So, when I was pregnant with DD, I fell in love with belly bands. Just having that tight elastic on my belly felt so great. I loved it, of course, for making layering and dressing my big belly easier....but I ended up wearing it for many months PP, everyday, to help with that "guts falling out of your stomach" feeling. It just felt good. The only thing that didn't feel good to me in those PP months, was wearing nursing bras. I tried so many and I couldn't stand ANY of them. Plus, I had to wear the belly band for abdomen comfort, the nursing bra for nursing...and a tank top to "hold everything together" - I don't even really know what that means, I just felt sort of weird and naked when I nursed in public if I wasn't pulling down a tank top to do so.
So, when I found out I was pregnant with my son, I was like "yeah, I will wear a belly band again" - but I instantly thought to myself "I should check out a nursing tank....I wanted to find that belly band, nursing bra, tank top combo ALL ROLLED INTO ONE.
I tried the Target brand. A disaster. Being long wasted, it barely came down far enough, the bra part was crappy for support in actual daytime use and it was boxy. Not tight enough. Tried one from (puke) wal-mart....same deal. Was there a nursing tank in the whole world that could meet my needs??
Yes. There was. The Glamour Mom, size medium, Long, nursing tank. Now, I generally don't buy things new. I buy them used at awesome thrift stores or the AWWEESSSUUUMMMM mother&child consignment store in my area. But I couldn't find this used...so I sprung for it on Amazon.
It came. I put it on. The clouds parted. The angels sang....and I swear to the heavens, I didn't take that thing off for two solid years. I wore it every day. I washed it CONSTANTLY....I NEEDED it. Nice and snug on my waist...I abandoned my belly bands for the remainder of my pregnancy with my son. As my breasts ballooned when my milk came in, there was no need to go for a different size. I got SUPER support and wore it IN LIEU OF a nursing bra every day. It was so long in the waste that it more than covered me while pregnant and after and layered beautifully.
My son stopped nursing a few weeks ago, just before his second birthday. (sniff sniff). I have decided to retire the Glamour Mom nursing bra that took me through the second half of my pregnancy with him and two years of nursing. It is finally falling apart....faded, not tight on my stomach anymore, tearing in little spots on the edges....the clasps still work like the day I first saw them, but the rest of it is in really rough shape. I would say I wore it at least 700+ days (night AND day) over the last 2.5 years and washed it more times than I could even say. I lived in it. If it was in the laundry and I had some place to be...I would wait for the load to finish drying so I could put it back on! While I originally balked at the price tag (forty FREAKING dollars+)....I think the thing more than paid for itself.
This thing was a work horse and a true lifesaver and I will be buying another one soon. Maybe as a birthday treat for myself!
But before I do, I would like to hear about your favorite nursing tank. The only thing I don't like about Glamour Mom, is that they are made in china in what I think is a less than ethical situation. Many of you may have read some of my reallllllly obnoxious rambling posts about ethical buying practices, etc...it's a really big issue for me.
If any of you knows of a nursing tank that is made by a bit crunchier company, even if it costs a bit more....that is long, tight in the mid section like a belly band and has a good, built in nursing bra....tell me about it. I would love to explore another option and see if it could work!
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