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Updated: Nov 1, 2018 56 Comments · by

Maternity Monday: Amalfi Blazer

Maternity· Recent Recs

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Isabella Oliver Amalfi Maternity Blazer | CorporetteMomsThere are some great sales going on at Isabella Oliver maternity, including this fun blazer in a nice ash gray. Wear it with with black, navy, or colorful trousers as a separate, or make a suit with the matching ankle pant. The blazer was $305, but is now marked to $91 — with lots of sizes left. Other favorites from the sale: this lovely blue blazer, this long cardigan (admittedly, described as a “car coat”), this $50 pencil skirt, and kind of all of the dresses. Isabella Oliver Amalfi Maternity Blazer (L-all) Building a maternity wardrobe for work? Check out our page with more suggestions along both classic and trendy/seasonal lines.

Sales of note for 9.10.24

(See all of the latest workwear sales at Corporette!)

Kid/Family Sales

  • Carter’s – Birthday sale, 40-50% off & extra 20% off select styles
  • Hanna Andersson – Up to 50% off all baby; up to 40% off all Halloween
  • J.Crew Crewcuts – Extra 30% off sale styles
  • Old Navy – 40% off everything
  • Target – BOGO 25% off select haircare, up to 25% off floor care items; up to 30% off indoor furniture up to 20% off TVs

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Comments

  1. Anon says

    can anyone speak to the fit of this brand? I’m on the 14 side of 12-13 these days and I would love this suit, but don’t want to mess with shipping and returns if it will be too tight.

    • IO fit says

      I was a size 4-6 before pregnancy, jumped up to a 10 or so in the first few weeks (36DD) and wear a size 4. I still find the sleeves and chest to be a bit tighter than I would like for the couple of dresses I’ve gotten.

    • layered bob says

      I was a standard 12 before pregnancy, and all my Isabella Oliver clothes are their size 5 – but I had to return quite a few things, including this jacket, for being too big in a size 5. I did find several things that fit very well later in my pregnancy, but I would say if you are 14ish a 5 would probably work great.

  2. DCQ says

    OT, but I’m getting stuff ready for my hospital bag and want to have a nursing tank or two. What are people’s favorites? I’m a little worried about just having a shelf bra in them, so experiences would be great!

    • Sfg says

      I started off with the Target ones. I should get a couple of more supportive ones (Bravado and Glamourmom are the most common recos I see), but I’m lazy.

    • KJ says

      I liked the ones I got from Pea in the Pod and Motherhood Maternity. I need the kind with adjustable straps because I’m pretty short and need to shorten the straps to avoid major cleavage. I would not have wanted to wear anything more constricting than a shelf bra those first few weeks, so that wasn’t an issue for me. I did ruin a couple with Lansinoh stains, though, so watch out for that.

    • JEB says

      I actually got a few at Sears of all places. I can’t recall the brand name, but maybe look on the Sears website. I wasn’t sure whether I’d like nursing tanks, since I’ve never had any luck with shelf bras, so I didn’t want to spend a lot of money. The Sears version was inexpensive, soft, and relatively supportive (I wasn’t expecting much, given the size and weight of my bust, especially post-birth). I wore them in the hospital and at home during the first few weeks, and they were fine. I probably wouldn’t have left the house in them.

    • anne-on says

      I personally preferred button front pajama tops with a regular nursing bra with the flap. The hospital was cold, and having my back and arms covered up helped, plus I felt a bit less exposed when the nurse/orderlies/etc. all inevitably walked in/out as I tried to get the baby to latch.

      • Meg Murry says

        I was the opposite – I thought our hospital was roasting compared to the temperatures we kept at home, and sent my husband home to get me shorts, capri pants and flip flops. I did wear an open button front shirt or bathrobe over the nursing top though sometimes, as it wasn’t quite warm enough for tank tops only. My kids were fall and spring babies though so the heat was on – I could see the hospital feeling too cold with summer air conditioning levels.

        I used Target’s cheapest tanks at first, then moved up to their Bravado branded tanks (which are cheaper and not quite as nice as the Bravado ones not at Target, but still pretty good for the money).

        • Tunnel says

          Ditto. I felt the hospital was unbearably hot, and from what I understand night sweats are common. I was also happy with my target nursing cami. It was supportive and covering enough for my d-cup bewbs, and I think it had a little shaping to it.

    • Anonymous says

      I found that the easiest thing right after birth was just a regular tank top and a very stretchy cotton sports bra type bralette. You can just push it down or pull it up to nurse. Or honestly, just no top, while we were still in the hospital.

      • Momata says

        Same here – I just hung out (ha) in a hospital gown until it was time to go home. At home, I loved the simple Target Gilligan & O’Malley sports bra nursing bra that just pull to the side. I wore those underneath a Target Gilligan & O’Malley nursing tank, and the double shelf was enough support for me (34D while nursing). No clips to deal with and I liked just being able to pull one side out without having to really even deal with my shirt or bra.

      • MomAnon4This says

        Similarly, you might be able to buy one in the hospital, or a lactation consultant might be selling some.
        No reason to buy one now for the hospital.

    • Preemie Mom says

      I liked the Bravo Basics nursing bra from target plus the undercover mama nursing tank – I hate shelf bras, and everything else I saw had one of those.

    • Anonymous says

      I’ve been using the Target nursing tanks for almost 2 years at this point. I wear one every day. Caveat that I am not well-endowed, so I don’t need too much support.

    • Anonymous says

      I use and love the bravado nursing tanks. Being able to get something in 32DD vs just small/medium/large type sizing made a huge difference in comfort for me. They can compress a bit though in the beginning when your milk first comes in and there is some engorgement so for the hospital I would just use a nursing sleep type bra and a robe or loose tank top depending on how warm or cold your room is.

      • Meg Murry says

        Oh yes, I forgot about this – the bravado tanks come in actual bra sizing so they fit way better than the normal shelf bra tanks. But they are pricy, and you won’t know exactly what size you’ll need until you stabilize a little. Although since they are still shelf-bra-esq (no wires or molded cups) you could probably go up a size or two from your pregnancy size and not be tooo far off.

      • Anon in NYC says

        Yes – be very wary of compression in the beginning! I wore one at the beginning when my milk first came in and it was painful.

    • Anonymous says

      Bravado! I’m a 32F/G, so it’s the only one that works – but I like them anyway. I’ve worn them through engorgement without issue. I recommend planning on 1-2 cup sizes bigger than your pregnancy cup size.

      I have one from Kohl’s (house brand, I think) that’s comfy and soft. Not supportive, but nicer than the other non-supportive ones I’ve had.

  3. JEB says

    Does anyone have a baby who is completely indifferent to solids? My daughter is 8 months, and she couldn’t care less about solid food. We started her with fruits and veggies at 6 months (bananas, sweet potatoes, green beans, apples, pears, and avocado so far). Other than a few bites here and there, she has no interest in solids. We’ve tried purees on a spoon, purees and chunks in the mesh and silicone feeders, and small pieces for her to feed herself. She seems slightly more interested in feeding the chunks to herself, but mostly she just plays with them. With the spoon and mesh feeders, she turns her head and clamps her mouth closed. Daycare tries as well without much success. They had a little luck with rice cereal, which I was previously avoiding since I read it was basically empty calories (no real reason other than that).

    Her pediatrician said not to worry yet but to keep trying. Any suggestions or creative ideas?

    • PhillyAnon says

      Oh, that is rough. My son was like that until very late – we started solids just before 6 months and he would have nothing. to. do. with them. The only thing he would sort of eat at that age was greek yogurt, and he was happy to gnaw on bread or chunks of peach. So maybe try yogurt? Once he got closer to a year he would eat a few finger foods like waffles, grilled cheese and pizza (I know, I know), so keep trying with the finger foods, because as they develop that can click even for the persnickety. My only other advice would be not to relax and not push too hard, even if it is easier said than done. We really pushed solids hard and turned mealtimes into these stupid power struggles because he wasn’t sleeping well and was slipping down the weight percentiles as he got towards 12 months, and the more we pushed the less he would eat. The only thing that worked was backing off, offering but not insisting and ignoring him while he ate, and waiting for him to get older. Letting him help cook has helped too, but obviously won’t work at 8 months. Apparently some kids really just don’t care that much about food and there is nothing you can do to change that. As someone who considers mealtimes highlights of the day, I still struggle to understand that (how can he leave half a pudding cup uneaten or turn down meals on a regular basis? how?!), but that is part of their individuality. At nearly 3 he is still a wildly erratic eater, just plain not food-motivated if it isn’t chocolate, and very, very skinny but that doesn’t stop him from being active, energetic and bizarrely enough very into cooking.

      Tldr – Don’t worry about it, don’t show her that you are stressed, don’t let it become a power struggle, remember that she will not starve herself, and that some kids are just never going to be all that into food but they do ultimately learn to eat it. Oh, and my second vacuums up anything that comes her way, so there is hope for any subsequent kids ;-)

    • Meg Murry says

      Will she eat toast or crackers yet? She might be a little bit young for it now, but my son really preferred to self feed, so once he started rejecting being spoon fed we spread all the purees (sometimes thickened up with rice cereal or baby oatmeal or pureed cooked homemade rice) onto toast or crackers. I think that was closer to the 1 year mark though.

      The advice I’ve seen though is “food before 1 is just for fun” – it’s fine if most of her calories are still coming from bmilk or formula. Do you eat dinner at a time she is awake? I’d suggest just sitting her in her high chair next to the table when you eat, and give her a banana, avocado or similar – even better if you also eat one yourself. Same with daycare – you can ask at what point she might sit at a table with other bigger kids. I’ve found that my kids do far better by imitating me or other kids than just on their own in a seat having purees pushed at them.

      • JEB says

        I haven’t tried toast or crackers. Daycare tried some sort of teething cracker, which she apparently ate. I was trying to avoid carbs until she developed a taste for veggies and fruit, but maybe that’s ridiculous. I like your idea of spreading purees onto toast. I hadn’t considered that as an option, so I think I’ll give that a try. Since she seems a little more willing to feed herself, maybe she’ll be interested in that. I think that’s also good advice to try to involve her in our dinner. We’ve admittedly been lazy about this, just letting her play while we eat.

        Thanks so much for the suggestions!

    • Anonymous says

      My son had very little interest in solid food until 9 months, when he all of a sudden started eating everything. I think he did prefer to self feed once he became competent (at 9 months).

    • Samantha says

      To add to what everybody else said, just keep modeling eating all the time. Take every chance you get to eat stuff in front of her and sit her on her high chair with you at mealtimes even if she isn’t eating anything. She may end up grabbing something from your plate!

    • Lorelai Gilmore says

      I thought my baby hated solid foods. Then my mother in law showed up for a week at my house, made pot roast and veggies, and the baby ate his body weight in pot roast and gravy. Turns out he was fine with solids; he just didn’t like what we were giving him :) My recommendation is to give up on the baby food and instead, put baby in a high chair with you and give her some of the same things you are eating.

      • MomAnon4This says

        + 1 million
        No one likes pureed baby food – not even babies.
        Just give finger-sized (your finger size!) pieces of regular food and let her play with it and gum it and don’t monitor. Just let her experiment and eat and see what she likes & eats!

    • K. says

      Take with with a grain of salt, because overall, my daughter loved solids from the get-go and has eaten almost everything with gusto. BUT… she really prefers things seasoned. I try to avoid salt and instead use herbs. To give you one example, we made regular butternut squash just boiled and she didn’t even touch it, so I tried making with with browned butter and sage and she just loved it (I know…a budding food snob–honestly, I was just trying to figure out something that worked without salt). Granulated garlic goes on almost everything. She also prefers roasted vegetables to boiled. Meat is her absolute favorite, especially steak (which she ate before she had teeth, just cut into really small pieces) and hamburger. We did baby-led weaning without any purees and she loved it.

      I’m saying all that basically to say that maybe your child prefers stronger flavors to more bland? But, I also know that some kids just don’t express interest in solids for a while and that is completely normal too.

  4. Pigpen's Mama says

    Recommendations for a long weekend with an almost toddler that’s a 3-4 hour drive from DC? I’m looking at a few of the resort areas with nice pools, since we all like being in the water, but the beach sounds like a nightmare with a little one.

    Any thoughts on The Homestead, Salamander, Cambridge MD, or Hershey? Or are all those places non-baby friendly? She’s pretty easy going, but is still an almost-one-year-old.

    Thanks!

    • Preemie Mom says

      Kingsmill in Williamsburg was just about the right speed for our 12-month-old niece a couple summers ago. They have a fairly new pool area with a lazy river and a walk-in pool (so like the beach but with no sand). Rooms were nice and had a kitchenette. Also lots of nice walking trails (and biking? we didn’t rent bikes but I recall wishing we brought ours).

      • Pigpen's Mama says

        Thanks! Bonus of being able to drag her to Williamsburg before she can complain about how boring it is and how much better the roller coasters would be at Busch Gardens!

  5. rakma says

    I am sitting here at work this Monday morning completely apathetic about work. It’s a great job, I’ve got the flexibility I need, and it has been intellectually challenging in the past, though now there’s a lot of routine mindless work to be done.
    I’ve got a application out for another position, but I’m not enthusiastic about that either. It’s a step up, but in a very different environment, and I’m not sure that giving up the flexibility is my best option right now.
    On top of this, DH and I have been undecided about trying for a second baby. On the one hand, timing on paper seems great. On the other hand, man babies are so much work.
    Part of me wants to change up everything–new baby! new job! new me! The sane part of me says that changing everything isn’t the way to deal with mild boredom. Life is objectively good, just not the sort of interesting puzzle I’d like it to be.
    I’m not sure if I’m looking for advice or commiseration, so I’ll take either if you’ve got it.

    • PregAnon says

      No advice, but certainly commiseration! I’m 33.5 weeks pregnant, and my wonderful awesome in-house job has become a little bit…well, I won’t call it a nightmare, but the job is now annoying and boring. Our GC left and they moved 2 attorneys up into co-GC roles, and it has become a micromanagement nightmare. It’s still a great job when I’m allowed to do it, but, because I’m the “youngest” one in the department with “only” 9 years of experience, I get a lot of the micromanaging. I guess they’re trying to prove themselves or something.

      Add in that this new leadership isn’t really into “flexibility” with hours (unless it’s for them, then it’s all good), I’m just annoyed. I’m sure it will get better, but boy these last 5 weeks are going to be rough.

    • FVNC says

      Also no advice, but so much commiseration! Most days I genuinely like my job, in large part because of its flexibility. Today, though, I am completely uninspired and bored. I have a long to-do list (but nothing urgent/pressing) and am having such a hard time getting through even the easiest tasks.

      We’re also considering a second child in the next year, but after a particularly challenging weekend with our 22 month old, the thought of adding a totally helpless baby to the mix seems overwhelming. I still think I want a second child (and my husband definitely does), even though I know it will mean complete chaos since during the week I often single-parent, and a huge added expense since we’ll be leaving our LCOL area (and nearby grandparents…sob!) in a year or so. The completely rational choice would be to stop while we’re (not really but sort of) ahead, but for maybe the first time in my life ever, my irrational side is winning.

      • RDC says

        Right there with you too. I really struggle with whether I’m good in a boring but relatively flexible and stable job, or whether to look for something more challenging. It definitely makes daycare dropoff more difficult when I miss baby like crazy and have nothing interesting to distract me.

    • Samantha says

      I’ve been there! Just try a minor change (new haircut/hair color/hobby) and see if that scratches the itch for change? That will give you a breather to think through your options and not make a hurried decision just because.

      • Anonymous says

        The haircolor change has been on my mind, but the upkeep always keeps me away! It might be time for a chop though, I always feel more confident with shorter hair.

    • LLC says

      I feel like I could have written your post! I have an objectively great job: wonderful flexibility, great working environment, fairly low-stress, good salary…But I am SO. BORED. with it all and have also been keeping my eye out for new opportunities. The smart side of my brain says to stay put and enjoy the relative professional ease during these tough years of new parenthood, but I also just want the challenge and inspiration of something new and exciting. I wish I had advice to offer, but I don’t. It’s just nice to know I am not alone!

    • hoola hoopa says

      I’ve been there – and probably will be again a few more times in my life – although I don’t really have advice.

      I do agree with the ‘change something else’ plan of action. Maybe paint a room in your house? Take up a new hobby (esp something that you won’t have time for if you have another baby?) Plan a vacation? Go visit an OOT friend?

      Don’t randomly cut your hair in your bathroom. From personally experience (x2!), I can say that’s not the way to go.

  6. AIMS says

    So I think I finally need to buy maternity clothes for work. Dress code is on the formal side but I think I can get away with basic black wrap dresses and the like. I’d rather not spend too much on these especially as I have no idea how much bigger I’ll get (about 5 1/2 mos. now). What are your favorite sources?

    • JJ says

      Gap Maternity was where I got most of my work wardrobe. I liked the skinny black pants and the pencil skirts. In the summer, I was also able to make a lot of the dresses from Liz Lange for Target work with (non-maternity) open cardigans. I got one blazer from Motherhood Maternity and used that when I had to be in court.

    • Anon in NYC says

      I liked a Pea in the Pod/Destination Maternity for work clothes. If you go into the store they often have a decent sales rack and you can find brands like Isabella Oliver and Seraphina on there.

  7. (former) preg 3L says

    Oh wonderful and generous ladies of c-r3tt3. My daughter sleeps with her former aden & adais muslin swaddle blankets, even though she’s nearly 18 months. I obviously do not swaddle her, she just likes to hug the blankie when she sleeps. I had 3 — one for home, one for daycare, and one for emergencies. Her father recently decided to retain one, even though he only has the baby 4 nights per month. Rather than spending $50 to buy more, do any of you have an aden & anais muslin swaddle blankets that I could take off your hands? Happy to pay for the blanket and shipping to NYC. If you do, please post an anon email so I can reach out.

    TIA.

    • 3kids says

      The Target ones are cheaper and although smaller than the boutique version, are just as good IMO. I think they’re the same as the BRU ones.

    • JJ says

      Ugh. I think I literally just donated all of ours. But, if we still have them (and you’re interested in a blue-ish theme, since I had boys), I’ll drop you an email.

      My youngest son sleeps with the Aden & Anais loveys. They’re about 8 inches square of muslin and finished off with a satin edge. I don’t know if they’re cheaper than the actual blankets, but they are smaller and easier to take places.

    • OCAssociate says

      I might have a few – do you care about pattern/color? I’ll check tonight and get back to you.

    • OCAssociate says

      I found one – emailed you at the address I have for you. Otherwise feel free to email me at OCAssociate at the g mail.

      • (former) preg 3L says

        Thank you all! My daughter really likes the size of the larger blankets — she bunches them up and flops on top of them, so I don’t think the satin-edged one would work, but I’ll definitely check Target (if OC Associate and I don’t end up connecting!).

    • JJ says

      Yup! That’s exactly what I was referring to. My son loves the satin edge.

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