AS PART OF TheJournal.ie’s weekly Family Magazine, we wanted to create a space for parents to share their views. A place where mums and dads could share their experiences, lessons learned, and even mistakes along the way. 

This week, we’re talking maternity wear and wardrobe essentials for a comfortable pregnancy.

What one piece of maternity wear was most worth the money?

Here’s what they had to say…

Top L-R: Olly Keegan, Alan Dooley, Denise, Ken Hyland. Middle L-R: Ríona Flood, Ross Boxshall, Marta Lisiecka, Denise Cumiskey. Bottom L-R: Kait Quinn, Susannah O’Brien, Derek McInerney, Suzie Kelly

My maternity PJs: One present I got that I loved was maternity pajamas. I found sleep very uncomfortable and these helped to give me the support my bump needed.

Riona Flood

Don’t forget the knickers: Seamless knickers, for sure. I tell you, towards the end of the pregnancy when everything had the potential to be uncomfortable, something as simple as no seams on knickers was just great!

- Olly Keegan

Summer dresses, bought online: Skater dresses were my personal favourite during the summer. One-size-up clothes never fitted me on top. I bought literally every item of maternity wear online, the prices were reasonable and the selection was better.

Denise

Comfortable shoes, even if they’re not stylish: The most important thing – and often forgotten – is shoes. The curse of pregnancy is swollen feet, so forget fashion and buy the most comfortable shoes you can find.

Denise Cumiskey

Don’t go a size up, buy maternity wear: I would definitely steer away from just going up a size or two. I did that for a while and what a difference it made when I actually started wearing the maternity leggings and pants. I got some great black maternity jeggings that I used quite a bit. Comfortable bras were really important as well – I found underwire unbearable.

Kait Quinn

A cool summer dress – and check out the charity shops: I got huge quickly with each pregnancy and was in maternity clothes by the fourth month. Three of my pregnancies were summer babies, so a nice cool maternity dress was essential. Maternity clothes can be expensive so my advice is to check out local charity shops.

Susannah O’Brien

I went one size up for tops: With tops you can just go a size up or buy oversize and not bother with maternity wear much, but maternity jeans, work pants and leggings are good items to have and a real investment.

Marta Lisiecka

Loads of long vests: My wife’s favourite clothing items during pregnancy and breastfeeding were long vests. They were snug over the bump, gave a feeling of support, she could wear her normal tops over them and they were handy while breastfeeding too.

Ross Boxshall

Loose styles made me look huge, so I went for stretchy: I had a pair of black stretchy work trousers that were adjustable over the bump and lasted me from start to finish of all three pregnancies. Anything flowy or loose made me look huge, so for dressed I favoured stretchy styles that hugged the bump, making me look neater.

Trina Dooley

My wife swapped out jeans for dresses: Karen favoured lots of dresses and the like to keep the pressure of a waistband off her bump.

Ken Hyland

More Parents Panel: What time do your kids go to bed at?

More Parents Panel: How did your life change when a baby came along?

Help! Am I being unreasonable? We’re looking for parenting dilemmas from our readers for our Am I Being A Bad Parent? feature. Drop us a line with your reader dilemma on family@thejournal.ie.

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