by Priscilla Benfield

Created on: January 22, 2012

Your pregnancy is over and you are beginning your new life as a mom. You are probably tired and not giving a lot of thought to how you are dressing your post-baby body. You may be tempted to get some more use out of the clothing you wore near the end of your pregnancy. Bad idea! Even if you are breast-feeding your new baby there are better choices than pregnancy clothing. You may wind up looking frumpy. Here are some tips for dressing your post-baby body.

There is a fine line between comfort and sloppy.

Your sleep patterns will be off the first several weeks of your newborn's life. It may be tempting to stay in pajama pants since you won't be leaving the house much anyway. Wrong answer! Choose yoga pants instead that look a bit more polished than sleepwear. Depending on the season, dress casually and comfortably but make sure that you look neat and not frumpy!

Support is important!

Breast-feeding or not you still should make sure to wear a good, supportive bra. Women who have had babies will notice sagging breasts as they get older but wearing a good fitting bra after baby comes will help. Again it can be tempting to be lazy because you are sleep-deprived but later on you will be glad you faithfully wore a bra.

Jelly belly

After baby comes, the first thing you may notice is your jelly belly. A secret that Hollywood moms use is to always wear a supportive cami top to hold your abs in. This is a great idea because it will make you look better which will make you feel better about yourself. It also will help you to remember to do isometric exercises which will help you to get the tone back in your abs. If you had a C-section delivery you may be uncomfortable with any pressure on your abdomen. Talk to your doctor about what is safe. C-section incisions are usually low in the abdomen but the swelling could make wearing certain clothing uncomfortable. Listen to your body and your doctor's advice.

You are tired and it is so tempting to not care about how you look but just because you are a mom doesn't mean you shouldn't want to take pride in how you look. Yes you do have a baby to care for now but you still should take care of your own needs.

Embrace your curviness.

You just gave birth. Your post-baby body is curvier than it was pre-pregnancy. Embrace it. Those larger breasts that come with breast-feeding will leave once your baby is weaned. For now, play it up and dress your womanly body to show it off. Feel good about yourself. You may have some post-pregnancy pounds to shed but it took 9 months to gain it. Losing it is not going to happen overnight. For now, enjoy your figure and dress to make yourself feel good about you.

Enjoy these first few weeks as a new mom and don't compare your body to anyone else's post-baby body. You are unique.

Learn more about this author, Priscilla Benfield.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.