When your body is changing, you may wonder if you should wait and buy maternity clothes later in your pregnancy or get them from the beginning. When is the right time to pick up a few maternity basics?
The answer is simple: start as soon as you are uncomfortable.
Many women start feeling that their pants are uncomfortable right around 10 – 16 weeks (but that doesn’t mean your pants can’t feel a little tight at 8 or 18 weeks). Maternity pants can look and feel great and there is no point in being uncomfortable when a better option is out there.
Here are 5 tips toward buying maternity pants with confidence:
Paige maternity jeans, available at Hip to be Round
1. Ask for help. Even if your favorite brand makes maternity, you’ll find items are retrofitted or made by a different designer altogether so it might not have the fit you’re used to. Ask the salesperson what the best selling style is and why. You’ll be surprised to hear there’s a lot more that goes into designing maternity pants than you think!
2. Check the fabric content. Most denim right now contains a certain amount of stretch fabric like Lycra or Spandex to retain shape and provide a comfortable fit. The more stretch, the more you can go with a fit that feels good “right now”. For example: a pair with 98% cotton and 2% elastine (stretch material like Lycra or Spandex) will have enough stretch retain it’s shape, but you will likely need to size up for a good maternity fit since they won’t grow with you. Denim with a 78% cotton, 20% poly, 2% spandex blend will be noticeably more stretchy and you’ll be able to purchase a pair that fit closer to how you normally wear them.
One thing to remember: heat damages elastine over time. That means that if you’re putting your jeans in the dryer to “shrink them down” you are actually damaging their ability to retain their shape!
3. Give yourself a little “insurance room”. This is especially true when shopping in your first trimester. This does not mean you need to buy a size up or have a baggy fit, but you do want a little extra room to grow. Here is one way to check: while wearing the jeans, use your thumb and index finger to grab a pinch of the fabric near your hip. If you pinch your skin, it’s not going to give enough room to grow, If you can grab a full handful of the fabric, try the size down. If you have just enough to comfortably hold between your fingers you’re probably just right.
5. Sit. Find a spot to sit in your pants and lean forward. Maternity pants offer the least flexibility right were the pant meets the panel (which is an important spot if you plan on sitting any time soon), if it’s digging in, it’s too tight. While it feels low, the panel should start right above the pelvic bone, cradling the belly and allowing you to sit comfortably.
5. And this is a biggie: Don’t be tempted to purchase regular jeans in a size up. It always seems like a good idea at the time, a cheap pair of jeans to wear in that “in between stage”, but that doesn’t change the fact that you are buying a pair of jeans for only a few weeks. Eventually, since non-maternity pants are not meant to adapt to your growing body, they’ll have trouble staying put or be ill-fitting in the behind and before long, you’re going to need another pair. if you need a temporary stop-gap, try a Bella Band, meant to extend the life of your pre-pregnancy jeans. The better (and more comfortable) investment is to purchase a good pair of maternity jeans from the start that will adapt and grow with you.
