Favorite Things: The Undercover Mama Tank

Warning: Boob talk ahead!  

My friend Erin recently wrote a great post about breastfeeding in public.  I've shared a bit about my nursing journey with Riggins here, and I'm happy to say that nursing has once again worked out with Rhett.  Unfortunately, my veteran status did not exempt me from another round of painful adjustment in those first months, but once everything got all healed up we hit our stride and it has been smooth sailing ever since (I'll leave that trauma to your imagination, but my fellow nursing wounded are fist pumping me in solidarity right now...you know what I'm talkin' 'bout!).  

One product that has been such a help this time around has been the Undercover Mama tank top.  It sounds rather dramatic, but this little tank has quite literally changed my life when it comes to dressing my nursing body.  When a friend recommended them during my pregnancy, I knew this was the dream product that I would have loved with Riggins, and I immediately bought two!  

Here's the deal.  Nursing tanks are great, but they rarely provide enough support to wear alone if the girls are anything above a B or C cup.  Personally, my girls go to another planet when I'm nursing; my bra size sees letters of the alphabet that should never be printed on a lingerie tag.  If I were to wear a nursing tank alone for an entire year of nursing, my breasts would look like a native woman in National Geographic by the time it was all said and done.  A nursing bra is essential for me (I love the Body Silk Seamless and the Allure Underwire from Bravado).

But then you have another dilemma.  In order to nurse, you have to pull up your shirt, which leaves your postpartum tummy exposed even when you use a nursing cover.  Which means that you need a tank.  But you need access, so you need a nursing tank.  Then you're wearing a nursing bra under a nursing tank under a shirt and you have to get through each layer before you can feed your baby, which is just extremely awkward when trying to be nonchalant under a Hooter Hider.   

Enter the Undercover Mama.  This strapless tank top has two tiny hooks that attach to any nursing bra, which means that when feeding time comes, all you have to do is detach your nursing bra flap as usual, and the tank top comes along for the ride (in the photo above, the black straps are bra straps).  One easy movement!  And then, your tummy is still covered by the super stretchy, soft, long tank top itself.  You get the support of a bra, the cleavage and torso coverage of a tank, and the ability to wear any shirt you want on top without worrying about access.  If you can pull it up or unbutton it, you can feed your baby without performing gymnastics! 

This tank has been such a lifesaver for me.  I have one in cream and one in white, and I wear them all the time.  They fit snuggly, which is also handy for smoothing out that postpartum lumpiness under your clothes, and they are nice and long.  They also wash and dry beautifully.  

Nursing Rhett has been so easy thanks to these tanks, which is a blessing considering that in many ways it is more difficult to nurse a second child when his older sibling is running amuck.  But this tank simplifies the process and makes me more willing to give the baby a quick feeding on the go, whereas with Riggins I was much more likely to take a pumped bottle along when out in public.   

So go get an Undercover Mama or two.  Or four.  Or just get seven, one for each day of the week!  They come in a beautiful array of colors, but I have found that the white and the cream work for me under just about any outfit.  Undercover Mama has no idea I'm writing this post, so this is not a paid endorsement, but if they find it and want to send me some freebies I won't complain! ;)