Maternity clothes - fit?

[Porridgeislife]

I’m only 18w but don’t fit into my pre pregnancy bottoms/fitted tops so have ordered some smart(ish) mat clothes for work. Can anyone advise from experience how much room I should leave for my third trimester bump at this stage?

I’ve bought two sizes, one fits well now and one is too baggy/oversized. Should I size up and assume it will be taken up later on?

This is tough to answer! It depends. You might have a big bump or you might not. And it depends on the type of clothes and whether you want to show off your bump or play it down.

Trousers/ jeans - the only ones that fit me properly through 2nd and 3rd trimester had really stretchy over bump bands (or were a bit too big in 2nd trimester)

Jumpers/ tops - mostly made out of stretchy material and grew with me. I was still wearing my longer pre-PG tops at 38wks (and bump measured 90th centile or something like that).

Dresses - anything a-line fit the whole time. I didn't buy anything fitted. But most of the fitted ones are stretchy and grow with you anyway.

Coat - bought a nice maternity coat in pre-PG size with a drawstring waist that fit right through maternity and I'm still wearing now DS is 10mo.

The only bit that grows is your bump - so if they fit the rest of you and are a bit stretchy should be fine!

Not sure if that helps...

They're generally stretchy in the tummy area as the rest of you doesn't change much. So if they fit well all over, or fit well but baggy inthe bump region they're fine.
If they're big all over I would return those

All the maternity stuff I've bought has advised buying the size you would wear pre pregnancy rather than sizing up. That being said I've found with trousers some over bump panels are stretchier than others!

If you're going to buy trousers then I'd recommend learning from my mistake as I did ignore advice and bought a bundle of trousers from Vinted a size up from my normal and they are all far too big in the legs so I wasted money there. Even if I grow into the bump bit of the size up to hold them up the rest will be too big.

With tops it really depends how your bump grows. So might be worth just keeping which ever fits best now and then buying more a size up if you need it later on?