Maternity & Nursing Clothing Cheats: A Closet Staple
If you are looking for a versatile piece of maternity and nursing clothing, something that you can wear while pregnant, nursing & beyond. You probably already have it in your closet!
Photo Credit: lauren mcbride, check out her blog, she has fashion advice for Mom's to be, and great taste!
An open cardigan doesn't have to be maternity, the one sitting in your closet right now will do just fine. There are some small differences between maternity and non maternity open cardigans: the length, the fabric panels in the front and in some instances the shape of the back, the waist is moved up from the natural waist to the empire waist.
Photo Credit: Stylish Petite Blog. A well dressed fashion and lifestyle blogger, who has lots of maternity style posts.
For Maternity
Open cardigans make your maternity wardrobe more versatile. They are great for all seasons. They are easy to take on and off in the summer for those cooler days and nights outside. They are a great layer piece for fall and winter, and have a flattering framing effect on the baby bump!
The open cardigan can dress up basic T's. Just layer, add an accessory, scarf or big necklace, and you've dressed up a solid colour basic for coffee with the girls!
Pinterest is full of fashion suggestions for an open cardigan. I know the word cardigan can conjure up images of your mother, but I promise you the sweaters being made today are cute, versatile, even sexy. They won't make you feel like a grandmother!
If you google open cardigan outfits you will have hundreds of search results, mostly pinterest pins to choose from.
Photo Credit: Your Whole Baby
For Nursing
The open cardigan is a GREAT NURSING cover when you are out and about and nursing at your in-laws (most women report being uncomfortable nursing in front of their father-in-law).
Think about it. Traditional nursing covers are like aprons. you have to look down at an extreme and uncomfortable angle to get a view of baby. No experience compares to making eye-contact with those beautiful blue, brown or green eyes as they make those cute suckling sounds! But sometimes it's also nice to catch up on some reading with an e-reader in your other hand!
An open cardigan allows you to swaddle your baby on the business end and have a natural view of the feeding. You don't need to cover your front because, unless you have twins, you won't be baring both your breasts at the same time. Knit cardigans are best to use as a nursing cover because they tend to have more stretch and all those stitching loops allow for good airflow.
Photo Credit: The Guardian Article: The Mother of all Breastfeeding Tops Put To the Test This is actually a Seraphine wrap front breastfeeding top not a cardigan, but you get the idea. I couldn't find an image of a mother breastfeeding using an open cardigan as a nursing cover, this was the closest I could find. If you are nursing and want to try my open cardigan trick, send me a picture!
I discovered the open cardigan trick when I was nursing my daughter (Baby #2). We were travelling over the holidays and we'd stopped to eat at a family restaurant. I'd forgotten my nursing cover, so I decided to put my daughter under my open cardigan and it was amazing! I could see her and my breast was covered should she decided to suddenly pop off to look around the room (honestly, she used to try to turn her head with my nipple in her mouth....ouch). As a mom with an infant and a toddler, nursing with a cardigan meant one less piece of gear to fumble with, and one less thing to pack in the diaper bag! I never used the cover again, I even took it out of my diaper bag.
If you are looking for a versatile piece of maternity and nursing clothing, something that you can wear while pregnant, nursing & beyond, invest in a stylish open cardigan.
If you are nursing and want to try my open cardigan trick, send me a picture!
Photo Credits: This is the first time I have taken images from the web, I've always used stock images in the past, but this time I couldn't find what I needed. I tried to find the original source for all the images I used, and provided links to the site the image was found. If I have used your image and I did not give proper attribute/copyright credit please contact me. My intent was to share not steal.