Maternity clothes... I know I'm overthinking this!

[LadyoftheWoods]

I'm 14 weeks and now cannot do up any of my trousers or jeans. I've tried the hairband thing but I'm just finding them too uncomfortable. I bought a pair of maternity jeans but they're still a little bit big so I bought some maternity leggings- amazingly comfortable so all good. However, I don't really own any dresses or tops long enough to cover my bum and I'm not comfortable having my bum exposed in leggings at my age (plus it's cold!)

So, now I need some dresses, but I'm not big enough to need maternity dresses yet so I thought I'd just get stretchy dresses one size up, thinking I can wear them after birth too. I mentioned this to my friend who said that wouldn't be practical for breastfeeding, which makes sense. So now I just don't know what to do! I know, I know, first world problems, but what have other people done??

My breastfeeding wardrobe was oversized shirts with leggings, vest tops under and trainers.

My pregnancy wardrobe was oversized shirts with colour matched maxi dresses or in summer just maxi dresses and kimonos (dresses usually from HandM or asos, and kimonos just random asos/rivers/eBay second hand some really lovely ones.

Invest in some nice nursing bras - HandM do some and some supermarkets sometimes have good choices.

For reference, I'm very petite but here's what I've done for 2 pregnancies.

Under bump rather than over bump jeans. I never really filled the over bump bit properly even at full term! Size up/looser fitting longer style tops out of somewhere like Primark. Worked very well for breastfeeding after too with a vest underneath but little spent if breastfeeding didn't work out. A few maternity tops/jumpers depending on the season. I did need to get a maternity coat this time for a January baby but got away without having one for a November baby.

I have a job with a uniform so a casual clothing selection was fine for me. Obviously would be different if you need office wear etc.

I’d recommended H&M maternity dresses. They’re cheap, and comfortable. A lot of them the fit is quite small, so good for the time before your bump is big, but they expand nicely too.

www2.hm.com/en_gb/productpage.1005318001.html

I wear this one a lot, because it doesn’t have that maternity ruching which can look baggy before you have a bump. But it also stretches nicely across a larger bump.

H&M do longer white non maternity shirts which would suit pre and post labour and be fine with leggings

I have whinged and whinged about maternity wear this pregnancy (I’m 36 weeks now) and every time come back to wearing leggings and this top:

www.jojomamanbebe.co.uk/stripe-gathered-maternity-tops-b4877.html

I literally have 3 of them that I rotate wearing! They’re stretchy so you don’t feel like they’re huge when you’re early days, long enough to wear over leggings without feeling exposed, and then stretch with you until the end.

They’re not BF tops but as others have said there’s easier options later and the one up/one down layer thing is much easier for that.

@Eumy I totally agree that a lot of maternity stuff is drab! I've checked out frugi and some things are ok, I saw a nice jumper, but I'm not a fan of some of the prints, they look like sized up children's clothes!

There's some really good ideas on this thread, thank you all so much! @MangoM I hadn't looked at Next and I'm really excited they do petite mat jeans!

I like the idea of leggings/ jeans in colder weather with an oversized shirt or jumper. I'll probably get a dress or two as well.

@Derbee @Clarkey86 I like stripes so these are great suggestions!

I think whether sizing up is a good option depends massively on your shape - for me it made me look fat rather than pregnant, so I wouldn't do it unless I was desperately trying to hide the pregnancy. Maternity clothes made me feel much better about my changing shape.

I also just wanted to say - maternity clothes are an ideal thing to buy secondhand, as they usually haven't seen that much use compared to other clothes and so you get lots in good condition. Same for nursing clothes, when the time comes (which I agree aren't necessary but again, it made me feel a lot better to be able to wear dresses if I wanted to, and specific nursing ones were the easiest way to do that).

There are some great Facebook selling groups for pre-loved maternity and nursing wear, I've bought a few bits off there. As PP said they're usually in excellent condition as not worn for very long. I also bought most my maternity wear in sales to bring the costs down. Had basic things from H&M, Dorothy Perkins and Topshop mostly.

I wouldn't worry about breastfeeding. I'd get some breastfeeding friendly bras/crop tops at the end of your pregnancy but you can breastfeed in any top, just lift it up. Nursing clothes are usually pretty expensive and statistically most women do not breastfeed for very long in this country so I would wait and see how you get on with it before investing in pricy nursing clothes. I'm 7 weeks PP with my second child and second breastfeeding journey and I have very few nursing clothes, just a few dresses really, otherwise I just wear t-shirts as I used to before and just lift them up.

Have a look at H&M, they have lots of great maternity clothes. Also check out La Redoute and Vertbaudet - I've been very happy with my purchases and I bought a lot... 😬