Hi my lovelies and hope you have all had a great week! This is so long overdue but FINALLY here is my edit on nursing-friendly clothes. I’m not going to lie its not the easiest to find things that are functional and fashionable at the same time and therefore I have always sort of just worn what I like and made it work.
I didn’t love breastfeeding first time around. We all know that breast is best but sometimes it just doesn’t work for everyone. I remember going to my NCT classes and they did a breastfeeding special evening and the teacher told us and I quote “that our babies would have a lower IQ if we didn’t breastfeed.” I left the class feeling so angry and that in itself almost put me off the whole thing because I thought that is not the right way to go about encouraging new mothers to breastfeed their babies. What if someone simply didn’t produce enough milk? Should they be made to feel as if they were less of a mother because of it? And what if it simply made someone really unhappy and they didn’t want to do it? As if they needed to feel guilty about it – most of us feel enough mum guilt as it is! Anyways, I did end up breastfeeding but I didn’t find it the easiest or most enjoyable thing in the world.
This time around its been a different story and maybe thats just because its my second baby and most things are easier, perhaps it is because I am more confident as a mother or perhaps its just because every experience is unique. I love it this time around and I am also totally unfazed about doing it in public. But ultimately I think that you have to do what makes you happy because i truly believe that the more relaxed you are as a mum the more happy your baby will be so it makes me really angry when women are made to feel bad if they don’t breastfeed. I get so many messages asking how I make it work with my clothes and my answer is that I just get on with it. I don’t really wear many dresses because they aren’t practical but if I really feel like wearing one then I will express for the time I am out of the house and when I am at home then who cares I just hoist my dress up. One great tip a follower gave me is to pack a pair of leggings with you so that if you are wearing a dress you can pop the leggings on and not feel half naked if you hoist the dress up.
However on a day to day basis at the moment I wear jeans/leather trousers/long skirt with a knit or top. I think after not wearing jeans for 10 months (I really don’t like maternity denim) I have been so excited to wear them and so I opt for a pair most days.
My next post btw will be about answering all of yours questions but as a side note I wanted to touch upon one of them already. I get asked a lot about how I find the time to get ready with two babies. I think we are all wired differently and no-one should feel bad for wearing sweats all day or for dressing up. We are just different. I have some help in the week but I don’t have any on the weekends and I dress up just the same! I plan my outfits in advance and I have my make-up routine down to about 5 mins. Sometimes I have a blowdry but I am just as happy scraping my hair back into a mum bun as I am having it down. You don’t need buckets of time in order to look good. For me dressing up gives me life and makes me feel good about myself – I love fashion and clothes and I was never going to stop just because I had children. If you plan well I really don’t think you need any help to be able to do that. But equally if staying in sweatpants all day makes you happy, then there is nothing wrong with that at all! Its all about finding what works for you and what makes you happy.
So back to breastfeeding, basically the two options are: trousers/skirt with a knit or a top, or a wrap dress. So I’ve split everything into categories and have included some fab nursing bras too because that makes a world of difference to me – its all about a good functional bra. Below are just a few of my favourite pieces in each category but of course you can apply this to any other pieces too!
Trousers/Skirts
Tops/Knits
Dresses
Bras