too big and baggy everywhere else. Another great buy has been stretchy pencil skirts in a larger size, I'm hoping to get plenty of wear out of these.

Now at 18 weeks I have just bought two pairs of maternity under bump skinny jeans, blue and black. My regular jeans are just too uncomfortable now. But apart from that still in regular tops and pretty much all of my dresses still fit.

Bit of an insensitive comment for those who HAVE had to get shot of maternity clothing after a loss.

Do you mean me Squizita? If so, I'm awfully sorry for being insensitive. I certainly wouldn't mean to be on purpose.

I went late night shopping last night after work and bought a few basics from primark (non maternity just bigger size). Anyhoo after saying I wouldn't buy any maternity clothes (yesterday) I tried on some maternity jeans in newlook and oh my they were comfy. And I just had images of the friends episode where joey wears phoebes maternity jeans so he can eat more thanksgiving food! Haha made me chuckle x

becca welcome to the delights of maternity clothes. I found it really makes a difference where the waist band are with maternity bottoms. I just hate the tight feeling around my abdomin.

Hey lovely ladies,

I'm kind of hijacking my own thread?! (can I do that ha!) I'm going off topic because I didn't want to start a whole new thread and start monopolising the mumsnet forum! You all seem very knowledgable so thought I would ask you first.

I was wondering if I should get a basinet for my room for the first 3 months or so (to make it easier to breastfeed and to be able to check on the baby) then transition to a cot. But I'm concerned my baby will like being close to me and it will be a struggle to get them to adjust to sleeping in a different room to a cot. Any ideas?

With regards to the clothes, I'm going to head to New Look at some point definitley. I've heard lots of good things. But I think for staples, such as t-shirst etc. I'm just going to go with Primark and up my size. The boyfriend t-shirts are fab as they are long and baggy. My size 8 is fine so far, not stretching on my bump. Have you checked out the wrap tops in Jo Jo Maman? They are great and kind of grow with you. When I get bigger I'm going to invest in a couple of those.

xx

cherry I've just bought a snuzpod. The evidence suggests that when a baby is very newborn, giving it loads of attention and constantly tending to it, makes it a more relaxed baby later on. If you think about it, baby has had constant supply of food, warmth etc for 9 months inside you. It cries outside because all of a sudden this isn't the case. If it learns that someone is going to attend to it when it needs it, it starts to settle in the outside world. Baby should ideally be in the same room as others anyway for the first 6 months to reduce risk of cot death.

I'm only 10 weeks and already out of my old clothes, I haven't bought any maternity wear but have found that Dorothy Perkins have a good selection of comfy clothing.

I've bought a combination of maternity and size up clothes. I have two stretchy pencil skirts that I can wear high so they're over bump. I think anything with a waist band at my navel would be really uncomfortable. I have a couple of the JJMB wrap dresses with nursing holes for later. They're comfortable and wash well, I'd say they're quite generously sized. I'd read awful things about maternity tights so was surprised at how much better they were than expected. I've largely bought them from eBay.

I needed bigger clothes from 18-20 weeks, with nothing much normal fitting from about 24. I bought a pushchair at maybe 26 weeks and held off on baby clothes until about 30 weeks. I think it's fine to be cautious but buying a pair of comfortable trousers will not jinx your pregnancy. Focus on buying stuff you need.

Thanks guys, will look at Snuzpod. Testing great advice, much appreciated x

40 weeks here and still in normal clothes apart from maternity jeans. You don't need to buy much 'pregnancy' stuff at all if you don't wish to.