breastfeeding style tips
Remember how I wrote about my pregnancy style tips, and I was all, “gosh, you guys, it’s so hard to dress cute while you’re pregnant?”
Silly, silly girl. Dressing cute while pregnant was a piece of cake. Just throw on a tight shirt and some maternity jeans and you’re good to go — cute, big round belly and all! Also, people have zero expectations for pregnant women to dress cute: I once showed up at a doctor’s appointment wearing (I kid you not) a tank top, jean shorts and a necklace, and she was like, “WHOA, what are you up to today, you are looking GOOD!”
But then the baby pops out, and you can suddenly, more or less, wear whatever you want again.
Only you can’t.
Because you’re breastfeeding. And you have a screaming newborn who mandates that your boobs be accessible at all times, no matter what, LADY.
So you can wear exactly four things, which, in my wardrobe, consisted of the following:
A flannel shirt.
A robe.
A zip-up hoodie.
And wrap dresses. Thank GOD for wrap dresses.
That being said, I do have a few pieces of advice that I learned by trial and error, so I figured this would be a good subject for a post! So, if you’re breastfeeding (hopefully you are!) and stuck in a style rut, here are my ideas:
Muscle Shirts: This is my personal favorite. You know those shirts with arms that are cut super low? I wear those tank tops with a bandeau bra underneath, and they are literally the easiest thing to breastfeed in EVER. Even in public. No lifting up your shirt, no fiddling with clasps. Just slide the arm-hole to the side, pull down the bandeau, attach the baby and you’re done. When Bear was about three weeks old, I went to Forever 21 and bought five random muscle shirts for specifically this purpose.
Deep V Necklines: You don’t need to shell out extra money for “nursing wear” in most cases, but take a long look through your closet before the baby arrives and pull out every single top you own that has a deep-V neckline. See those? Those are your wardrobe for the next two months.
Classic Wraps: Wrap dresses are legitimately a lifesaver while breastfeeding, especially if you have to look reasonably professional at any point in the first month or two. They’re always stylish and chic, and no one will ever know that you put it on out of necessity! Check out some of my favorites here, here and here.
One Official “Nursing” Piece: You don’t need to buy a whole new wardrobe while breastfeeding, but it’s nice to pick up at least one piece that’s specifically designed to be convenient for this particular function. I had three: two nursing tanks from H&M that I didn’t like at all and a terrific striped “nursing tee” from Boob Design that I absolutely loved. When I went out for lunch in those early weeks, this was what I wore, every time.
Go Strapless: I never would have guessed this, but strapless dresses are about ten-zillion times easier to wear while breastfeeding than dresses with straps! (And sleeves? Forget about it.) But that turned out to be a terrific realization, because I have tons of strapless dresses in my closet! So when I wanted to look cute for something social (I snapped the pic above on my way to a friend’s house for a playdate), I just picked one and threw it on — and actually managed to look cute in the process!
Those are my favorite tips! After three months of breastfeeding, Bear now eats at more regular intervals and my options have expanded a lot — but for his first two months, I basically lived in these pieces! What were your breastfeeding favorites?
