Nursing wear?

[houseelf]

With my first, I didn't have a single nursing garment. We had no money for any extras, so I just placed a blanket over my shoulder. This time, I'm contemplating purchasing a few pieces. Does anyone out there know if purchasing a few nursing garments are worth my time and money or should I just forgo? The ones that I have seen are kind of "spendy" as they say here in Minnesota.

Kelly

I'll be interested to hear responses on this too. I don't have any nursing tops, either. They sort of fall under my stubborn refusal to buy post-partum clothes category.

[mommax3]

I never had any nursing clothes.....I contemplated getting some after I had Nathan, but the prices made me balk. Now I am glad I didn't, since we are done! I should have asked for money towards that when I had my first so I could have used them all three times.....but I wasn't sure about the whole nursing thing prior to having him, so I didn't even think of that.

The clothes I looked at were in the Motherwear catalog....they have a website if you haven't already checked it out.

Sally

[SueC]

Me neither, I don't even wear nursing bras. I discovered these stretchy bras (almost like sports bras but they are thinner and more flexible and so comfortable, in fact I've already broken them out to wear!).
By the time I've spent months wearing maternity clothes, I am always so anxious to wear normal clothes that I can't bear to don those nursing tops. Also, I haven't found many that are very attractive. I had a lot of tricks to wear my clothing a certain way so that I could easily nurse, both my girls were nursed for 9 months to a year so I felt like a pro by the time I was done.

[Flynn]

I invested in "nursing friendly" tops. Basically that consists of fancier T-shirts that have some style, but are wash and wear and easily manipulated. See the City Tees line in J-Crew for example.

You can stretch them to nurse, then they fall back into place and show your un-pregnant figure. I wear them all the time now too as they are very "mom" friendly!

I think the "nursing" tops are pretty expensive unless it's for a special occasion like a wedding I wouldn't bother but that's just me.

[Sheherezade]

I was given a bunch of nursing clothes by friends. I agree I'm not sure they are worth the money--I was just as comfy with the T-shirt solution. However, if you are going to buy, my experience was that the horizontal flap nursing things worked better than the vertical slit nursing shirts (although they look much more like nursing clothes!). With the vertical slit stuff, my body seemed to have a mind of its own and simply started popping out those slits from time to time. One of my friends had a long denim jumper that had these really deep armholes. It was an awesome nursing garment because she could wear a t shirt underneath and actually nurse out the side of the dress through the armhole area. Cool because dresses are usually impossible for nursing and it just looked like an ordinary dress--I think it was a Motherwear jumper or something.

Angie

[SueC]

Angie, I did the same thing with overalls--I wore them all the time and nursed out the side by just pulling up my shirt underneath. I was completely covered and you really couldn't tell I was nursing.

[peggyfromwastate]

i never bought nursing tops and don't plan to. i do have nursing bras, and a couple of sleep bras... with my first i just was more comfortable with t-shirts, and believe me there is no such thing as discreetly nursing twins-- and i was not about to nurse them one at a time, so i never nursed them in public! anyway, my sis had 1 nursing top with vertical slits but i don't remember her ever wearing it...

[SueC]

I just remembered that somebody loaned me a nursing nightgown that had the vertical slits. It was very difficult to line everything up right--I can't imagine discreetly doing it in public with that sort of arrangement. Besides, I think nursing PJ's are totally pointless, if there's one place you shouldn't have to be discreet with nursing it should be while you're at home in your PJ's.

[HeartRN]

I really like Motherwear. They have a lot of shirts that are really stylish and don't look at all like they are especially for nursing. Plus, they have really good sales, too! They have a website and a catalog--Motherwear.com.

My mom got me a nursing pj top, and I agree, it was completely pointless. It was also more difficult to use the verticle openings than not. I was also pretty excited to shop at a 'normal store' and couldn't see spending money we don't have on clothes that weren't needed.

[Amiens]

I invested in some Motherwear tops- 3 of them and one dress for occasional wear to church. I got them on clearance, I believe they were 75% off. Essentially I just hit the sale at the right time. My dress was initially $95 8O , but I got it for $29. The thing I love about Motherwear is that you can't tell they are nursing tops, at least the ones I have, and I can nurse without needing a blanket, that's how discreet they are. Other people, women in particular, will say "oh cute top, where did you get it?" I will tell them that it is a nursing top and they are shocked, and break out into "Oh I never knew nursing tops could be cute" or "they didn't have cute stuff like that when I had my first 5 years ago"

Crystal

[DCJenn]

Kelly-

And all of you other pregnant, yet active women- Title 9 Sports has an awesome selection of exercise bras, including nursing bras- plus maternity shorts and pants for walking/running that look so comfortable! I get their catalog but the web address is:

http://www.title9sports.com

I have purchased numerous things from the catalog- it's one of those deals that they seem expensive until you actual buy some of their stuff and it lasts FOREVER! I have running shorts that are four years old that look as good as they did they day I bought them.

Jenn

[Rapunzel]

I'll chime in and agree with everyone else on Motherwear. The tops and nursing bras I purchased from their catalog were comfortable, easy to use, discreet, and I wasn't embarrassed to be seen wearing them in public! Their clothing is somewhat pricey, however. It's probably because they have somewhat of a monopoly on decent nursing clothing at the moment (although it looks like babystyle is starting to compete - and their clothes are very stylish).

Jennifer

[SueC]

I wore tankini's in order to effectively nurse in a swimsuit! I've never heard of a nursing swimsuit, but then again I never looked for one either.