Should I buy something to prevent stretch marks or is it a waste of time?

[barbareebaa]

What do you think?

I'm 19 weeks preg (almost!!) and my friends say I should be putting something on my little bump.

Do stretch mark creams/ lotions work?

Someone recommended bio-oil but its tres expensive and I don't want to buy it if I'm going to get stretch marks anyway...

what about palmers cocoa butter?

Any advice would be gratefully received!!

Twins here with no stretchmarks, went to 37 weeks too. All 3 sisters have stretchmarks with singletons.

I'm in the 'you either get them or you don't' camp. I used Palmers cocoa butter and then mothercare pregnancy stretch mark cream all the way through pregnancy with DS. I thought I had got away with it but they started appearing at 37 weeks. And my god they itched! I had tons come up at once, by the time he was born, they went from my pubic bone past my belly button. They are barely visible now (DS is 18 months) and only really show when my skin is cold. I wore a bikini this summer and no one ran in the opposite direction so they can't be that bad

I just put on Vaseline Intensive Care for dry skin as my skin got a lot drier when pregnant. MW told me not to shower/bath so much as it was making my skin dry. I normally like cocoa butter but found the smell too strong in pregnancy. You can get a odourless one now though.

I didn't get any stretch marks in either pregnancy, and also already had them from puberty. I put 4 stone on with DD1 too.

I hated Bio Oil as it felt like coating my skin in chip fat, just sitting on the surface instead of rubbing in. Horrible.

As I'm sure has been said already as stretchmarks are physical damage below the epidermis so there isn't much a cream is going to do.

I didn't get stretchmarks with either pregnancy, my mum didn't get any either with three so I imagine genetics plays a part.

I used to like using Palmers Cocoa Butter because I loved the smell and it was soothing on the itchy stretched feeling when I was massive but I don't think it did anything to prevent the stretchmarks.

I got loads going through puberty but haven't found any yet, despite my skin feeling really tight on the bump. I wonder if the elasticity of my skin has changed in the last 20 years (gulp) since puberty.

I usually just use normal moisturiser for comfort, I don't believe in fancy products. I got given some body shop body butter which rubs in lovely and smells nice.

My friend thought she'd got away with it until 41 weeks, when her stretchmarks suddenly appeared!

I'm VERY prone to stretch marks - have them on my legs and boobs, from being a teenager. I assumed I"d get loads in pregnancy. I used Bio Oil morning and night from week nine, and I absolutely swear by the stuff. I got stretch marks where I hadn't oiled, but nowhere I'd actually been rubbing the oil in. So I have them around the sides of my hips, and on part of my boobs, but only on the skin that I missed when rubbing it in, if you see what I mean. I disagree completely with 'if you gonna get 'em, you're gonna get 'em' thing. I DO get them, badly, but using Bio-Oil can really work. It works in a completely different way to other creams and oils - my mum's a pharmacist and recommended it to me.

I've had 4 average sized babies, and not even the smallest stretchmark.
I have oily skin (I get spots so not that lucky) I also am hyper mobile which means I have more collagen in my body, this means in general my skin is quite stretchy. My daughter, sister and mum are the same. So I do think stretch marks are partly genetic.

Just to add, I also use body lotion every day, and have done for 20 years

I put over 4 stone with DD1 and didn't get any stretch marks.I didn't use and cream or anything.I didn't get any with DD2 either.

I was 19 when I got pregnant, and was only 7stone9lbs and 5foot 2" tall, My measurements were 32x22x33 and had tiny hips. My mother advised me to put olive oil on my bump and despite putting on 2 stone with bust (only)36 waist 36 and hips 36" - yes a barrel- and baby weighed 7lb 2 , I got no stretch marks. So, do try it. Good Luck

Never used anything in previous pregnancy. Boobs went from AA to DD :) and had a big bump. No stretch marks anywhere. It's total luck IMHO.

Chickdoo; I also have hypermobility, but still have the stretch marks (apart from my Bio-Oil'd bits ). Strange isn't it? JUst goes to show we're all different and basically what works for one might be a massive waste of time and money for someone else!

Three kids no stretch marks. I'm a size 8-10 and put on 2 stone first time and 1.5 stone second /third time i put cocoa butter on the firs time, but forgot the second time.

I thi k it's partially genetic, but just don't eat too much crap!

I have good skin. Never had spots or pubescent stretch marks - even though I developed a large bust and thighs almost overnight. I still don't have cellulite (at 43). My friends were jealous.
Had DS at age 19. Moisturised during pregnancy, and was completely stretch mark free (plus small bump and good stomach muscles) until 38 weeks. Then one morning I woke up, got into the shower, and spotted huge red livid stretch marks that really had appeared overnight. I was in shock. Son was born weighing 7lb 14oz.
My mum (whose mild stretch marks had always amused me) told me that they'd fade to silver and no one would notice. Yeah right. I look like I've survived a knife attack or third degree burns. They are very deep. On the plus side, they didn't (couldn't!) get any worse with my three subsequent pregnancies (although the c-section overhang from DD3 was an unanticipated cosmetic joy). Mother Nature is a bitch!

I'm hypermobile, and have stretchmarks quite badly.

I don't think there's much rhyme or reason, except that women whose mothers got them badly seem to get them in turn. Genetics is the only predictor.

havent read whole thrad...

I have a few friends who have NO stretch marks, I don't think any of them used any creams or potions.

I have MAHOOSSIVE stretch marks. I love them though. They are my battle scars, I wouldn't be without them

My mum got them very badly - so did my sister - I didn't.

Ah, then NO rhyme or reason! (Maybe your Dad had fab stretchy genes? )

Could be, perfect! I haven't asked him!

I didn't get one. I was as big as a buffalo throughout pregnancy.

My mother got loads. She was slim, fit, and 20 years younger than me when pg.

It's luck, I reckon. Though sticking on a cream or oil can't hurt.

My mum didn't use any creams or anything and didn't get any stretch marks. My sister used Palmer's Cocoa Butter and got quite a few. I used Spa Mum-to-be Collagen Boosting Body Butter (which I LOVED) and didn't get any.

I reckon it's pretty hit and miss if you get stretch marks or not, and I don't think you can prevent them if you're genetically predisposed to getting them. But if there's a cream that you like then do use it (if you can be bothered), as it's quite a nice bonding activity with the unborn baby, and it'll help stop bump itch as the skin stretches!

I'm a size 16 and never had any stretchmarks. My size 6 sister was covered in them

I didn't get a single one until after my DD was born - go figure - then I got one rolling over in bed, trying to sit up after a massive c section! I got more during puberty on my hips.

We all have our scars of motherhood I suppose
and I also don't give a flyers what any man thinks of my scars, or my little stretchmark! ha ha ha, how funny to think we care!

I have never had stretch marks in 4 full term pregnancies, but have from growing fast in teenage ( so I suppose hormonal balance must have been different then? or maybe nutritional?). Those teenaged ones are all but invisible now thankfully.

I have very few, I always put it down to the amount of scans I have (lots of gel being rubbed in) but I'm sure there's also the fact I deliver 4lb babies in there too.