Wherein we keep abreast of nursing fashion and literature
Wednesday, August 02, 2006

Although we support breastfeeding each and every day on a personal level (and lest we forget to support the breasts themselves, we also regularly recommend good-looking nursing bras!), Mamakaze would be remiss if we didn’t mention “the womanly art” on our site at least once during World Breastfeeding Week, which began yesterday. While we would like to point out right now that there’s nothing at all wrong with bottle-feeding, we applaud mamas who are able to put up with cracked nipples, mastitis, ill-timed leakage and all the many other joys of giving one’s baby the very best.

Before Totakaze’s recent decision to drink exclusively from her Nuby sippy cup ended our days as a nursing mama (for the next five months, anyway!), one of our biggest breastfeeding challenges after aforementioned cracking and painful swelling was finding nursing tops that didn’t, well, look like nursing tops. We’re no shrinking violet, but neither do we want to draw attention to our lactational status with bulky, oddly placed seams or obvious zippers. We don’t think it’s that difficult to design tops that are both fashionable and functional, and luckily, we’re always able to find a few that look just like something we might wear if we weren’t in charge of the care and feeding of a ravenous barracuda.

We love love love the beautifully-cut nursing clothing at Motherwear, and their Safari Wrap nursing tank ($19 marked down from $32, Motherwear.com) is no exception. Like most of their nursing garments — and unlike so very many others — the top nips in at the waist to flatter your figure, whether you’ve just given birth or lost all the baby weight and then some. The neckline pulls aside to reveal discreet nursing openings on either side.

To take nursing mamas from summer to fall, here are a few more attractive tops we’ve unearthed in our quest for a fashionable breastfeeding experience.

Nursing Babydoll Cami $24.98, Motherhood

Kimono Sleeve Nursing Top $24.98, Motherhood

Nursing Tee With Faux Shrug $58, Mimi Maternity

Ruched Nursing Top $48, Mimi Maternity

And for a lighthearted, realistic look at breastfeeding, what better way to spend World Breastfeeding Week than reading “Spilled Milk” by Andy Steiner? “Spilled Milk” is a collection of witty, honest nursing tales and a realistic look at the benefits and, shall we say, letdowns of breastfeeding. The hilarious read tells it like it really is and examines the social complexities of whipping out one’s girls in public when one isn’t necessarily drunk enough to want to show them off.

“Spilled Milk” cuts through all the guilt and embarrassment and discomfort that go along with breastfeeding (or not breastfeeding, since motherhood is cleverly designed to be guilt-inducing no matter what decisions we make!) and provides good advice and great laughs.

Whether it’s floating around in pretty clothes or flipping through pages, however you celebrate this week, do it with pride! Breastfeeding, however natural it may be, isn’t easy and Mamakaze salutes all those mamas with nerves of steel who toughed it out through engorgement, cracking, indentured servitude and beyond!