Nursing Fashion & Hooter Hiders

This is a hooter hider.



I have one (although not in that nice fabric in the pic) - it's a nursing cover and my lifesaver when nursing Ellis in public. I latch her on directly - I'm just really bad with expressing and using a breast pump in general, and don't like the hassle of bringing bottles/ formula around. Unfortunately, I'm not that hot about the clothes that I have to wear in order to nurse in public. While one can avoid actual maternity wear by wearing larger sizes from regular brands, it's a toughie when it comes to nursing wear - you just need those damn boob openings!

I use the nursing cover because 1) I'm still a little clumsy with the nursing tops and not completely sure I can nurse without flashing myself, and 2) it gives me a little more flexibility in my choice of clothes - I'm able to wear a regular outfit with a front opening i.e. wrap or button front.

Didn't really have a lot of these in my pre-preggers wardrobe, so I spent considerable amount of time looking for new clothes. It's really frustrating when you need something urgently and not be able to find it. After several fruitless attempts, I managed to buy a whole bunch of stuff from Gap at their recent year end sale. My wardrobe these days consist of wrap jersey dresses or button front stretchy Ts/ tops.

They are not all that convenient to nurse in, but can I bemoan the lack of stylish nursing wear out there? Most of the ones on the market are purely functional - with the openings/slits - but the cut/ material/ design leaves much to be desired. So you end up with a very "obvious" (not to mention ugly) nursing top, like this:

Zippers across your boobies! Eeeks!!! Even the so called "stylish" brands don't quite cut the mustard in my opinion - just 'cos I'm a mum doesn't mean I want to look mumsy! Most nursing wear come in the form of tops, and I really miss wearing dresses. I tried googling overseas shops online, which are marginally better, but still trail waaaaaaay behind regular fashion brands style-wise.

Here are a couple of places locally you can find nursing stuff:

1) Moms In Mind - "mother" of all nursing wear stuff in Singapore, this is probably a first stop for most moms to be who intend to breastfeed. MIM has a showroom at Jln Pemimpin and also sell online, so it's very convenient if you're in confinement. They stock a decent range of nursing bras - I got a few to start off with, but not the nursing wear - it's just not stuff I would wear. But they are at hard to beat prices!

2) Spring Maternity - reasonably priced stuff - Spring has a relatively decent collection of nursing wear, although I think the maternity wear looks nicer.

3) Maternity Exchange - owned by Deborah, a friend of Shermaine's. I've experienced lovely customer service both times I've been down to this shop located at Marina Square. While they are known for their maternity wear rental scheme, they have a corner of nursing bras and basic nursing wear. Most nursing bras are white or skin tone - I was hard pressed to find something in black for my mostly dark coloured outfits - and finally found one here by Japanese Weekend.

4) Mothers En Vogue - another pioneer nursing wear specialist to appear in Singapore. I got the Body Bra from them, through Maternity Exchange. I have tried many different versions of this nursing staple, including those sold at Mothercare, EGG maternity, the famous version from Glamourmom, but I like this one the best. The material is soft and stretchy, the shelf bra gives decent support, and you can nurse discreetly as there is a double layer. It also has a pocket insert and comes with bra pads. The other versions have the drop down front with the clips which are meant to be worn under another shirt, I think.

5) Mothercare - managed to get black nursing bras here, but they have just 2 designs in basic cotton.

6) Triumph - they carry about 5 different nursing bra designs under their Mamabel label. All skin tone, no black versions. But these give me the best support of all my nursing bras.

7) Maternalove - a local online store that seems new-ish to the scene and specialises in maternity wear - haven't bought anything from them, but their tops are pretty OK, better than many I've seen out there.

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8) Iwantmilks - run by my friend e-laine. It has a very extensive range of very affordable tops, and some dresses too.

I suppose the teeny selection here is because the market is small. Some women also prefer to express and feed from the bottle or are not willing to pay for something they plan to wear only for a short time (if they return to work after 3 months). So they just buy some simple and inexpensive tops and "tahan" for 3 months. But as I plan to nurse for a longer time frame, for me that means no pretty clothes for one year - which is a most depressing thought!!!

I wouldn't mind spending more if there's better nursing stuff out there. I think it's pretty important to look and feel good, particularly post pregnancy when there are just so many changes to your body that you need to deal with. It's sad enough not to be able to get back into pre-preggers clothing as it is!