UKC

Hoping to get away walking and climbing this weekend for the first time in ages, and at 4.5 months pregnant, nothing fits! I have maternity leggings but they are cotton.
Anyone know of any shops in the Lakes that will sell maternity walking trousers? Hubby's are too baggy and long, and I can't find anything online in the UK

Thanks xx
C x

In reply to Caralynh:

Congratulations Caralyn! I wish I had an answer for you. I ended up walking everywhere in some mothercare overbump trousers which were rubbish and started falling to bits after a few washes. But I got so sick of all the money I was having to spend on clothes which would only be useful for a few months that I carried on wearing them and looked a mess.

I bought some elastic waist extenders for my normal trousers and they got me through to about 6 months though you need to wear a long top over them as the zip is undone. All in all not my most stylish period.

In reply to Alyson:
Thanks Alyson
I've found some acceptable combat type things online in Mothercare so ordered a pair, and will just have to cope with leggings this weekend. As you say, problem is needing a long top, and neither my nor hubby's baselayers are long enough. May just have to wear non outdoorsy clothes for now and hope they don't get too trashed. Also hope it doesn't rain since the chances of getting my overtrousers on are pretty much zero!

Getting rather disheartened with the whole thing tbh, yet they say I'm supposed to keep active!

In reply to Caralynh:

Yep, however inappropriately dressed you may be you'll be glad you stayed active further down the line! Politely ignore the people who keep telling you to take it easy - your body will let you know when to ease up.

It seems there are 2 activities catered for by maternity clothing - swimming and yoga! Beyond that you're on your own

In reply to Caralynh:

A friend just wore her paramo cascada trousers as even when correctly sized they seem to have plenty space (i.e. fit like a sack!). Possibly a bit warm for spring and summer though.

In reply to Caralynh:

Aware that I'm a man on a pregnancy thread but my wife used bump bands to turn her normal clothes into pregnancy clothes until almost d-day. You wear your usual trousers undone and then use the bump band to go over the top, looks like another top underneath the one you're already wearing and there's no sewing required!

It's basically a cotton, elasticated boob tube that sits on your hips.

She is small though, it might not work for you but they are cheap to try out.

In reply to Caralynh:
Congratulations Caralyn.
I bet he or she will be a right tiger

In reply to Caralynh:

Congrats ! I think my wife used either a fabric bump expander or similar- she wore some Craghopper alking trousers like that until quite late on in both pregnancies.

In reply to Caralynh:

Congratulations!

I'm afraid I never found any. But (un?)fortunately the older style, really stretchy Ron Hills fitted right up to full term in a size larger than normal....

For the summer, I found a pair of Columbia crop trousers with an elasticated drawcord waist that were OK in a larger than normal size.

In reply to Caralynh:

Thanks all . leggings and bump bands it is for now!

I've found a great company in the US called Mountain Mama, who do technical maternity outdoor clothing. No good for this weekend, but Jez has a meeting over there in 2 weeks, so I'm going to order some stuff and get it sent to his client's place.
Can't help thinking the niche retailers here (Epicentre, Needlesports, Joe Browns) are missing a trick! Wonder if any will offer to distribute Mountain Mama gear in the UK in future?

In reply to Caralynh:

I did actually write to Mountain Mama to see if they would consider distributing to the UK - no reply. Also emailed a few of the UK outdoor brands to see if such a range was on their radar, but no joy - perceived to be too small a market. I reckon it would be good though - niche, yes, but you just need a couple of the basic items and no need to re-vamp them every year, just simple and adequate for the job. Good luck and let us know if you find anything

In reply to Caralynh:

Yes, given the number of people who ask about full body harnesses, you'd think there'd be some market for a pair of simple nylon walking trousers and a technical top of some sort...

No use yet - but a good find for me was "Hideaways" - a NZ company who make breastfeeding tops, including a merino wool range. Definitely a bonus not to have to expose too much flesh on a cold day

In reply to Caralynh:

Keeping a close eye on this as i am 3.5 months pregnant, s far i am ok in my own softshells as they were pretty big anyway but worried about the next few month!
Also interested if anyone knows any pregnant outdoor instructors and how long they have carried on working for. Am doing fine at the moment just trying to plan ahead, hoping i can make it to 5 months at least without a huge bump!

In reply to peas65:

If it's your first I think it takes quite long for the bump to get big. Mine only started to really pop out in the fifth/sixth month.


To the op: I just wore stretchy Prana climbing trousers all the way through (my normal size) they seemed to be stretching and stretching and afterwards they even stretched back....was well worth the expense of I think 50 quid.

In reply to peas65:

Hi Peas, congratulations to you too! I'm coming up to the 5 month mark and have a definite bump now. I'm managing with work by just wearing bigger trousers, begged and stolen from colleagues.
I have had a small bit of success though, outdoors-wise. Mothercare online does some lightweight combats in grey or khaki for £20 so I ordered a pair to see what they are like. They arrived yesterday. Very comfy and should be good for summer. No water/wind resistance, and dubious resistance to wear and tear from rock, but for that price definitely worthwhile so will probably get a couple more pairs.