Maternity clothes on a budget?

[ourbabygirl]

What would you recommend for a minimal maternity wardrobe? When I thought I was done having kids a number of years ago, I donated pretty much everything I had. So now I need to start over but am hoping to do so on a serious budget since I don't know that I'll be using any of this stuff again. Luckily I'm a SAHM so I don't need professional suits or anything (though a dress or two would probably be good to last me through the fall and winter).

I'm really trying to just get the basics this time around, and get things that I love (is that possible with maternity clothes? ;)) rather than just a huge variety of things that I wouldn't get as tired of wearing, like I did with my previous pregnancies when I was working.

I figure a pair or two of jeans (what I wear pretty much every day in cool weather), a dress/ skirt or two, and a couple of new nursing bras? Not sure how many shirts and other pants I should get, and if there are certain styles of shirts that I can get and still wear after pregnancy?
Where would you recommend to look? In the past I've bought from Motherhood Maternity, and the maternity sections of Macy's and Target. Any other suggestions?
Also, to those of you with serious winters, if you were lucky enough to have a baby in the dead of winter like me :loveeyes:, what was your coat situation? I figure I'll try my best to snap the top section of my heaviest winter coat and leave the bottom undone?

Thanks for reading and for your help!

[Radswd]

Congrats! I have a winter baby but it's a pretty mild winter here. That said, I noticed I was warmer than usual ;) I would definitely stick with a few basics in your case. I randomly noticed a couple of weeks ago that Target has some cute maternity stuff. I, too, did some shopping at Motherhood and got my jeans there, which I liked. I didn't spend a lot of $ on maternity stuff. I will say that I like the underwear from Motherhood but not the bras. Yes, I did find that I could wear some maternity shirts postpartum. The ones I could not (well and not look still pregnant anyway) are the style that has any kind of gathering in the front. Oh, I did get a lightweight coat at Motherhood and enjoyed that, too. Of course, this was a couple of years ago now...

[TwinFoxes]

Congratulations! I found my favorite maternity jeans at ON. Also, their xxl tees worked fine as maternity tops. Does ATL still do maternity? I got some nice pieces there. My favorite overall was Gap Maternity, but they are not cheap. There's a big sale that ends at midnight tonight, maybe you can get some basics.

[jennilynn]

I did like Target for dresses and tops, but the best thing I did in my last pregnancy was buy a pair of really nice stretchy maternity jeans from a boutique. They were $50 (which was actually half off!), but I wore them at least 1-2 times a week for the entire pregnancy and several months after. So worth it. I also had one legging/tunic set from Boden, which I wore A LOT, especially with boots in the fall and winter.

Here's a good blog post on coat options. Maybe you can borrow something from a friend or find on eBay. http://themomedit.com/2013/01/winter-coats-for-pregnant-mamas/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%253A%20%2524%257BAintNoMomJeans% 257D%20%28%2524%257BANMJ%257D%29

[theriviera]

I like ON maternity jeans as well.

[citymama]

Another vote for ON maternity jeans. I had some cute maternity sweaters from ON and H&M maternity, and the comfiest yoga pants and camis from Gap. I also got a whole grab bag of maternity clothing on craigslist and it included some of my favorite maternity wear!

ETA Congrats!!!!

[Mommy_Mea]

Ann Taylor loft has a bunch of maternity in their sale section online, and I believe sale is an additional 60% off today...

[BDKmom]

I got cute jeans from Kohls last time around. Their selection isn't big, but I liked their jeans. I also got several things from ON and Target. All my nursing bras were from Target. If you have any kid consignment stores in your area, you mighty get lucky there.

Best wishes for a happy and healthy pregnancy!

[KDsMommy]

Congrats!!! I've gotten virtually every piece of my maternity wardrobe at thrift shops. I started early in my pregnancy and hit all the local shops often. I've gotten some great stuff! My favorites are GAP maternity.

[mommylamb]

Congratulations!

Do you have friends who might have maternity clothes hanging around? I borrowed a fair amount the second time around (some of the things I had when I was pregnant with DS1 were crap and they were different seasons babies anyway). When I was done with my clothes I leant them out to other friends.

As for stores, I got a lot from Next plus some of the places already mentioned here.


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[gymnbomb]

I thought I would be able to get by with 1 pair of jeans, but ended up going out and getting a second. My first pair was originally from target but was purchased at a thrift store. Do you have any local thrift stores you could check out? My second pair were from gap. Honestly my favorite maternity clothes were from gap purchased when on sale for 40% off. For cheaper stuff I would look at old navy when they have sales and at target. Target frequently has coupons and/or cartwheel offers for maternity. You can get gap on sale for the same as regular price target or old navy.

I had a late February baby in New England. My coat plan was to wear my heavy coat unbuttoned and not a stay outside long :) I was surprised to find though at my coat and a couple of my hoodies fit the whole time. I think this is a sign I do not buy clothes that fit well... However, my back up plan was to buy a cheap maternity coat. Walmart did not carry maternity in store where I live, but they had a $20 maternity coat online.

I had a number of longer stretchy or loose shirts I could wear for quite a while. I did a lot of wearing tanks (maternity or not) under sweaters to stretch the time I could wear the sweater because the top itself would still fit but was not long enough to cover the elastic of my maternity pants, and wore a lot of cardigans (some maternity some not) over tanks and tees. Is was for work, so at home I did open hoodies. I did buy maternity yoga pants which I loved and wore frequently (and can still wear at pre pregnancy weight) but probably could have worn my regular ones a long time.

I have heard a lot of people wear the fold over skirts from old navy for a long time. I have one of e short ones so didn't wear too long due to weather, but I think they come in a maxi version.

I got some nursing bras and tanks from target, but also splurged in a couple from soma. If you keep an eye open there are lots of 20% off nursing bras and tanks coupons for target.


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[SnuggleBuggles]

I borrowed most everything my second time around. I was late within my social group to have my second and everyone had heaps of clothes they were done with.

Kohls, Target and Old Navy rounded out the rest for me.

Do you have a local moms FSOT group? You can often find great deals that way.

[cookiemonster80]

I happened to be in Ross the other day- they had a full rack of maternity clothes- YMMV

[ourbabygirl]

Thank you all so much! I'll have to check out a bunch of the places you mentioned! I haven't told any of my friends yet, as I'm just finishing my 1st trimester, but maybe in the next few weeks I will and can ask if anyone has anything I can buy or borrow from them. :) We'll probably start having kids' consignment sales in a couple of months, too, so I'll check those out, as I've seen stuff there in the past.

Thanks again!

[Simon]

If you live in cold weather, I highly recommend maternity tanks. Liz Lang and even a few nursing tanks from Bravo held up very well and kept me warm. For a coat in the fall, I had a thin wool, hooded jacket that worked very well to keep me warm. For deep winter, I bought a down coat, waist length, in a larger size (well, more like 2 sizes up) and that zipped up all winter and then kept me + baby in sling warm until spring. I bought the coat 2nd hand and it was maybe $15 for Land's End down.

[Nooknookmom]

We have two kiddos - 11.5 yrs apart, talk about a spread and ditched all the gear! Aside from One pair of pants and one tummy girdle thing (dd2 was small but felt like she was going to fall out!) I only bought reg ones to wear. I bought stretchy pants (nowadays yoga pants would work great!!) tees, I wore my jeans for four months. Dd2 carried small...so I could I didn't gain much with her.

If you find good deals on regular clothes in a bigger size, you can wear later ppd it will save $$!!