Nursing Tops help mothers to breastfeed discreetly. They may not be a necessity but they surely make a new mother’s day out with their newborn a lot easier and a lot more fuss free.
I remembered when I first became mom, I had to change my wardrobe entirely as I was determined to breastfeed till my baby self weaned. I gave myself short term goals like “let’s try a week first, then a month and then it was 3 months and 6 months and …” Finally I breastfed my first elder daughter till she self weaned at 2.5 years old. My second journey lasted 3 years. They are both healthy and happy.
I had post partum weight to loose after birth so many of my pre-pregnancy tops were too tight anyhow… My wardrobe was slowly replaced by nursing tops and more nursing tops…. simple plain ones to more fashionable ones that I can attend functions and occasions with, without looking too out of place. Hence ideas keep coming to me on how nursing openings should be done to facilitate nursing without being shy or being exposed…
Various combination of colours or fabric choices that will make a mother’s busy day easier, affected decisions on how a nursing top should be made. So a lot of thoughts and ideas go into the conception of a nursing top. From ideas to putting it down on paper, to making paper patterns and then sewing a prototype sample to test it out on mothers of various chest sizes and nursing positions… not forgetting lifestyles as well… be it a working mom or a stay-at-home-mom ( SAHM )
Styles that are appropriate for work should look sharp and smart so more
woven fabric can be explored here. If fabrics don’t come with stretch, zipper openings are incorportated. They may be more troublesome to undo but they are definitely smarter chic pieces.
Styles that are simpler, easy to match with jeans and shorts for home wear, made for stay home moms or working mom’s weekend wear, saw to exploration of more knit fabrics which gives stretch and these should withstand frequent washes without going out of shape.
Easier said than done, the search for suitable fabrics that go with appropriate styles will be the next challenge. It takes creativity here to make it work… if you had seen project runway episodes, you’d appreciate nursing tops being made for you. The process is tedious and when the final product is out, the pricing sometimes does not justify the work, time and effort put in.
In Heidi Klum’s words… ” in Fashion, one day you’re in and the next, you’re out” – but she is really referring to high fashion, courture fashion. With nursing tops, it’s about evergreen pieces made to match easily and they are apparels with a function to fulfil as well… to help mothers breastfeed discreetly in public and with time, these nursing tops help you adopt a nursing lifestyle so prolonged nursing can be realised. Who reaps the benefits? Both you and your baby of course…
However, designing and producing nursing wear is a passion for me so we are trying hard to make them more readily available, giving a choice and a range for nursing mothers to at least be smartly dressed and accomplish nursing their babies for at least 2 years or more.
It takes a little practice to know how to nurse well coz some babies can latch on and off and momentarily your tits may be exposed to people who happened to be watching. When done often and discreetly especially when latching on and off, which takes practice and confidence, NO ONE will really notice you nursing. Some people may well think you are soothing your baby to sleep.
