Breastfeeding: What to wear

Breastfeeding can limit your clothing choice somewhat, but there are ways round that without living in maternity clothes that might be a bit too baggy post baby. Before I had Athena I was very much a dress wearer. I think I owned one pair of jeans and really only wore them for long country walks. It turns out however that many dresses on the high street are boob-exposing friendly, you just have to look a little harder!

I’ve got dresses that zip down the front (try H&M and Primark) along with shirt dresses (all of mine are from supermarket brands funnily enough!) and wrap front dresses. These options tend to leave a lot of chest exposed when feeding though, so you can always tuck the corner of a muslin cloth under your bra strap and use that for modesty.

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However an easy option (especially in the first few weeks when I was still very much wobbly round the middle!) is to wear a looser top/jumper over a vest top, so you pull your vest top down and the looser top up and voilà! Access for baby without showing too much busom! Using this method you can probably wear pretty much all of your pre-baby tops and most vest tops have enough stretch to pull down although nursing vest tops make it a bit easier as they have clips and mean that some of us can get away with not wearing a bra as they have built in support. I’ve been wearing a super comfy Nursing vest from Cantaloop, it’s so soft and is really supportive. The material has so much give that it is perfect for those first few days of engorged breasts when your milk comes in, and is comfy enough to sleep in too and is perfect for under clothes as it’s close fitting.

IMG_0580 IMG_0583 I’ve got two favourite nursing bras too, the Cotton Candy Nursing Bra from Cake Maternity (I reviewed their amazingly comfortably maternity and nursing PJs) is a super supportive but seam free bra. It has a racer back for added support which I’m grateful for as I’ve gone up two cup sizes since Arlo arrived! Easy to use clips let you fold the cup down one handed, and plenty of hooks to get the perfect fit. Its available in a range of colours, with matching knickers too!

Anyone who’s popped a baby out recently may remember that you get extra hot and sticky in the weeks following the birth as your body rids itself of the excess water it stored, so sleeping in anything other than a bra is probably common place! And really if I didn’t need a bra to keep my breast pads in place those first few days I wouldn’t have bothered with a bra! The SuperBra from the CheekyRascals website was perfect as it is a simple crop top style bra with no hooks at the back so super comfy in any position you may find yourself sleeping in (even upright against the headboard with a baby on your chest all night!) but with fold down cups for easy access for middle of the night feeds too!

Any breastfeeding friendly clothes tips to share or favourite nursing clothing? I’ve recently joined the ‘Can I breastfeed in it?’ facebook group and it’s full of lovely mamas sharing their purchases or things they’ve spotted in store or online!

I was sent all the products linked to for review, all thoughts and opinions are my own. I wish I had enough body confidence to share actual photos of me wearing these bras but I don’t, which is daft but a sad fact of life!

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