Womb to Bloom - Maternity & Beyond

While there are specialty stores with breastfeeding-specific clothes for sale, it doesn’t have to cost a lot to have clothing that is suited to feeding your baby. I remember perusing one of these stores and while several of the designs were gorgeous, they also cost a fortune. On top of that, many designs just plain didn’t fit my body type, especially with my currently enlarged breasts…

So, what can you do if buying expensive nursing tops isn’t an option? Fortunately there are lots of other choices out there. Most were never designed for breastfeeding, but that makes no difference when it comes to their usefulness. In fact, you can find clothes suitable for nursing in the sales aisles of pretty much any department store.

Even better, if you search your local thrift shop you can find suitable clothes for practically nothing. My favorite place to shop is our local Value Village. I’ve found the most amazing clothes there and none of them cost me more than $10.

When looking for nursing clothes keep in mind that you should not wear anything that is designed as a one-piece outfit. It is practically impossible to feed your baby when wearing an outfit that requires slipping your breast out the neckline, and trying to do that discretely in public – well you can imagine how difficult that might be. Instead focus on two-piece outfits, coordinating blouses and pants or skirts rather than dresses.

Find a blouse or top that fits a bit loose. When the top is loose fitting it is easier to hike it up to snuggle your baby beneath it in order to feed. Stretchy material is a definite plus as it will give more easily and expose less when lifted for your baby. Blouses with buttons down the front are great as you can leave the bottom two or three buttons undone to make feeding easier.

The flap of the unbuttoned blouse works well to cover things up so you can feel more discrete. Avoid anything that needs to be tucked in. It is more of a pain than it is worth. T-shirts and sweaters are great nursing tops. In the summer, loose tank tops are also good options. Anything that allows you to lift the bottom easily is a good option.

When selecting a material keep in mind that not all tops are easily washable. Many babies are experts at dressing their mothers with milky surprises, so clothes must be washable. I must go through at least as many outfits a day as my baby who has become a spit-up pro. Another thing to avoid are slippery materials. Since you are probably going to want to put a burp cloth over your shoulder while burping your baby you don’t want a top that will cause the cloth to slip off and leave your shoulder bare for your baby’s spit-up.

Scrambling for a sliding burp cloth is definitely not fun, especially since babies seem to know just when that shoulder is bare and plan the moment of a milky release perfectly as the cloth escapes to the floor. Likewise, you don’t want a material that is overly scratchy. Babies have sensitive skin and you don’t want to make your baby uncomfortable when cuddling.

Bedtime presents another problem. It can be difficult to easily feed your baby at night, especially if you like to wear nightgowns instead of pajamas. What I have found best is to get a nightgown or PJ top that has buttons down the front. If you unbutton the top could of buttons you can slip your breast out the top and easily feed your baby. Since there is not likely to be anyone watching you don’t need to fret about exposing yourself. When you are done, just pop your breast back under your top and head back to bed.

I rarely have found it necessary to purchase special tops for breastfeeding. Some of my maternity tops were all-purpose and served quite well as nursing tops after my baby was born. Other tops are just regular clothes from before I got pregnant. If you have even been on the weight-loss curve you can probably find suitable tops in your old clothes that you have gotten out of as you lost weight. Even if you do need to buy new clothes, or if you just feel like brightening up your wardrobe, nursing tops are easy to come by if you just keep to the basics and avoid the specialty shops.