Stylish/put together people with young babies - HOW do you do it??

[MayimBialik]

When I was pregnant I said I would still make the effort to get up and put my makeup on and wear nice clothes when id had my baby so that I wouldn't feel like a frumpy mum. In reality...that ain't happening.

I feel like a mess half the time which doesn't do my self confidence much good. Especially as my body is still very much representative of someone that's just had a baby. I don't want to put pressure on myself to lose weight (slowly and steadily) but I would LOVE some tips on how to look put together in a hurry so that I still feel confident.

How do you do it?! How do you get your hair and makeup looking nice? And how do you dress whilst BFing (if you BF)? It's all a mystery to me...

Always have a shower every morning.
Dry shampoo
Have your make up basics in a small bag downstairs so you can put on a little bit of slap whilst baby is in bouncey chair/on playmat.
Try and do one load of washing every day so you don't run out of clean clothes!

Congratulations!

With lots of help from here!

In reality cut right back, after experimenting my make up consists of garniers bb cream, mascara, blusher and lipstick. It takes about 2 minutes to put on.
As for hair I have the bbh so dry and strighten at the same time.

But overall be realistic, sometimes especially with a young baby accept that it just isn't happening. Instead find a whole new way of doing things that works with your baby eg showering and doing your hair in the evening, findingbnew hair styles that take 2 minutes to do.

Don't be too hard on yourself, it is just about getting used to everything being different. Body, available time etc.

Try and get a low maintenance cut.
Keep cream/some makeup downstairs.
Leave accessories/ hairbrush downstairs too.
Consider your next days outfit when u go to bed.

Then once you are showered and dressed, do makeup etc during breakfast/when baby is happy to just lie around for a bit.

In terms of BF clothing. I found all the purpose designed stuff to be crap. I just wore reasonably stretchy vests and the normal tops. Pull up the top and pull down the vest. You stay reasonably covered and warm but can BF easily enough.

It is all about getting used to it.

Everything that teacher said, but mostly please just give yourself a break. How old is your baby? When you're still prone to leaks and when baby's still posseting milk all the time, you can't expect to look as well-presented as you used to. I think the shock of all the extra laundry and how long it takes to do each baby-related task doesn't help either. For me things changed dramatically once I could stop worrying about breast pads and once DD was on solids and stopped being sick 20 times per day!

The shower a day thing will really help your sanity, even if you don't get time to dry your hair!

By the way I'm still BFing 12-month old DD. I don't dress as interestingly as I used to but I look OK.
(I hope.)

ooh. watching with interest. DD is 11 weeks old and somehow I'm still living in maternity jeans (they're comfy and surprisingly reassuring?!) and a choice of three different jumpers. Stylish mum I am not.

Doesn't help that all our spare money is going on nappies, milk and clothes for her though!! Zero budget for clothing is definitely an issue, plus have started WW so don't really want to buy new clothes until have lost all my baby weight.

Thanks for all the advice. DS is 9 weeks and yes not enjoying the breast pads that make my already gigantic boobs look even bigger! (Can't wait for my 34Bs to return and to wear nice bras!)

Havingastress - I'm also still loving my mat jeans. They feel so loose and make me feel like a waif. I'm really not though haha!

DC3 is nearly 3 months old. I shower and do hair at night once DH is home to hold the baby. Have an idea what you want to wear the next day and get it out of the wardrobe so you can just get dressed without thinking.

If there us no time for a shower in the morning, i have a quick wash and try to get dressed/makeup on before most of the kids are awake. Keep makeup and hair stuff downstairs so I can do it quickly. I BF but pull my top up and pull a cheap vest down.

you get much quicker at doing your hair and make up once you have had dc i found!

and when my dcs were tiny babies i would just stick em in the bouncer / cot while i got ready

and agree with the poster who said shower every day :o

Ps, that doesn't mean I am stylish or put together!!!! I am just trying to make more of an effort so I don't look a state.

It does make me feeling better about myself when I do it. If I don't, I feel AND look shit!!

I used to stick the dcs in the bouncer in front of the shower each morning. She used to find it fascinating. As someone else said you become much much quicker at getting ready and knowing what you're going to wear and having it within easy reach is a must.

I always read on here that people are desperate to get out of their maternity jeans - I loved mine! After both dc1 and dc2, I wore them until it became embarassing as I had lost the baby weight and they were falling off me. They were sooo comfy.

Neither stylish nor put together, but in a vague attempt to be, I had my eyelashes and eyebrows dyed religiously when the DC were very little - it really helped, make up was far less essential.

I also organise my wardrobe by outfit (much like I do for the dc) so on ech hanger there is a complete outfit minus underware and accessories, saves time the night before/in the morning. I dont have to think about it I can just pull out an out fit without thinking and know it will look ok.

Brilliant - loads of good tips! Thanks ladies