Winter Essentials, Nursing Mama Edition

Katrina is here today with her fantastic idea to write about building your winter wardrobe as a nursing mama!

I think it is pretty ironic that I am guest posting for a blog that promotes modesty today when during a fifth grade project, I wrote about how I was going to open a women’s clothing store called Risqué. I’m not kidding. That is what can happen when you flippantly use a non-quality thesaurus and don’t double check with a dictionary.

Irony aside, I am here today to talk about my experience as a nursing mother in the winter. Sure, I wear a coat and a hat like every one else when I am outside pushing my swing-loving son, Ryan, in all weather conditions. But what I wear inside the coat? It has been a long journey.

Breastfeeding was tough for me in the beginning. I would have to pray a Hail Mary every time Ryan latched on for the first three months to get me past the first few seconds when I wanted to cry from the initial pain. When I combined that with postpartum frumpiness, I wasn’t very confident.

The opposite of confident.

To add to my lack of confidence, I was so frustrated with all of the nursing clothing options. I was naive and thought that I had to wear nursing things because that was what I was supposed to do. God blessed me with the equipment to produce a lot of milk, so all of the built-in bras in nursing tanks were always way too small. When I tried on nursing tanks in my normal size that were in my price range, I had two choices: either barely cover anything and be left with muffin-top, chest style, or pull the tank top and built-in bra up to cover any cleavage and look like I have two sets of breasts because of the indent the elastic made. Instead of choosing those options, I went ahead and bought a tank top that was three sizes too big and made me feel like I was wearing a tent because 1) I was supposed to wear nursing things and 2) the chest portion only allowed for a 25% chance of cleavage as opposed to 100%. Bingo, we have a winner.

Finally, after a few months of wearing that nursing tank almost every day, something clicked, and I realized that I had so many nursing friendly clothes already that actually fit. Here are my top five wardrobe essentials for nursing in the winter. To some, this post might make you think, “Umm, old new, sister!” but if there are any new and naive nursing mamas out there that need a little nudge, well, this one’s for you!

Jeggings: Nordstrom Rack, Henley: Express, Infinity scarf: Gap

1) Scarves. As I have said before on What I Wore Sunday, scarves are my b(r)e(a)st friends. Personally, I’m not very comfortable nursing without a cover in public so scarves have been my solution. They keep me warm, and when Ryan signs for milk I just have to drape it over him. The number of scarves that I have racked up over the years is kind of crazy, but they have helped me so much as a nursing mama.

Sweater: Forever 21, jeans: Gap, clearance rack!

2) Thick sweaters that allow for stretching. Much to the chagrin of my former teenager self who begged my parents to crank the thermostat up, I keep our house on the borderline chilly side because it is expensive to heat a house! So thick sweaters come to my rescue. Since I have to lift my sweater up (in the most nurturing sense, of course) multiple times a day, I really like sweaters that keep their shape. I wore this particular sweater during a drive from Utah to the Grand Canyon to San Diego, and despite my best efforts to stretch it out by nursing my both of us were still buckled in (one of my proudest skills), it still looked great twenty hours later!

3)Ribbed henley with a stretchy cami – I got this top years ago and it is one of Chris’ favorites. I keep it halfway unbuttoned with a stretchy cami underneath and it allows for easy nursing access. With the help of my red infinity scarf, you can’t see anything!

Button-down: JCPenney’s, belt: from an H&M dress, Pumps: Lauren Ralph Lauren via Marshall’s, Jeggings: same as above

4) Button downs. Button downs are easy to dress up and dress down, and since there is no lifting up and down, there is no stretching. This one is a no-brainer.

Beanie: Forever 21, Cardigan: J.Crew Factory Store, Cami: Charlotte Russe, Top: ASOS, Boots: Nordstrom, same old jeggings

5) Wrap-anything and layering. I am very thankful that I seem to have always had a penchant for wrap tops and wrap dresses because they are sooooooo friends with nursing mamas. This top is actually sleeveless so I wear it a lot in the summer and then wear it in the winter with an added cardigan. In the rare occasions that I have forgotten a scarf, I have pulled the cardigan off and used it as a cover. Thank goodness for layering!

Moral of the story is that you probably already have a lot of nursing friendly clothing in that closet of yours. And if you are stuck in a situation where your baby neeeeeeeeds to nurse and you aren’t wearing something easy to nurse in? You’ll get through it, and the world will go on, one full and satisfied baby at a time.

Katrina writes about all the cedars (big things) and tiny flowers (little things) in my life as a wife, mother and woman over at her blog, Cedars and Tiny Flowers. She has been cracking corny mom jokes long before she was a mom, is normally a month behind on ironing and thinks the best look on a baby is a toss up between a plain white onesie and nothing but a diaper.

Comments

Jeannine says:

February 25, 2013 at 10:09 am

So fun to see Katrina here with her stylish ensembles. If I am blessed again, I will definitely use that infinity scarf trick!

- Katrina says:
  
  February 25, 2013 at 4:00 pm
  
  Go for it!
  
Joy says:

February 25, 2013 at 2:04 pm

Having also made the same initial mistake, I am so glad to spread the word that with a little creativity a lot of clothes are nursing friendly.

- Katrina says:
  
  February 25, 2013 at 4:00 pm
  
  It is so amazing how much better you feel in the non-nursing nursing friendly clothes!
  
Dixie says:

February 26, 2013 at 7:27 pm

Great advice! Also,there are a couple of great undershirt styles for nursing moms that keep your stomach warm when you have to lift your shirt to nurse, a must for winter especially. Nursing covers don’t work for me and my baby, so the undershirts also help me to be modest while nursing in public. I love Modest Middles (modestmiddles.com), which work great no matter what your waist-to-bust ratio is, and I know that some people really like Undercover Mama’s version (undercovermama.com).

Jiza says:

March 3, 2013 at 2:23 pm

YOU, Katrina, are such a cute cute cute Mama!! I don’t know if you have seen those big oversized sweaters that can tie in a billion ways (LOL) but they are awesome for nursing too. Thanks for sharing your wisdom!

Jlyn says:

March 3, 2013 at 4:50 pm

I found you via Camp Patton Just wanted to add that I discovered I LOVE the spaghetti strap tanks from H&M (around $5.99). I bought about 6 of them early in my pregnancy & was incredibly able to wear them until the end!!! (They are long, solid, & have amazing stretching powers). I stocked my supply after my son was born & have been wearing them everyday since for nursing–the material is solid enough that my bras don’t show through them (I only have 3 nursing bras, the right color of which never seems to be clean at the right time), they are long enough that my crazy long torso doesn’t seem to ever be exposed to the winter chill, & the neckline is stretchy enough that I’m just able to pull the shirt down over my boob to nurse They are wonderful!! Love your blog!!