Maternity clothes

[ChildByGrace]

At what stage of your pregnancy did you start to wear maternity clothes?

How much did you buy?

Is there anything that i really shouldn't try and do with out?

Did you buy things at the start hoping that you'd be ok with what you'd bought only to find near the end that you had to buy some more?

 

[Singin4Him]

My advice to you is don't buy until you HAVE TO! Maternity wear gets so expensive and if you buy to much to early you'll just end up spending more because you'll be buying more in a month or two. Because I live in Texas I got by with buying regular shirts because of the styles they fit my little baby bump just fine for a while. Then with my jeans I got a couple bella bands and wore my regular jeans for a while with them unbuttoned and then band keeps the waist in place. I highly recommend the bella bands or something similar. They're great for the entire pregnancy!

I started buying maternity wear at 20 weeks, maybe a week or two before I bought a shirt or two but once you hit 20 you start growing faster. At 7-8 months you'll really need them so make sure you plan in your budget to spend the most then. Especially if the seasons change. Now that it's getting chilly in TX I had to buy some sweaters yesterday but that I think is my last buy because I have just have a weeks until I'm due.

 

[RoseofLima]

I wouldn't spend much up front. Buy some skirts with thin elastic waist bands- or some dresses with empire waists, or tie backs, or not binding. That should get you through in comfort until 7 or 8 months- when you more or less have to buy maternity clothes...

That way , too, just when you're getting sick of wearing the same 4 things- you will have saved the money to buy some new things- right when you are beginning too feel huge

 

[Beth1231]

Well, around six weeks my sweet mother came down to visit and took me shopping! She bought me a pair of good jeans and corduroys and one huge shirt for much later. The pants proved to be a lifesaver during the first eight weeks. During that time, anything at all pressing on my tummy made me feel incredibly ill. So the fairly loose pants helped soooo much. Now they are getting a bit more snug and those panels are starting to be used. Yikes.
I think I will buy some more when I absolutely must.

 

[JulySheMustFly]

My advice to you is don't buy until you HAVE TO! Maternity wear gets so expensive and if you buy to much to early you'll just end up spending more because you'll be buying more in a month or two. Because I live in Texas I got by with buying regular shirts because of the styles they fit my little baby bump just fine for a while. Then with my jeans I got a couple bella bands and wore my regular jeans for a while with them unbuttoned and then band keeps the waist in place. I highly recommend the bella bands or something similar. They're great for the entire pregnancy!

I started buying maternity wear at 20 weeks, maybe a week or two before I bought a shirt or two but once you hit 20 you start growing faster. At 7-8 months you'll really need them so make sure you plan in your budget to spend the most then. Especially if the seasons change. Now that it's getting chilly in TX I had to buy some sweaters yesterday but that I think is my last buy because I have just have a weeks until I'm due.

That sounds like what I did when I was pregnant. I tried to stay in regular clothes only sized larger or with loser cuts for as long as I could.

 

[Evangelina]

I've tried to buy clothes I'd be happy to wear post-pregnancy.

I think I've bought three pairs of actual maternity pants (all on sale)... my sister lent me a couple of pairs of work pants and a couple of tops, too. Something I've found majorly frustrating is that my size seems to fluctuate wildly - a size 16 will fit me one week but be miles too big the next. And I've decided I really don't LIKE maternity wear. It's typically ill-fitting, badly made & finished, and frumpy!

So far my best buys have been -
- a large, thin white cotton men's shirt
- a pair of black cotton drawstring pants
- a long, A-line black cotton dress that I use as a top over dark work pants
- two kimono-inspired 'dresses' that I use as tops, with singlet tops underneath
- a number of cheap, lonnnng singlet tops - some maternity, some not. If you go for this option, make sure they reach the bottom of your butt. The ones that have a wide band of fabric at the bottom (meant to draw the top in at the bottom) are good.

The 'hippy' stores have been a lifesaver for me. You know the ones that have an overabundance of velvet, long flowing medieval-style gowns and other marginally-fashionable clothes? We have a number of them over here, I'm not sure how common they are over there I've found all my favourite 'maternity' gear at one particular store.

 

[seamonster]

I agree. Buy as little as possible and only once you need to. Also, make sure you get stuff that will mix and match . I'm 6 months pregnant and have 3 pairs of maternity pants, 3 pairs of shorts, 5 shirts, and 2 dresses. This, for me, has been MORE than enough. My mom bought me a ton of pants but I'm not using them yet since I can still wear my pre-pregnancy pants. If anything, I would have stuck to 2 pairs of pants, no shorts, and bought a few more shirts. After 3 months of maternity clothes, I'm a little tired of the same shirt every few days

One thing I have done in the shirts/dresses I've bought is to get one size larger than I usually wear. I'm usually a size M in women's clothing but my maternity stuff is all L so I have plenty of room to grow into it when I hit the 7-8 month belly boom

 

[jgonz]

Well, I did it differently...

With my first, I was in regular clothes much longer, but my butt got wide and I had no choice but to buy maternity sooner than I wanted to. I spent a lot of time in overalls until summer hit, then I had no choice but to buy summer maternity things (including a bathing suit).

With #2 and more, I popped out right away and seriously was not comfortable in anything but maternity jeans (I loved the Under the belly varieties~ they fit for most of my pregnancies from the beginning right through post-partum) or big shirts and leggings (since it was the '80's when I had my oldest kids. )

I could usually get away with regular tops for longer, but since I got huge with all the rest of my kids, I was in maternity sooner than anyone else in this thread apparently.

Using regular jeans but with a rubber band did Not work for me. I got wider through the hips & thighs so my regular jeans were so not comfortable at all.

I looked at my maternity clothes buying as an investment. I did not want to look like some beggar or like I was just too fat to fit in regular clothes. I needed to look nice (even when I felt crappy ). And, I just knew I'd be using them again, so I bought good quality stuff (on sale, mostly online with my last 3 pregnancies) that I could keep and use through several pregnancies. I also sewed a bunch of tops and dresses which saved me some cash.

I felt the same way about nursing clothes,(especially after #6 refused to have anything touching his face or to be covered with a blanket). I made a few essential pieces of nursingwear a priority to make it easier to nurse in public/church. Definately worth it for me.

 

[ChildByGrace]

I understand about not buying too much too soon, the reason i don't think i can go with that is because we have major sales here in Jan and i can buy stuff at half price which will be so much better than buying less things at full price.

I've been looking at the clothes that we have on offer here and so many of them are really nice - the kind of clothes i would generally wear anyway.

i don't tend to wear dresses or skirts too much so i'm going to invest in some really comfy trousers.

Thanks for the advice everyone - it's good to see what other people have done

 

[Athene]

I would take advantage of the January sales, I did it when I was pregnant with Grace and I got some gorgeous maternity clothes which I wouldn't have been able to afford otherwise - and I was only 3 months along and not showing.

Stay away from the trousers which have stretch material all the way round the top, they quickly lose their elasticity and keep falling down - very annoying.

 

[ConservativeChristian97]

So, is it normal to gain a good deal of weight in the first 6-8 weeks?

 

[jgonz]

It's normal for Some women (or some pregnancies) to gain a good deal of weight in the first 6-8 wks.

With my first, I gained 10lbs instantly, but it was spread out all over me, so I just looked like I'd gained weight. With #2 through most of the kids, I gained a *little* slower, but it was all in the belly for a long time, then spread to my hips/thighs...

With my last 2, I didn't gain much weight at all (which, looking back, wasn't really healthy). I didn't pop out as quickly, but wasn't comfortable in regular clothes either.

Maternity clothes are cut for the pregnant woman, so they really Are more comfortable.

 

[ChildByGrace]

I would take advantage of the January sales, I did it when I was pregnant with Grace and I got some gorgeous maternity clothes which I wouldn't have been able to afford otherwise - and I was only 3 months along and not showing.

Stay away from the trousers which have stretch material all the way round the top, they quickly lose their elasticity and keep falling down - very annoying.

Athene thanks for that - i've have to remember that.

What shops did you buy your clothes from? Were they all high street shops like Next or DP or did you buy off the internet?

 

[ConservativeChristian97]

I'm between 6 and 8 weeks and I'm already wearing some maternity clothes. I went to Ross because their clothes are insanely cheap and are good quality.

 

[hisbloodformysins]

Hmmm, I suggest buying something you can grow into unless you just really want to wear what fits you know, but I grew in more than just my belly, so I had to go up in sizes. I personally love the pair of overalls I have. Oh, and Sears and maybe JC pennys usually have clearance maternity cloths. I've bought a couple two peice outfits from them (nice ones I could wear to work) for 10 dollars a peice, that would usually run 40 dollars at motherhood maternity. The tops will last a while. Good luck.

HB

 

[Athene]

Athene thanks for that - i've have to remember that.

What shops did you buy your clothes from? Were they all high street shops like Next or DP or did you buy off the internet?

Mainly from DPs, also Mothercare and Asda - George, only a few Asda's carry maternity clothes though, I had to travel quite far to find one.

 

[ChildByGrace]

Mainly from DPs, also Mothercare and Asda - George, only a few Asda's carry maternity clothes though, I had to travel quite far to find one.

Thanks. Both DP and mothercare were recommened by my sister so it's good to see someone else say those too.
I'll have to check ASDA out - i'm sure that we must have maternity in one of the two in our area - they are big stores.