how long PP should I plan on wearing maternity clothes?

[ithappened]

I have a friend who would like all my maternity clothes when I'm done with them but I am wondering how long I should plan on needing/wearing them PP?

I assume I can get by with my 'fat' clothes or PJ pants for a while? Or should I plan on needing the maternity clothes for ANOTHER 9 months after my DD?



I have gained about 24lbs total during my pregnancy but not sure that makes any difference..

[Peony]

DD1- gained 19 lbs, never wore maternity clothes after she was born. Just my "fat clothes" for 6 months. Gained maybe 35 with DD2, did the same except I did have to buy a couple pairs of larger jeans. I gained 45 with DS and for the first time had to wear maternity pants for several weeks until I broke down and bought some larger shorts, course it had to be during the summer where I couldn't wear any of my larger jeans. I've never worn maternity tops though, just shirts that were bigger then my regular size.

[mommy2two babes]

It all depends on you body and varies from pregnancy to pregnancy.
I never have worn mat clothes after the birth just streachy pants sweat pants ect.
After DD it took me several months to get back to my normal clothes ( put on 60 lbs)
With DS I gained 35 lbs and was back in my regular jeans a few days later.
This one I don't know yet.

[DeChRi]

I gained 38 lb with my first and 35 lb with my 2nd. I wore my "fat" jeans home from the hospital and for a couple weeks after. Took a couple months for my hips to shift about.

[Tiffanoodle]

I don't think anyone could have paid me enough to wear a maternity top pp. I found some loose-fitting t-shirts and easy-access things for bfing. I also had some elastic pants/shorts, but the panel jeans I live in from about 11 weeks on were packed away as I was walking around the house in labor waiting to go to the hospital

[busymama77]

With DS, I gained 44lbs and went home 3 days later in an Old Navy sweatpant outfit - size Medium in the pants and a Large in the hoodie. I would say that I was back in my regular jeans within 6 weeks or so.

So far, I've gained 14lbs and am 24 1/2 weeks in. Not sure where I'll be when this little guy is born weight wise, but I plan on wearing yoga pants and stretchy comfy pants until I feel comfortable enough to attempt to try on my regular jeans. I don't want to buy a size larger if I'm only going to wear them for a couple of weeks - seems like a waste of money to me. I'm going to be at home for 12 weeks - no need to really dress up.

[strawberryprincess]

I completely agree that it all depends....depends on your body type, how much weight you gain, and how quickly you lose it.

After dd, I was back into my "normal" clothes by about 3 or 4 months. After ds, he was nearly a year old before i was back in that size, but i also gained 60lbs with him. but i was not wearing maternity clothes after just about two weeks pp (except for a few of the smaller tops). i was more comfortable wearing stretchy pants and loose tops. I think i spent more money on pp clothes after having him than I did on maternity clothes with him.

I would suggest that you keep anything that might be good as "transitional" clothes for a while, and pass on the pants with panels, and and the huge tent-shirts =)

[Ashes]

What some of the others said... I was sick and tired of my maternity clothes so really all I wore for 3 months post partum was loose yoga pants and t-shirts. Then summer came and I could wear skirts a few sizes up for awhile. Your tummy should go back down quite a bit... but you will still have a much thicker waist than you did before, unless you are really skinny to begin with.

[flapjack]

For me, I can get back into a normal pair of jeans within 10 days (but with a muffin top, to be fair.) With my first, I could have counted in hours. I'd let everything go, but make sure you have a pair of trousers and a top that you love, that are a size bigger than you normally wear, new to you for after baby's born.

[yentroc]

The only maternity clothes that I find useful pp are my jeans for a while. I just wear some of my longer shirts and maybe a few smaller maternity shirts.

I think I did that for maybe 2 months pp last time?

[carmel23]

I have one pair of maternity pants I'll wear pp-- old navy cords with the band but not the full panel. They're super comfy and with a longer shirt they look like normal pants. The maternity tanks/camis I'll wear pp, for awhile, too.

Otherwise, I put everything else away within a few weeks.

[staceychev]

I wore some maternity capris for about a month, but that was about it. I really didn't want to wear maternity clothes anymore. And, like Tiffany, I was really opposed to maternity tops! (Unfortunately, it was when all those flowy tops that made you look pregnant were in... )

[mamatolevi]

I was in regular clothes immediatley each time. A larger size, mind you, but not maternity. I also used a Spanx higher power after #3. what a difference that made! I was able to wear a nursing dress to a party thanks to it and I didn't feel all squishy. I wish I'd had one after my first two.

[noobmom]

I think I was down to second trimester size right after giving birth. So, I kept wearing maternity jeans for a few weeks, but I'm a jeans kind of girl. I could have made do with yoga pants or stretchy pants like that, but they're not my style. I could fit my "fat" jeans in a few months. I lost most of my weight in the first couple of weeks, but even when my weight was down, I still didn't fit into my clothes right, KWIM? It's like things were distributed differently, especially in the tummy area. As for tops...well, you may need different tops anyway because my breasts were so huge while nursing that my regular clothes didn't fit in the bust line and of course the maternity tops were too roomy in the tummy area.

[Pinoikoi]

I don't think I ever wore maternity clothes after giving birth.. I went through a sweat/yoga pants phase with each, but got into my "fat" pants and nursing shirts pretty quickly.. I think I was REALLY tired of the maternity look by that point though

(3 live births so far)

[snoopy5386]

I never wore the tops after DD was born, but I did wear the pants for several months afterwards. I am also a jeans girl, not a yoga pants/sweats girl....so that is why I still wore my maternity jeans. I don't even own a pair of yoga/sweat pants.

[Doberbrat]

I wore my maternity tops for close to 9mo after dd was born. they were longer in the front and provided more coverage for my saggy belly esp when nursing.

[beebalmmama]

I never wore maternity after ds 1, but then I only put on 23 lbs. I had a few transitional pants in one size up than I normally wore. I also had shirts one size up which I needed for a while because of the nursing boobs. But I don't usually wear offical maternity clothes until close to the third trimester, they just don't fit me well before then.

[S.Elise]

For pants, I wore the same clothes I had worn in the early second trimester immediately after the birth, then my fat clothes for two to three months, then I was back in my normal clothes. I did not need my super-pregnant pants after the baby was out.

The biggest challenge was tops...you need to think about tops that are easy for breastfeeding. Many of my maternity tops were good for it (wraps, ponchos, shawls), many were not (long tunic tops). Also, I tend to wear a lot of tunic style shirts while pregnant -- i.e., the ones that could almost be a dress they are still long. This was exactly was I did NOT want to be wearing after the preg, since it is the perfect way to show off the not-so-clean line of your saggy tummy (it goes away!). So that stuff can (and should) be banished, in my opinion. Empire waist and wraps were great, since they hid that area. Sometimes, I needed the spanks.

[GearGirl]

I've had 3 kids and I never wore any maternity clothes even a day after giving birth. I needed my fat clothes, for way longer than I should have, but not maternity. I didn't keep a pregnant shape at all, so maternity would not have made sense. I have a cousin and a friend who kept the belly swell for at least 6 weeks and maternity probably made more sense for them as it went down and they returned to their pre pregnancy size.