This post may contain affiliate links and CorporetteMoms may earn commissions for purchases made through links in this post. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
The few times I do go out, I lean heavily into eye makeup to feel put together. I don’t have the steadiest hand so I prefer pencil eyeliners to gel or liquid — I can blur any unevenness with my eyeshadow.
I’ve been using Make Up For Ever’s pencil eyeliner for years. Their newer iteration, Aqua Resist Color Pencil Eyeliner looks like an improvement — like the old one, its rich color won’t budge or smear, and the new built-in sharpener guarantees an exact line every time.
It comes in three matte finishes and seven shimmery ones that will complement a multitude of skin tones.
The eyeliner is $22 at Sephora.
Note: The big Sephora sale ends today! Depending on whether you’re Insider, VIB, or Rouge, you can take 10% off, 15% off, or 20% off!
Sales of note for 4.18.24
(See all of the latest workwear sales at Corporette!)
- Ann Taylor – 50% off full-price dresses, jackets & shoes; $30 off pants & skirts; extra 50% off sale styles
- Banana Republic Factory – Up to 50% off everything; extra 20% off purchase
- Eloquii – 50% off select styles; 60% off swim; up to 40% off everything else
- J.Crew – Mid-Season Sale: Extra 60% off sale styles; up to 50% off spring-to-summer styles
- Lands’ End – 30% off full-price styles
- Loft – Spring Mid-Season Sale: Up to 50% off 100s of styles
- Nordstrom: Free 2-day shipping for a limited time (eligible items)
- Talbots – Spring Sale: 40% off + extra 15% off all markdowns; 30% off new T by Talbots
- Zappos – 29,000+ women’s sale items! (check out these reader-favorite workwear brands on sale, and some of our favorite kids’ shoe brands on sale)
Kid/Family Sales
- Carter’s – Up to 70% off baby items; 50% off toddler & kid deals & 40% off everything else
- Hanna Andersson – Up to 50% off spring faves; 25% off new arrivals; up to 30% off spring
- J.Crew Crewcuts – Up to 60% off sale styles; up to 50% off kids’ spring-to-summer styles
- Old Navy – 30% off your purchase; up to 75% off clearance
- Target – Car Seat Trade-In Event (ends 4/27); BOGO 25% off select skincare products; up to 40% off indoor furniture; up to 20% off laptops & printers
See some of our latest articles on CorporetteMoms:
Click here to see our top posts!
And — here are some of our latest threadjacks of interest – working mom questions asked by the commenters!
- If you’re a working parent of an infant with low sleep needs, how do you function at work when you’re in the throes of baby’s sleep regression?
- Should I cut my childcare down to 12 hours a month if I work from home?
- Will my baby have speech delays if we raise her bilingual?
- Has anyone given birth in a teaching hospital?
- My child eats everything, and my friends’ kids do not – how should I handle? In general, what is the best way to handle when your child has some skill/ability and your friend’s child doesn’t have that skill/ability?
- ADHD moms, give me your tips to help with things like behavior in the classroom, attention to detail, etc?
- I think I suffer from mom rage…
- My husband and kids are gone this weekend – how should I enjoy my free time?
- I’m struggling to be compassionate with a SAHM friend who complains she doesn’t have enough hours of childcare.
- If you exclusively formula fed, what tips do you have for in the hospital and coming home?
- Could I take my 4-yo and 8-yo on a 7-8 day trip to Paris, Lyon, and Madrid?
Par-tay says
Vist@prints, Tinypr!nts, and M!nted – anyone have experience ordering invitations from any of those lately? I’m selecting birthday party invitations and want to make sure I don’t order from a vendor with slow shipping or bad quality.
Anon says
I’ve used Minted a lot and they always deliver on schedule and the quality has been great. This was all pre COVID, but I’d use them again without second thought.
Anon says
We used them for our holiday cards during COVID. They were 2 days delayed in shipping, but proactively refunded us our expedited shipping charges and still sent it out expedited, so I was happy given all of the crazy circumstances!
Anon says
I use Vista for christmas cards and the quality has been great. No experience ordering invitations though. Shipping is pretty quick in my experience but you usually have to pay for it (but at least around the holidays they run promotions off the order that more than cover the cost of shipping so mentally I can get myself there).
anonn says
we always use Minted for Christmas cards because of their included address labeling, it looks so nice and is a great time saver. I also think their designs are better. It’s pricey, but with promo codes and Rakuten we save some. Never had an issue with shipping or quality
Mary Moo Cow says
I use Shutterfly for invitations, and they are great. I’ve also used Staples to order invitations that are a download from Etsy, and that’s been good quality with reasonable shipping or in-store pick up.
Pogo says
VP is slow unless you pay extra for shipping. Minted is the easiest because you can upload the addresses and it labels the envelopes for you.
Momofthree says
We had some real issues with minted for our holiday cards this year- which will be our last. Shipping took a long time, then they forgot to print the addresses on our envelopes, then the “expedited” shipping was another 1-2 weeks after that.
The thing that really put us over the edge though is that there is no way to export your addresses once they are in there. We were going to try to format our printer to print the addresses on the first set of blank envelopes but couldn’t get it to work.
Anonymous says
PSA That it is tick Season and tick bites are worth a call to the doctor. If it’s been on less than a day they won’t usually do anything, but for more than a day depending on several factors your doctor might prescribe prophylactic antibiotics which reduce the transmission rate of Lyme. I did not know this was a thing and thought I was being silly and anxious calling the doctor.
Anonymous says
It really depends on the doctor. My husband’s doctor will prescribe prophylactic antibiotics for tick bites, but mine and our pediatrician won’t.
So Anon says
Also depends on your location. Ticks are part of life in northern New England. We do nightly tick checks from March – November, and it is not unusual for someone to have a tick on them. If you are checking daily, then you know that the tick has been present for less than 24 hours, and the risk for transmission of lyme is low. We do not even bother to send the tick for testing because the presumption is that it has lyme. If there is a chance that the tick has been present for greater than 12-24 hours, then we absolutely do antibiotics.
anne-on says
Same, and also in New England, with vacations in VT/ME. We do nightly tick checks, but our pediatrician hasn’t asked to check ticks over the age of 3. I just ordered a few pairs of the ‘tick twisters’ as they seem to be easier to use than tweezers. The two tips we heard/use are to circle the area where you remove a tick with a washable sharpie to monitor any rash, and to check skin folds, warm&damp areas especially well – behind ears, in between toes/fingers, and bathing suit areas. We’ve only found 2-3 ticks but they’ve all been in one of those locations.
So Anon says
The tick twister things are great and much easier! Also, we check hair and whole body by lightly running hands over skin because the tiny ticks can be tough to see but you can feel them with your hands. (Older kiddos check themselves.)
Pogo says
Same. daily tick checks here.
Anon says
Some states have tick labs that are free to residents – PA uses ticklab.org. I’ve mailed in ticks before and gotten reports identifying the tick and reporting on results of disease tests. It’s so helpful.
Anonymous says
How long do results take?
Anon says
Turnaround time was less than a week both times I’ve used it.
Toddler Sleep SOS says
SOS. We potty trained my almost 3 year old this weekend. She did so great on that front. Her sleep is upside down. She is a religious napper to this day and refused to nap Fri-Sun. We tried to do quiet time in her room in lieu of nap but that definitely didn’t work – she just continued to let herself out. We tried quiet time with me in the room and it didn’t make a difference.
Nights are the real problem. Friday night, she screamed bloody murder for about 45 mins and then fell asleep. Same Saturday. Sunday (last night) she screamed for hours – literally hours. I went in and slept on the floor while she fell asleep and snuck out. Around midnight she woke up screaming/shrieking again. We were CIO people, pretty unapologetic and rigid about it, and it worked like a charm for her. We tried to embrace that but this was like next level blood curdling screaming. Eventually took her to our bed, which we don’t do often but has worked when she’s sick, for example. That was a complete bust. She was doing barrel rolls in place, wanted to play, wanted milk, wanted TV… ugh. Then at 4am I went to her room and put her in the crib and I slept in the recliner. I maybe slept 3 hours total last night.
She’s not sick. She’s having BMs (not always in the potty fwiw), but she’s peeing like a champ. What happened to my gloriously amazing sleeper. I have a killer week at work this week, plus my second vaccine this afternoon so I’m figuring I’ll be down for the count tomorrow. I don’t mention DH much but he was with me every step of the way – he did things to help that I don’t even remember, I am so tired. I think she’s just majorly over tired but I have no idea what to do. Helpppp.
Anon says
if i recall correctly and i might not bc i too was likely too tired at the time, i think one of my twins had trouble falling asleep again after potty training, though not quite like your daughter. what is she wearing for nap and sleep? diapers? pull ups? do you think she might be now scared/confused of peeing in her diaper? my twins are day potty trained (well one still struggles a bit with pee accidents) but still wear diapers for naps and nighttime and are no where close to being ready to be dry at night. my twins are also almost 3 and i actually feel like i can now have conversations with them about how to solve problems on a rudimentary level. so maybe you can try to ask her if she has any ideas for solving this sleep problem? i like you was pretty into CIO as babies, though it was hard for me to listen to and often DH had to while i wore ear plugs, but it is even more heartbreaking now that they can yell “mommy”
Anonymous says
Hugs—that is just awful. Unfortunately, in these cases giving in just reinforces the behavior, and as you’ve observed it doesn’t get them to sleep that night. Unless she is screaming so much she vomits or is behaving dangerously, it will end quickest if you just grit your teeth and let her scream.
asdf says
Can you (or a caregiver) take her for a drive at nap time? I’ve taken our LO for a 20 minute drive to get her to pass out. I don’t dare move her from her carseat but if I park in front of the house I can still get our wifi and work from the car. Not a long term solution but if you just need her to log some solid sleep in the next few days it might help. If she’s in daycare seeing all the other kids nap will probably help. Good luck!!!
Ifiknew says
This is so terrible. I am so sorry. I have no advice and have had a great sleeper for about 6 months of her 4 year life so not your case but night training after 3 has made her wake up 2 to 4x week atleast. Now we’re dropping her nap and it’s been a disaster, screaming for an hour middle of the night etc. Curious to see what people say. I am so tired too.
sleep says
My kid went through really disrupted sleep after potty training a month before age 3. It got so bad that we hired a sleep consultant who was available by text and phone for 2 weeks. My daughter stopped napping at 2.5, she will lay and rest for 20 min or so at daycare, but they usually let her in another room to read or color. After potty training she was fighting sleep until 11 pm at night some nights (she’d usually sleep until 8 am which is late but was hard to work with our schedule). Multiple wake ups and I’d bring her to our bed out of desperation. What we did was go to bed earlier with a strict routine which is snack, pj, teeth and 3 stories. We tell her exactly what is happening and what is next (OK now we are done brushing teeth it is time to pick 3 stories, etc.). We still sit in there with her but its for 15 minutes vs. 2 hours… we haven’t been able to graduate to that step yet but she is these days sleeping at 8:15 pm and waking up closer to 7, stays in her bed, maybe a couple wake ups a week. The first few nights were rough and we had to keep picking her up and putting her back in the bed and there was screaming and tears (me and her, lol). I would try earlier and reinforce routine.
Is it possible she is ready to be done with naps? Even our sleep consultant agreed that the daycare forced napping was messing up my kid at night (this was a true victory as our daycare owner was convinced my daughter needed to nap..)
Pogo says
+1, we did the same with sleep consultant. The key for us was an extra tall baby gate to contain kiddo. It took one night and one nap of screaming for him to get the message. The nap was the second day and he was exhausted and he fell asleep curled up by the gate, which the consultant said was not uncommon.
The consultant also said pull-ups were a must if kiddo not able to hold it. They shouldn’t be able to use potty as a get out of jail free card. In our case, we were able to transition LO to going potty by himself without the need to keep the gate locked.
Hugs. 3yo sleep + potty training is hard.
Anon says
A similar thing happened with our first kid. A friend suggested we try the no more bedtime trick. It worked and we did it preemptively with our second. They still both read in bed even in elementary school.
Basically, explain now that she’s peeing in the potty, she’s a big girl and gets a super special treat. No more bedtime! She has to go in her room with lights out at the same time, but now she can read in bed if it’s nighttime and she’s not sleepy. The rules are: she can pick out up to 5 whole books! She gets her own flashlight! (We did the boon gleam since it’ll last all night if they leave it on, and it doesn’t get hot.) As long as she stays quiet in her bed, she can read all night if she wants to. If she wakes up in the middle of the night, she can use her flashlight and read. If she wakes up early, she can read. But if she starts being loud or comes out of her room (except to go to the bathroom) then she has to give up a book. It took a week or so of crabby kids who had stayed up too late, but they reacted really well to getting to “choose” their bedtime and eventually settled into their own sleep routine, with minimal calling for parents.
We also started gave them “nighttime medicine” which was a spoonful of local honey and a sip of water right before bed. Theoretically this helped with allergies but also I think it kept their tummies from getting too hungry at night.
anonn says
When my toddler (2.5) was struggling at bedtime, throwing insane fits and would not just lay still long enough to fall asleep, we resorted to melatonin gummies, just a 1/3 of the kids ones 30 min before bed and it sort of slowed her down enough to let her finally sleep. Never had an accident, though she’d had a dry diaper all night for a few months at that point. She’s probably just exhausted from all the changes. When she’s at the thrashing and blood-curdling scream level my theory is anything goes to calm her down, snacks, extra cuddles, ice packs, whatever, but mostly just let her know you’re there when she’s ready, and let her work it out. She’s s just out of her body and not deliberately acting out or making a power play. She had lots of these mid-night wake-ups around her 3rd birthday and eventually grew out of them. Tt was so frustrating and scary and exhausting.
Peloton Tread says
PSA: Spare yourself, and do NOT watch the CPSA video with the kids and the Peloton Tread, but anyone with small kids should take their warning extremely seriously. I’m not particularly faint-hearted, and it was very upsetting. The kid walks away from the incident and seems alright, but wow that was lucky.
Anon says
I haven’t watched it, but how did they get the incident on video? Home security cameras?
OP says
I think it’s a Nest or similar. It looks like the Tread is in the kids’ play area. No adults in sight, kids are messing with the treadmill.
Anonymous says
Is it worse than non-Peloton treadmills for some reason? We’ve had a treadmill for kiddo’s whole life. When not in use, the treadmill is unplugged and switched to “off”. It is in our basement family room, which isn’t a space kiddo is in alone very often.
Anonymous says
I am not a treadmill aficionado, but it looks like the belt is less protected than the big hulky ones I’ve seen at the gym. It appears the Tread’s belt is exposed all the way around, so it can pull things underneath it from behind. Many other treadmills have a plastic piece enclosing the belt so that only the top surface that you actual run on is exposed.
Anonymous says
This.
NYCer says
+1. The video was horrible to watch.
Anonymous says
I never watch these things but I did this time, who knows why, and I’m going to have nightmares for a while.
Have there been any safety issues with the bikes? Ours is due to arrive next month and now I’m concerned. Though the design of the treadmill does seem particularly problematic, given the way it’s raised off the ground.
Anonymous says
My niece (6) broke her leg (two bones) on my sister peloton. But she was unsupervised fooling around on it. Kids shouldn’t be near exercise equipment, period. It’s not just a peloton you shouldn’t have kids near or on any treadmill/bike/rowing machine.
Spirograph says
I have a bike and I’ve been looking at it carefully today. The chain is fully enclosed, the flywheel is smooth, and the brake is covered so you’d have to work hard to get anything pinched. I’d say it is impossible for a child to tip over, it’s very heavy and sturdy. Like any bike, you could probably get a small leg tangled in a pedal, but I am not creative enough to come up with a way to cause really serious injury.
My kids are NOT allowed to touch the bike, but just this morning my daughter (6) told me about how she was trying to “do her exercise” on it, so I’ll have to keep a closer eye out. If you want to make it more kid-proof, you can turn the resistance way up when you’re done so the pedals won’t turn.
Anonymous says
With my old non-Peloton treadmill, I always unplug it and put the cord away in an inaccessible spot. Is that not possible with the Peloton bike and treadmill?
Anonymous says
I’m sure it is for the treadmill. For the bike, the pedals will still turn if it’s not plugged in.
Anon says
Gosh, I’m so embarrassed to ask this but has anyone had a rectocele? I have not had children but I have learned it is common in moms so I figured I would try here first. I recently had a pelvic exam and nothing abnormal was noted. However, I’m having issues where I don’t seem initially constipated, but when I go, after passing normal stool, I cannot finish evacuating. I will still feel stool in my rectum. If I put a finger in my v@gina and press against the back wall I can feel the stuck stool and at times, doing so allows it to come out. I know that sometimes such manipulation is recommended for constipation but I don’t know how much is normal and how much means I have a rectocele. I literally just had a GI appointment where I mentioned the occasional rectal constipation but not how I was relieving it. Now that I have googled and see that this is a thing, I probably need to make a follow up appointment. I have already emailed w/ a bunch of questions about test results unrelated to this. Ugh.
I’m most curious about what your doctor did to diagnose it and treat it. Thanks!
Anonymous says
Daily Metamucil. Then pelvic floor exercises/Kegels. If that doesn’t fix it, they scope and see if you need surgery.
anon says
pelvic floor physical therapy + an exercise program like Restore Your Core (there may be others but IMO that’s the best). Lots of people have this. Not embarrassing. Squatty potty and change in diet/adding supplements like magnesium may help while you’re in the process of healing.
Anon says
I have the squatty potty! And I just ripped the band aid off and emailed my doc.
anon says
Pelvic floor therapy. These issues are way more common than you’d think. Also, Hab-it by Tasha Mulligan is great. She had a lot of the same explanations as the PT I went to in person. http://www.hab-it.com/ Take the time to learn how to do proper pelvic floor exercises — much of the “common wisdom” around kegels is actually not helpful. Hab-it also has extensive FAQs on the website.
ifiknew says
Does CIO work for preschoolers? We’ve tried everything with my almost 4 year old, bribes and taking away fun things, but the couple wakeups per week (now almost nightly after dropping nap) are not stopping. Also, it can only be mom or she screams bloody murder. I don’t know what to do. If anyone has a name of a sleep consultant, would greatly appreciate it.
Anon says
it’s amazing how we as parents are willing to pay anything for sleep. i am too! when she dropped her nap, did you move up bedtime significantly? i would start there. i know some people who’ve had success with a laminated chart where you check off each bedtime routine step. when she wakes up in the middle of the night, is she saying anything other than screaming? is she scared, cold, hot, etc.? i know as a kid when my sister went through a phase of waking mom multiple times per night, the pediatrician suggested that my parents put a sleeping bag on the floor next to their bed and the rule was she could get out of her bed and go sleep in that sleeping bag, but could not wake my parents. she did it for a few weeks and then stopped, though my parents left the sleeping bag there just in case for an additional month. some of my friends have also had success with a “pass” system. good luck! kid sleep issues are the worst
OP says
Thank you, these are good ideas. Her bedtime is 7:15-7:30 and she passes out in 5 minutes, wakes up around 6:30-6:45 in the rare day she sleeps all night. Should I move up earlier? She’s so so tired after 6 pm, but I really think if she slept all night, she can make it just fine to 7:15-7:30. Most of the night, it’s interrupted and she’s incoherent. Sometimes, she screams that I’m so mean for xyz and I just cannot with the screaming and tantruming at 12:30 am. She’s always woken up but the tantruming is new since she’s dropped her nap.
Anon says
so i might try to put her to bed earlier. my twins are a year younger and lately have been very very tired lately for some reason. i have gone in phases where i have had to put them to bed earlier. lately i’ve been aiming to have them in bed by 6:45/7 and they’ve been sleeping really long
Sleep says
We had a very good experience with GM Sunshine: https://gmsunshine.com/about-gmsunshine/. It’s all virtual, and she was the second sleep consultant we had tried, for not an easy situation and she totally solved it for us long-term.
Spirograph says
Good news-bad news, bad news first: I’m not sure anything works for preschoolers. At least I never found it. Cry it out does NOT work. It just keeps you awake longer. Good news: It’s a phase, and they outgrow it.
What does your child ask for when she wakes up? We tried to head everything off at the pass: use the bathroom right before bed, put a waterbottle with a little bit of water on the night stand, night light, book to look at to get back to sleep, stuffies/special objects… sometimes kids just wake up and want to be acknowledged. I found that just going to tuck kid back in with a kiss and reminder that I’ll see him/her in the morning was the fastest and most painless way to resolve the situation. I could usually do it half-asleep, and then go back to sleep with minimal problems, but I totally get it that any sleep disruption is frustrating.
During the day, we’d remind them that nighttime is for sleeping in your own bed, grown ups need sleep too, kids can walk to the bathroom if they need to and just go quietly right back to bed, etc etc… but there did not seem to be a magic bullet. Eventually they just figured it out.
OP says
Thank you, this is really helpful, to just accept that maybe there’s not some way to “fix” this. We’ve been trying for her entire life to get her to sleep all night and I just feel so beaten down by it. We had a nice stretch from about 2.25-2.75 years of age where she always slept but that’s it.
AwayEmily says
We have two kids and treated them both exactly the same, sleep-wise. Early CIO, dark room, bedtime routines, etc. My first is an incredible sleeper and has been since we sleep-trained her. My second (now 3) has had night terrors, wakeups, struggles to fall asleep, etc. He goes through better periods and worse periods.
So yeah, at some point it’s not really anything you’re doing — some kids just aren’t wired for fantastic sleep, I think. And you can make changes around the edges that improve their life and yours (lots of great suggestions in this thread!) but it may always be a rocky road.
OP says
Thank you, so helpful to know. How do you treat the night wakings? Do you and your husband take turns?
Anon says
Another one with a not great sleeper here (and she has been that way since birth, despite us trying everything and then some). We’ve made our peace with the most sleep for the most number of people approach. We put her (3.5) to bed in her bed, so that we can get at least a few hours of peaceful sleep. Most nights she wakes up between 2-4am (sometimes earlier, sometimes later and once in a blue moon no wake up). When she wakes up, she runs down the hall and crawls in our bed (i.e., no crying or screaming because she knows what to do). It’s not great sleep, but it’s better than me getting up to go to her after hearing her crying and then being fully awake (DH will sleep through a full on sobfest but I like a normal person cannot, so I’m always awake for it). Sometimes she will crawl in on DH’s side and I won’t wake up; most of the time she crawls in on my side and either I wake up and quickly fall back asleep because I didn’t get out of bed or don’t even wake up at all. If you aren’t up for co-sleeping (and I strongly recommend trying this before committing to co-sleeping), you can try the sleeping bag or blanket pile on the floor beside your bed. My kid is literally just lonely I think (not scared, not cold, not thirsty, doesn’t need the potty), and needs to be touching, so after dealing with terrible muscle aches from dangling my hand over the bed so she could hold it, we abandoned that approach. I assume by the time she goes off to college she will have figured out how to sleep by herself all night long.
AwayEmily says
Yes, we trade off, though not in any formal way, usually just whoever happens to hear it first. Luckily he is easily soothed — usually it’s just a quick pop in to deal with the issue and then we can go back to sleep. And it goes in waves — a few months ago he was waking up multiple time almost every night, but I don’t think he’s woken up at night at all for the past couple of weeks. Kids change so fast, and are constantly going through all sorts of confusing developmental stages. I figure that for some kids, the stress of that comes out in tantrums, for some it comes out in whining, and for mine it comes out in trouble sleeping. My job is to be loving and consistent, and also to make sure the grownups are taken care of (eg if he’s going through a bad stage, then sometimes one of us will sleep with the white noise on in the guest room to make sure to get a full nights sleep).
Spirograph says
My 4 year old does the crawl-in-bed with me (always me) thing a few times a week, too. Sometimes I wake up, sometimes I don’t. If I do wake up, I have had surprisingly good luck saying “you can snuggle with me for 2 minutes, then it will be time to go back to your own bed.” And when I tell him 2 minutes is up, he says, “OK mommy, I love you, night night” and goes back to his bed.
Katala says
I feel Anon @3:44’s response. I took on more of the night wakeups when DH took on daytime childcare last March. I generally go to sleep easily, so if it’s a quick check in or letting kiddo into bed, I can fall back asleep. DH may be up for another hour or two, so it worked. Now pregnancy is messing with my sleep so DH is taking on more night wakings, but I always, always wake up. No help there, just commiseration. May try to work out a situation with the guest room, but I honestly want to be in our much nicer bed right now, and we haven’t figured out how to get the kids to go to the guest room to wake up Dad instead of coming to our room.
Anon says
I posted in the Toddler Sleep about the “no more bedtime” trick. We did it at potty training, but the friend who told us had heard it from her sleep consultant for her preschooler. Maybe try that? Basically tell them they don’t have a bedtime anymore. They just have to go into their room and have lights off, but they can read all night with a flashlight if they want. If they wake up and it’s still nighttime, they can read with the flashlight. It took us about a week of crabby kids but then they settled into a decent sleep schedule.
What to wear says
I need help dressing myself – on maternity leave for 2+ more months so casual wear-about-town clothes are what I need. I’m about 6 weeks postpartum and have just been wearing my maternity clothes so far, but my leggings are either all worn out with holes or are sliding down. Ditto with underwear. I’m not quite back into my pre-baby clothes, and am not sure what to do – should I buy regular clothes in a bigger size, or is there another alternative that can sort of suck things in and help me look – and feel – put together? Links to specific pieces or brands would be much appreciated. Thank you.
Anonymous says
Honestly I’d just order a bunch of leggings and tops from old navy in your current size and order new underwear tiday
Anonymous says
I bought non-maternity pants in a bigger size and loose drapey tops. It was over 5 years ago, so I don’t have links. I’d buy enough to get buy in a larger non-maternity size. And definitely embrace elastic waistbands.
Katala says
+1 to elastic waistbands. I had a really hard time with regular waistbands and I wish I’d just accepted that elastic was the way to go. For me, my waist was changing the most so that avoided the need to buy a new size as often. My waist also seemed too big for my hips/legs according to standard sizing, so it was just really hard to get anything that fits. Leggings are great, and elastic waist shorts. I have maternity shorts with elastic gussets on either side that I think will be good post-partum. It’s also fine to continue wearing maternity clothes if they are what feels best!
AnonIVF says
I have this dress in 5 colors. Super, super comfortable. I inherited one as a maternity dress, bought two more and wore all three during my pregnancy, and then bought 2 more for post-partum and have been wearing all five on a steady rotation. If you are breastfeeding, they’re perfect! If you aren’t, they’re still super comfortable and flattering. They looked good when I was pregnant, they look good now at 6 months postpartum (when, for me, baby weight is now gone), and they looked good in between when I still had a visibly bigger post-partum tummy because I DGAF if people can see my post-partum tummy because I just birthed a child and they can suck it. I seriously cannot recommend this dress enough. Machine wash and dry.
https://www.motherhood.com/collections/maternity-maxi-dresses/products/maternity-maxi-dress-006-96056-000-001?variant=33931322622088
https://www.buybuybaby.com/store/product/motherhood-maternity-reg-surplice-wrap-maternity-maxi-dress/5384382?skuId=46259851&mrkgcl=611&mrkgadid=&mcid=PS_googlepla_nonbrand_homedecor_online&product_id=46259851&product_channel=online&adtype=pla&enginename=google&adpos=&creative=263203197341&device=c&matchtype=&network=g&utm_campaignid=71700000040071064&utm_adgroupid=58700004311865890&targetid=92700036057907924&product_id=46259851&product_channel=online&adtype=pla&enginename=google&adpos=&creative=263203197341&device=c&matchtype=&network=g&gclid=Cj0KCQjw1PSDBhDbARIsAPeTqre9yd5F2EHnsai_6WP7xnofOyUb88tCP117nSuhaS5tZLMGeS5zkaEaAnkYEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds&wmSkipPwa=1
Anon says
Buy higher quality leggings. They shouldn’t have holes or be sliding down within any reasonable amount of time.
Postpartum, buy clothes in letter sizes and not number sizes. (I wish someone had told me this.) Number size clothes can be extremely sensitive to weight changes: 5-10 pounds later, they won’t fit properly. Letter size clothing is meant to encompass two number sizes (e.g., Medium might be 6-8), so if you’re an 8 now and trying to get back to a 6, it will work at either size.
For future reference, buy Ingrid & Isabel clothing during pregnancy; much of it is intended to work postpartum.
AnonATL says
I bought 2 pairs of cheap jeans from old navy in a size up from my usual. I also pretty much lived in loose-fit tshirts and still do. Grubby grabby baby hands stretch out everything.
TheElms says
From experience this only gets worse when grubby grabby baby hands turn into toddler hands! I almost feel like it was easier for me to wear “nice” clothes from 6-12 months than it has been from 12-24 months!
AnonATL says
I do not understand how people wear light colors. It seems like every top right now is white or beige which doesn’t work with my clumsiness + kid.
Anonymous says
I’d buy some high-waisted non-maternity leggings in whatever size fits. The high waist will hold everything in. If you can splurge, Lululemon’s Align leggings are amazingly comfortable.
Buy new underwear in the correct non-maternity size. It will make you feel so much more put together even if all your outer clothing is the same.
Anonymous says
I’m exactly here right now–commiseration! Changing seasons makes it even more fun. I’d have more options if I stopped nursing, but antibodies. I recently bought some larger underwear and have also been liking the basic button-down from ADAY, which pairs well with leggings but looks put-together for Zoom. I might buy another one?
GCA says
Oof, this is tricky because if your postpartum body behaves the way mine did, you’ll go through a phase of maternity clothes being too big, pre-pregnancy clothes being too small, sizing up in regular clothes only works for another month, and then you settle into a completely different shape from your pre-baby self. Not to mention wrestling with seasons…! I would go with things that are nice and forgiving. I wore a mix of elastic waist joggers/ leggings, very stretchy Lularoe pencil skirts (they’re not all hopelessly garish, but neither am I the most stylish person on the planet :)) and inexpensive H&M nursing dresses. Also, new underwear that fits.
Nursing tops says
What are your favorite nursing tops these days? I am LARGE chested (comically so these days) and need both short sleeve/tank and long sleeve options I can wear to daycare drop off and the playground. Thank you!!!
Deep End says
I lived in the banana republic threadsoft wrap top (long sleeve) and wrap effect top (sleeveless). Both are super soft and easy to pull down for nursing and covered my very large chest. I ordered each in several colors and called it a day. I stopped breastfeeding in February and still wear them, though less so as I can finally wear some of my prior wardrobe now.
Anon says
++ a million to the threadsoft wrap top! I bought it in multiple colors and have been wearing them to death. I actually like them so much that I bought a stockpile when they went on supersale and will save for subsequent pregnancies (for postpartum – they won’t work for maternity wear).
Anne says
I much preferred the cami/regular top method where you just lifted the regular top to nurse but were still largely covered by the cami. I bought all my camis for like $2 at forever 21.
Anonymous says
This except I used a nursing cami with a built-in br@ and clips.
Pogo says
+1 I like to wear a nursing cami + something like the GapFit Breathe Hi-Lo T-Shirt which is easy to lift/slide over baby’s head.
No Face says
I did this, but with the undercover mama camis that lack straps but connect to nursing bras. I still use them with my regular bras when I’m concerned about cleavage.
Anon says
Agree, I wore regular shirts with regular tank tops from target or wherever that i pulled down.
DLC says
75% of my nursing wardrobe (and honestly, post nursing too…) was a supportive nursing tank with a Gapfit tie back top – the top came in long sleeve, tank top, and short sleeve options. (the other 25% was a linen shirt dress from Uniqlo) . The tie back allowed me to cinch the top at the waist for a more fitted look, but then it was really easy to untie and nurse. It was kind of like wearing a shirt that transformed into a nursing cover :).
It looks like they don’t make the long sleeve version any more, unfortunately.
https://www.gap.com/browse/product.do?pid=6369254224002&vid=3&tid=gppl000001&kwid=1&ap=7&gclid=Cj0KCQjw1PSDBhDbARIsAPeTqreuvIT2fa2qRi7rtkjwZ6Kua9Y3JHOhANSPM-pllIFSmK5wRFHzeu4aAs6sEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds#pdp-page-content
Old Navy also makes a version:
https://oldnavy.gap.com/browse/product.do?pid=6689790524002&pcid=999&vid=3&searchText=tie+back#pdp-page-content
Athleta and Lululemon makes a version too, but at a higher price point.
Patty Mayonnaise says
Silly name, but I loved Glamourmom long nursing tanks – they’re really high quality and the “full bust” option gave me a decent amount of support.
EDAnon says
I thought you all would get a kick out of this. My 2yo was singing the Daniel Tiger song “It’s okay to feel angry” but mixed up the words. Instead of
“Stop stop stop it’s okay to feel angry, it’s not not not okay to hurt someone” he would sing “It’s okay to hurt someone.”
I cannot stop laughing about it.
anon says
I love it! To be fair, I frequently make up the full song for DT because I can’t remember all those jingles!
My son loves playing guitar and listening to music with his dad, leading to him singing some hilarious lyrics for a 3yo, including “Old man take a look at my life…..” and “My life is pretty plain. I like watching puddles gather raiiinnn” and “I hate your friends and they hate me tooooooo.” Whoops??
Anonymous says
To be fair, my 3 year old DOES like watching puddles gather rain.
Vacation says
Any recs on a vacation spot like Atlantis? So with built in funtainment for kids. Mine love sea creatures (also animals in general) and so would love Atlantis’s offerings but that’s the only resort we have found that would work for us as well as the kids so far and there have to be similar offerings right? It has to be south of the Mason Dixon for the weather we are looking at and not Disney.
Anonymous says
We considered attending a sports tournament at Atlantis, and the more I investigated the less appealing it seemed. For one thing, the food is insanely expensive. If you really want a self-contained resort-type experience with entertainment for kids, I’d look into a Disney cruise. I know you said no Disney, but the cruises are much more fun and less … Disney … than Disney World. Super clean, surprisingly decent food, plenty of fun things to do, top-notch service, none of the planning and strategizing that Disney World requires. I am anti-cruise and my husband is anti-Disney, and we both enjoyed our Disney cruise so much that I think we will do another one in a couple years.
SC says
How old are your kids? A friend of mine enjoyed Hotel Xcaret in Mexico with her extended family (in 2019), but it seems geared to slightly older kids (at least 6, but maybe 8 would be better).
Anon Lawyer says
I’ve heard good things about Hotel Xcaret as well.