Hi everybody, Melissa here.
So I have a show about nursing in public and really one of the key things about nursing
in public and about nursing when you're home is finding something you can wear in which
you feel totally comfortable.
So I don't know about you but for me when I'm home my standard outfit is a comfortable
camisole, a pair of yoga pants.
Okay, if I feel very cold I just throw a cardigan on top and this to me this works the best.
I don't like to be at home, dealing with my kids, giving the bath, kids are coming, they've
been doing play dough or crayons or whatever their hands are filthy and the second I have
something decent on their like "hi mommy."
And I don't want to be one of those moms that's like "don't touch me."
So I always change the second I get home and I put these things on.
And I know there are some moms out there that get dressed up at the end of the day for their
husbands and God bless them but that's something I just don't do -sorry honey.
I just really have to do what works so this to me has been the best thing.
Now just a quick word about camisoles- all camisoles are not created alike.
This is what I have found.
The one I'm wearing right now, you can see it just has a lot of stretch in it.
And it's a very easy camisole to nurse in because you pull down, you unbuckle your nursing
bra, and you have very easy access and when you're finished it stretches right back into
place.
Okay, I've got a couple other camisoles here, which I love but they actually haven't been
as effective for nursing.
This one for example is a ribbed camisole, you can see it, and it's really, really nice
but the second you use it to nurse it gets stretched out after one or two times and then
it's no longer good for the things you need to use it for.
Okay, and here's another example of a camisole that works in that way.
It's nice thin cotton, I love it, it's super comfortable but it stretches out of shape.
Meanwhile, this one I've had for a couple babies and it's really, really just been great.
It's got this lace thing so you can sort of flip it down and then it flips back into place
and it doesn't get ruined.
So these camisoles are really great.
Now I have these in a bunch of different colors.
And what I do is, I wear them at home and then when I'm going out what I often do, when
I'm going out with my baby, is I just throw a button down shirt on top.
And this is just such an easy, easy thing to do and it's really conducive to nursing.
Let me try to get my hanger out of my shirt.
Here's another one that's brown.
Sorry I brought my whole wardrobe in here today, but this is really important stuff.
And it's just easy when you don't have to worry about what to wear.
You have your own little uniform.
And it also makes it easier in the morning because you're not running around being like
"what do I wear."
So look you've got your little button down shirt here.
Okay and when you want to nurse, you take your burp cloth, you get your baby situated,
you sling your burp cloth over your shoulder, you just unbutton the top few buttons of your
button down shirt and you just stretch down your camisole.
And you're all set.
This just a super easy thing.
Now in terms of fashion, I also think you get a lot of bang for your buck because you
can have a very plain shirt on top, this one is denim color, you can also do a white shirt
which is very nice and very classic, I've got one here and what you can do is you can
just vary the camisoles that you use underneath.
This one is chocolate brown, this one is green, this one is yellow, and you can have a lot
of different looks without actually having a lot of different clothes.
You might only have a few button down shirts and then you've got a bunch of camisoles and
you're kind of getting a lot of bang for your buck.
Okay, so again easy, easy simple things to wear which give you a lot of access.
Here's another great shirt -- button down, you can wear a camisole underneath, it's going
to be very easy for you to nurse your baby in public.
Okay, so sorry I brought out so many examples but I wanted you guys to have these.
Now, a couple things quickly about accessories -most of us when we're at this time are trying
to sort of deemphasize what's going on over here and emphasize what's going up here.
Okay, so if you've got these simple outfits, simple solid button down shirts, a camisole
what you can do because the baby is not doing this yet at this stage, you just buy a couple
reasonably priced fun accessories.
Like look at this necklace, you can put it right here, that looks really cute with a
white shirt and it's not going to impact your nursing.
And you can also get some fun earrings, colored earrings.
So again, just adds a little bit of color, adds a little bit of fun and the attention
is all here and you're keeping it away from the part of you that you might feel a little
self conscious about such as I did, your post partum belly.
Okay, keep in mind with these earrings this is really something nursing wise you're only
going to be able to do at the beginning because your baby is going to get big and she's going
to start to think those earrings are pretty fun and she's going to start to tug at them
so you can only do this in the beginning.
Okay, couple more things that I wanted to show that are nice for summer.
This kind of a blouse again because it is a button down it gives you access is a super
nursing blouse.
It's got this fun ruffle, it's very feminine, and it's very pretty.
It's going to be easy for you to unbuckle and go.
This is another example, I love this, it's Express it was not expensive at all.
It has a nice ruffle, it has buttons, very reasonably priced, light, sort of loose on
the bottom, great thing for nursing.
And now I'm going to tell you what not to do.
Look at this adorable shirt.
Okay, it's got ruffles, it's sleeveless, it looks nice and cool, but guess what?
This is actually really hard to nurse in.
The only way to nurse in this shirt is to pull it down like this, which you can't do
because this is a ribbon so it won't stretch, or to pull up from here.
And this is what I ended doing with my first baby and I was ruining all my clothes.
And I finished nursing and I'm like "oh my God, everything is so stretched out."
So you take this nice outfit and by the constant motion of pulling it up like this and stretching
it around your middle, it's going to lose its shape.
So with these things I would just put them in my closet and I would save them until after
I'm finished nursing because you don't want to destroy your really good stuff for later
on down the line when you want to wear it in a way that's more fitted and nice.
So anyway hopefully these little pointers will help you guys get organized in the morning,
help you figure out what you want to wear at home, what you want to wear when you're
out, and remember that there are ways to punch some fun in this fashion wise and that, you
know, you should hopefully feel comfortable being out with your baby in public.