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Maternity Nursing Longline Vest
by NickyBo
I have recently given birth to my second child. I am breastfeeding him and now that he is 6 weeks old, and we are starting to venture further from home, there is an increased chance of me needing to feed him in public. I breastfed my first son and in that time I invested in a nursing vest.
When breastfeeding at home, it doesn't ... really matter what I wear. I can just lift my top up as it doesn't matter how much flesh I expose. However this is less than ideal for when I feed my son in the presence of other people. I don't want people getting an eye-full of my breasts or post-baby wobbly tummy and I'm sure they don't want that either!
With my first son I tried using various shawls and pashminas to keep things covered. My main problem with them was that my son's face or head ended up being covered up by them and I worried about him overheating. Also, once he was a few months old he could grab the shawl and pull it off me leaving me rather exposed! It always became a bit of a juggling act and probably drew more attention to me.
I then saw these nursing vests in Mothercare and decided to give one a try. I bought one in white and this style is also available in black, grey or navy and white striped. The vests cost £15 but are currently on 3 for 2 special offer. This vest, like all nursing vests, has 2 layers. The top layer is a normal vest, the only difference is at the straps where it has a clip on each side, just like a nursing bra. This means you can unclip one side of the vest and pull it down slightly without having to take off or pull up the whole vest.
The second layer is like a crop top and it is underneath the main vest part. This layer has two little slits in so you can expose just the nipple foor feeding without having to expose the full breast. The bottom of the crop top layer is very elasticated and quite supportive. This means that if you chose you could wear it without a bra, although this depends on how much support you need. I do sometimes wear it at night instead when I'm feeling like I need a break from wearing a nursing bra constantly.
I hav found this vest to be very useful when breastfeeding as it helps me to be far more discreet. It also makes me less self conscious as I know people aren't able to see everything. It is very easy to unclip the top and I can do it quickly and easily with one hand whilst supporting my son with the other. I like that the vest is a long style as it covers my tummy well and I don't have to worry about it riding up. I would definitely recommend this vest as it has made breastfeeding in public so much simpler and less stressful.
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Maternity Jersey Wrap Top
by k2705
I work in an office where I have to buy my own works clothes, we do not have a particular uniform, basically as long as we look smart they are happy, I needed some new things so I had a look on the New Look website as I had purchased a couple of things from their maternity section before and I came across the Maternity Jersey Wrap Top, ... it looked ideal for what I wanted, smart enough for work with a pair of trousers but also causal enough to wear with my jeans.
The Jersey Wrap Top is basically a charcoal grey top, it says on the New Look website that it is long sleeved but personally I would say that the sleeves are three quarter length, the top has a V neck with a wrap over front, this is secured both sides so you do not have to tie the top up at all, the wrap over part at the front is just for effect, it is also slightly ruched at the side. The sleeves despite not being down to your wrists have a cuff effect which gives it quite a smart look, the bottom is also slightly elasticised so that you can wear the top longer or slightly shorted should you wish. The wrap over front is designed to fit all sizes, this can be worn from the early stages of pregnancy right the way through, the soft Jersey material is stretchy so that it expands and moves with you whilst being extremely comfortable. Personally I found that with the Maternity Jersey Wrap Top I did need to wear a vest top underneath it, the V neck sits a bit too low to be worn on its own and I also found the neck area to be a bit on the loose side so again needed a top underneath.
The top is made from 50% Polyester and 50% acrylic which gives it its slightly stretchy feel, the jersey style material is very soft as I have mentioned and is also of a decent thickness, for work this is ideal as the material is not so thick that it is too warm to wear inside, yet it is thick enough to keep you warm on a slightly colder day, I comfortably wore mine during the cold weather we have recently had and found it the ideal thickness to keep me warm without being too hot. The care instructions suggest that the top is washed at 30 degrees which I do generally do, as I have worn this top both for work and for casual wear as well it has been washed quite a lot in the last few months, so far I have been very impressed with how well it has washed, it has not lost its colour at all and where it is supposed to be slightly elasticised it has remained this way. I did wonder if the Jersey material would bobble slightly through continues washing, however this is not the case it has shown no signs of bobbling at all, the top looks as good as new and no different to when I originally purchased it.
As I have mentioned this is a New Look top, and I purchased mine in store, I did have to travel to a larger store as the smaller ones including my local New Look tend not to have maternity sections, however this top is also available online, the top cost me £16.99. Had I been just buying the top for work then I wouldn't really have wanted to spend quite a much money on it as I prefer to buy slightly cheaper clothes for work and save my money for every day clothes, anyway I knew that this top was going to be for both work and causal wear so I didn't really mind paying a bit extra for it as I was hoping to get a lot of wear out of it. Personally I would say that the Maternity Jersey Wrap Top has been worth the money, I have had a lot of wear out of it and have been able to wear it with both smart works trousers and also my jeans at the weekend.
In my opinion the fact that the top is finished to such a high standard and is also of an excellent quality, in other words has not fallen apart after a couple of washes, also makes it good value for money, I think if they had this top in another colour other than Charcoal I would certainly consider purchasing it.
The New Look Maternity Jersey Top comes in a variety of sizes including 8, 10, 12, 14, 16 and 18 so there is something to cater for most people, obviously the availability of the sizes depends on where you are buying the top from. I purchased mine in my regular size 12 and found that it fitted perfectly, the only thing for me was that it felt a little loose around the V neck area, however this could just be my preference in that I would rather it a bit tighter fitting here and it could be how the top is supposed to be but generally the sizes are pretty accurate.
Overall I would certainly recommend the New Look Maternity Jersey Wrap Top, it is ideal for both smart and casual wear and can be worn right through you pregnancy. The material is soft against your skin and slightly stretchy without being over tight. I'm my opinion you do need to wear a vest top under this top but again this is just my preference. The top I would say is reasonably priced as it is the sort of top you could get a lot of wear out of and it is versatile, it comes in a range of sizes suitable for most people and washes extremely well. I would say that this is a hardwearing durable top suitable for most occasions, it is certainly one I would recommend.
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