Living in the PNW, I was anxious about breastfeeding in winter. We keep our thermostat at 68 degrees F inside the house, but I still wear thick sweaters to feel comfortably warm. Last winter, when we had our first snow in NOVEMBER, I was wearing Uniqlo heat tech underclothes for at least five months straight. This year we are experiencing a #Snowmageddon in February! I personally found it difficult to give Baby easy access for nursing while wearing multiple layers, and I just don’t prefer the lift-up-your-shirt style of nursing. Being a petite mom, I found that most clothes advertised as nursing tops just didn’t fit me quite right either…
So after MUCH internet surfing, sleuthing, googling, and shopping, here is my roundup of favorite nursing friendly tops for cold weather.
1. The wrap sweater
These are my absolute favorite tops for nursing in winter. I have three and I wear them daily, when I don’t need to dress professionally. Luckily, these seem to be the latest fashion trend as well, so they’re pretty easy to find. I found mine at Nordstrom and Old Navy. Both of them are out of stock now, but I believe other wrap sweater styles are still being sold at Nordstrom. I wear them over a soft bralette that I can just pull out of the way when Baby needs to eat.
If you buy these, make sure you get a real wrap and not a faux wrap or a sewn wrap top, otherwise you won’t be able to actually open the front.
2. The front zip sweater
This was a close runner up for favorite top this winter. It’s warm, comfortable, and the zipper in the front makes it SUPER EASY to breastfeed. The only thing is, this style of sweater was ridiculously difficult to find. I had a lot more luck finding zip front tops that were better for warmer weather. In terms of sweaters and pullovers, there are a lot of quarter zip styles out there, but I find that they don’t zip down far enough. I bought this sweater from an Australian online shop, Moolk, and I LOVE IT. Moolk is a shop specifically for breastfeeding moms and sells nursing friendly clothes by type of top opening! Unfortunately, Australia and the US have opposite winters, so if you’re looking to buy this top, you might want to check out their store in our summer, June-August.
Alternatively, I’ve seen a half zip fleece sweater at J. Crew. I haven’t tried it out yet; it’s currently on sale but out of stock in my preferred color.
3. The button down
This one is pretty self explanatory. The great thing about button down shirts and dresses is that you probably already own some. My favorite, however, happens to be a v-neck thermal that I found at Nordstrom. It’s pretty warm, super soft, and because of the neckline, I only need to unbutton the top one or two buttons to nurse. Easy peasy.
4. The side button sweater
I feel like this is a new style that I saw more this winter: sweaters with buttons down the side. Even though I don’t typically like lifting up my tops to nurse, the buttons on the side make it easier to just lift the front portion and not have to hold up my entire sweater. Some of the styles I bought, I ended up returning because the buttons were not very functional and obviously more for decoration, but I really liked this one I got from Nordstrom.
That’s it! I know both nursing styles and fashion are extremely personal preferences, but I hope this is helpful in some way.