What to wear post partum

[stnly]

Hi everyone,

I'm booked for an induction with my first next week but struggling on what to wear after having her.

I've cleared out most of my wardrobe as I was sick of looking at stuff that doesn't fit (the rest is in the loft) and have at the moment 1 pair of leggings, a couple of T-shirts a couple of vests and a few dresses but I feel frumpy and awful in all of them 😂😂

What's everyone planning to wear after having their babies going into summer? I've not really bought any maternity summer stuff because I didn't want to spend a lot so close to baby being born I wasn't sure I'd get the use out of it.

1st world problems I know, but would love some inspiration for breast feeding, warm weather friendly outfits to feel nice in 😂

I just wore my normal clothes after my first was born - jeans and checked shirts mostly. Granted that was in November.

Since you're planning on breastfeeding you might want to invest in nursing bras and tops that make it easy to expose a boob. Dresses might not be ideal unless specially designed nursing dresses.

Full marks for thinking of this ahead of time! It really got me down as nothing worked for my new shape, I was exhausted and couldn’t process anything!

its hard to gauge but expect at first to be maybe a couple of sizes bigger. If u don’t have a caesarean you might welcome something with more of a waist to hold you in, I didn’t want to look pregnant any more and really hated the maternity shape of most breast feeding specific clothes.
leggings, long T-shirts, long vest tops. Do you have a stretchy waist longish skirt or loose trousers in a bigger size than your normal?

Skirts and tops are masses easier than dresses. Avoid unless they are breastfeeding friendly and even then actually they are a bit of a nightmare until you get the hang of it a few weeks in. T-shirt up, vest down.

I’m about to have DC2 and DC1 was a summer baby too. I’ve basically got two types of outfit:

1. Maxi dress which unbuttons at the front paired with a very thin/light jumper over the top


2. Skirt with strap top with thin/light jumper over the top

I’m not faffing about with jeans until I’ve lost a bit of baby weight and I’ll be giving leggings a swerve for a while as I’m having a CS this time. Button front maxi dresses were great last time around as they were roomy, kept me cool in the heat, gave easy access to boobs for feeding and didn’t feel bunchy if I was wearing big pants and maternity pads.

The Facebook group Can I Breasfeed In It is really good, last time I found a few really nice feeding friendly dresses via it that didn’t make me feel really dowdy!

I am absolutely loving the shirred maxi and midi dresses at the moment, they’re perfect for wearing PP as they’re nice and roomy around the stomach but also have thick straps (good for BF bras) and also easy to pull down for BF too

I also love wrap dresses for the same reason and have some nice baggy jumpsuits that do the same job

Have a look on dancing leopard for nice wrap dresses and asos / zara / H&M for shirred midi dresses

I have to say, it’s much better to be pregnant now than a few years ago with my first because there are so many pregnancy and PP options available in standard dresses, I haven’t really bought any maternity wear at all this time

A lifesaver for me was the Can I Breastfeed In It? Facebook group. I saw it advertised in a breastfeeding magazine the hospital gave me the day after I gave birth and seeing women posting about fashion and clothing (most of it very affordable and easy to feed it) really helped me feel like myself postpartum.

If you end up having a c-section then the c-section leggings are amazing! They literally support you to stand upright.

I was in my maternity leggings for a few weeks after my babies were born - don't hurry to squeeze back into jeans, as it actually doesn't do your insides/back any good!

Soft waistband leggings with a longer tunic shirt, or dresses, are definitely the best while recovering.

There's not much awareness of this, but forcing your tummy back into something too tight is not good for a recovering pelvic floor, i recently learned! It puts pressure downwards

So if you can bear it, embrace the frumpyness for a while :)

I had some fab zip front jumpsuits from Sainsbury's, few years ago though so don't know if they do them anymore. Apart from that I just wore normal clothes