Softest flannel shirts (and other best nursing wear to make me feel good post-birth)

[allthecheese]

I'm due to give birth to my first baby in Jan, and worrying about (yes, very vain) looking and feeling good about myself afterwards. I want some nice new clothes for nursing. Ideally not specific nursing clothes. I was thinking some lovely soft flannel shirts, or denim shirts.

I bought my checked flannel shirts from Uniqlo and they are very comfy and go well with jeans.

www.uniqlo.com/uk/en/women/tops/flannel-shirts

I have lots of Uniqlo ones too and live in them over winter. I think they are on special offer at the moment.

When I gave birth I bought myself a new flannel night shirt and a really thick dressing gown. Baby was a December baby so envisaged being up when heating wasn't on etc.

Also recommend getting a small cross body bag.

Following! I had my last baby in a summer heatwave so feeling the cold when nursing atm (esp in the middle of an exposed and windy children's play area.)

My nursing essentials at the moment are soft stretchy tops and soft, thin jumpers which I can push up to allow baby to feed from underneath. I don't wear any actual nursing clothes as I haven't managed to find any I like or feel comfortable in.

I also invested in a really warm coat with pockets large enough for my keys and phone so I don't need to carry a bag with me and keeping me warm so I can still get out of the house.

A nice scarf or two can be good for keeping warm, style and covering you / baby (as required) when feeding out and about

I bought a few dresses from asos and la redoute, in the sales, with button fronts. Vest underneath, opaques and boots, big scarf - done

Another thing Uniqlo sometimes have is a waist warmer thingy (sorry, I don't know the proper name in English or in Japanese!).
It's a jersey fabric band that goes under your clothes to keep your kidneys warm (thus bringing good health in winter) that Japanese (and I think other Far Eastern Asian) ladies wear in colder months. It would probably be fab for breastfeeding, as it would keep your middle warm when your top is open or pulled up. I wish I'd known about them when mine were infants.
Stretchy, strappy vests were also useful under button-down shirts- it just means less of your skin exposed to the cold air. (Though tbh, we had the heating on 24/7 when mine were born- both winter babies born in deep snow!)
Some good handcream is a good idea- your hands get red raw from constantly washing them- I think Norwegian formula is supposed to be most effective, but I was allergic to it clarins was the best one for me, but it's about 3 times the price.

@Tantpoke @jelliedeel Would you say the Uniqlo shirts are true to size? If i’m a 12 on top and 14 on the bottom what size would i order?

Try primark as well - I love their shirts

Yes i think they are true to size, mine are XL and im a size 16

The Uniqlo shirts are true fairly true to size this year (last year's ran small). I am a 10/12 on top and bought a small so I would recommend a medium. There's room for thermals underneath too and it's not snug.

I have to say that I bought a Primark flannel shirt for £8 at the same time as the Uniqlo ones cos I liked the colour. It went binwards after about two washes due to it going both bald and bobbly.

Unilo are good, very soft, quite fine. My favourite is from Land's End, just as soft but thicker. I also have a brilliant flannel shirt from the men's section of Uniqlo that was described as "heavyweight" - it's really thick and warm. Don't know if they still do them.