My Top 5 Not So Useful Maternity Items...

As I cleaned out my closest, I noticed there were some items that I had purchased early on in my pregnancy that I had not used. They are:

1. Belly Band

I was able to wear my regular pants up until my 5th month of pregnancy. For a couple of weeks, I had tried the elastic/hair tie trick to keep the pant button open. But the insecure feeling kept me from practicing that method for long.

I believe the belly band is meant to cover the open zipper only. It certainly did not appear to be strong enough to hold up the pants itself. It seemed pointless to me to put the Belly Band on just to have it cover the zipper. Instead, I just to wore longer tops.

2. Maternity Underwear

I bought a pack of maternity underwear online. When it had arrived, the fit was already pretty snug. Needless to say, I didn’t end up using it. I found that a regular bikini cut underwear (in a size up) worked just fine.

3. Maternity Tops

I’ve gone through my pregnancy thus far without purchasing a single maternity top. It’s easy to go up a size up and experiment with different styles. The empire waistline is especially flattering for the baby bump. For me, some of my favourite pieces were tank tops, cardigans and turtle necks. I really enjoyed accessorizing with necklaces and scarves.

4. Stretch Mark Creams

Stretch marks are hereditary. You either have them or you don’t. You can minimize the look of them with certain creams but in general, I wouldn’t recommend spending an obscene amount of money on stretch mark creams. I suggest just finding a rich moisturizer that suits your skin type.

5. Maternity Bras

At the beginning of the pregnancy, I had a lot of trouble finding a ‘maternity bra’. I kept getting directed to the nursing bra section of the store but it didn’t seem right since I wasn’t actually nursing yet. One day, a sales rep had enlightened me by telling me that there was no such thing as a maternity bra. At some point, I had received my first starter nursing bra from a vendor. As soon as I had put it on, it was an immediate eureka moment for me. The band, strap and cup support was so supportive. It almost fit like sports bra but a hundred times better. It was so comfortable. There was the nursing drop down piece but if you are not nursing, you obviously can just leave that alone and wear it like a normal bra. So my suggestions to the ladies would be to not bother looking for a “maternity’ bra. Instead, jump right into finding a good fitting nursing bra. You won’t regret it.

Hope these tips will help you save a little cash and time. Drop me a line below to let me know what were some of your most disappointing maternity buys.