WARM nursing pjs and other ideas for mom to stay warm this winter

[treehugz]

I'm thinking ahead to cold weather and brainstorming what I can wear to bed to stay warm... I'll be night-nursing a little one who likes to sleep next to the breast, and I'm paranoid about blankets so I'll only pull blankets up to my waist.  I have wool long underwear and sleep sacks for ds so I'm not worried about him staying warm... but I know I'll be freezing without my down comforter pulled up around my face! Our house has a wood stove, no central heat, and the bedroom gets really cold at night. 

I remember when my older dd was a baby, I had two sleep outfits that I alternated....

1. I cut nursing holes in a turtleneck and covered it with a thin fleece hooded sweatshirt.  This worked okay, but it was kind of a pain to position breasts in the holes and the sweatshirt was kind of bulky and uncomfortable under my armpit when I pulled it up to nurse.

2. I found a capilene turtleneck at REI that zipped down half-way for breast access, also covered by a sweatshirt.  Probably won't work this time as my breasts are um, much lower now and the zipper doesn't go low enough.   

Any great and WARM winter nursing pjs out there?  Any nursing turtlenecks on the market?  Any other ideas?? 

[pokeyAC]

Bumping up for more attention!

[chel]

I do a nursing tank under a thermal shirt. My biggest cold spot was my back when I pulled up a top to nurse. Tank solved this.
As the baby gets older you can relax the blanket rule. I've found having a small blanket much easier to work with. Maybe a wool throw size blanket to wrap around your shoulders.
Also try a heating pad at your feet. I use a corn bag. Something about having warm feet makes crawling in a cold bed much easier.

[gemasita]

I also wear a nursing tank and a long-sleeved shirt over it.  If I want covers on me, I sleep on my side and put the covers up over my shoulder and then in front, I put them between my knees.  So they are on me but not on my babe (of course, he'll kick any cover off that is touching him anyway so I don't really need to do anything to keep the covers off of him!).

[ges74]

i have been struggling with this even in warm months b/c of the AC in the house!

what i've settled on (my sewing project for today, in fact) is super cheap, relatively form fitting turtlenecks and super stretchy tube tops.  Just bought the former from Kohl's on sale for $3 a piece and the latter from ebay for $4 a piece (be careful though - a lot of the sellers are selling products intended for the asian market, where women have impossibly waiflike frames - check bust size very closely).

Will cut out a rectangle across my entire bustline and stitch up the edges to reinforce (how exactly, i've yet to figure out).  Tube tops will cover entire area when boobs are not "in use" by baby, and even the "unused" boob during feeding sessions, providing max coverage with min bulk.  when feeding is done, will snap tube top back over the opening.  pretty excited at the prospect of finally feeling warm and toasty during a feeding session.

looking forward to additional ideas from others, because nursingwear is equivalent to highway robbery!!

[mumkimum]

I've also often found a small but warm blanket (small knit or fleece baby blanket) helpful to cover whatever upper portion of me was cold while nursing.  (I've been a bit less paranoid about blankets, but the nursing kiddos have always been blanket-kickers regardless).  

I have a few sweaters (cardigans) that I'll wear on top of normal pjs (shirt/pants) and they're large and droopy enough to help my upper body stay warm while nursing (I can drape them around like a blanket, I'll keep them on to sleep in sometimes).  I've also sometimes worn some fleece cowl neck warmers to sleep in when really cold here, and that seems to help even if I've just got a normal shirt I'm nursing in.  The nursing tank thing for under a regular shirt sounds like a good solution too (I just never liked nursing tanks much, so I don't have any).

[treehugz]

Ooh, I like the idea of a nursing tank underlayer... or maybe a tube top since that would mean no clips or snaps to mess with.  The nights are getting chilly here!

[Asiago]

Good question. Last year I tried the cut out top, but the extra fabric just got in the way of my nursling. I though perhaps I needed a tighter top then it may work. Cutting the bottom off may have been better, just a very high 'belly shirt, at least my shoulders and back would be covered.

Edited by Asiago - 9/12/12 at 4:55pm