A message from my inbox, which I could have written myself: “I’m constantly leaking or covered in spit-up, so what’s the point of trying?” The point is that most of the daily dilemmas have a two-minute fix, and once they are fixed the trying stops being effort. These are the eight that came up most across three babies and a lot of kitchen-table conversations with other mamas: the layer, the dress, the stain, the bench, the waistband, the necklace a baby pulls, the bra and the spare top.

Each one has the dilemma, the hack and how to do it. None of them needs a nursing-wear shop. Most of them are already in the house.

1. Layering for a quick, private feed

The dilemma: every top either comes off over your head or shows everything when you lift it. The hack: a clip-down nursing tank under a button-up shirt. How to do it: shirt open or three buttons down, tank clipped with one hand, feed; the shirt is the cover at the sides, the tank covers everything above the baby, and nothing has come off. The combination in the picture, tank plus shirt plus jeans, is the most-worn outfit in my closet three babies running.

2. Dresses with a way in

The dilemma: a dress is one decision instead of two, but most of them have no way in. The hack: wrap dresses and front-button dresses, over a nursing bra. How to do it: the wrap unties, the buttons open from the top, and a midi length means you can sit and feed without thinking about your knees. The tie fits at six weeks and at six months. Ten nursing-friendly outfits from one wrap dress is the dress doing a fortnight.

3. Milk stains and spit-up

The dilemma: the mark arrives ten minutes before you leave the house. The hack: a stain pen in the bag, and patterns and dark colours near the chest in the leaking weeks. How to do it: small prints on a dark ground, navy, espresso, forest green; keep pale grey away from the chest; put the dark tank under the pale top so the tank takes the mark. Clothing hacks for milk leakage is the full list.

From my inbox to yours

You Matter Too.

Postpartum style, nursing-friendly outfit ideas, and mama-to-mama honesty — straight to your inbox every Sunday morning. No noise. No pressure. Just something soft to open with your coffee.

Send me the letter

Signed with love,
— Nenncha

Unsubscribe anytime. No spam, ever. Just letters.

From the capsules

The Everyday Motion Capsule

One hundred athleisure outfits for the walk, the school run and the park, every one opening for a feed. $27 once, yours to keep.

See the capsule →

4. Feeding in public

The dilemma: the bench, the cafe, the in-laws’ sofa. The hack: a cover that does not look like a cover. How to do it: a large soft scarf, a poncho, or an infinity scarf that doubles as a nursing cover, over the shoulder as you feed; with the tank-and-shirt layer underneath you may not need it at all. Practise once at home in front of a mirror and the bench stops being frightening. The scarf is also the blanket in the car and the colour near your face.

5. The postpartum body and the waistband

The dilemma: nothing sits right on a middle that is healing and changing. The hack: high-waisted, soft-waisted bottoms with a tunic or a wrap top over them. How to do it: wide trousers with an elastic back, leggings that sit above the scar, a drawstring short, in the size you are this month; then a wrap top or a long tunic that covers the waistband and opens or lifts for a feed. The jeans from before go in the box with the date on it.

6. Accessories a baby cannot pull

The dilemma: the necklace in a small fist, the earring in a small mouth. The hack: use accessories that elevate the basic top but survive a baby. How to do it: a short pendant that sits above the collarbone, studs or small hoops rather than drops, a silk scarf, a watch. A statement necklace over a plain cami is a lovely picture and a dangerous Tuesday; save it for the evening the baby is with someone else.

7. The nursing bra dilemma

The dilemma: the bra digs, the clips take two hands, the pad will not sit flat. The hack: fit it at the end of the day, when you are fullest. How to do it: wireless and soft for the first weeks, then one with more structure for the days out, clips you can open one-handed, cups with room for a pad; buy the second only after a week in the first. A bra that fits is the difference between a top that hangs right and a top you keep tugging at.

8. Quick outfit changes, and the spare in the bag

The dilemma: the whole outfit is wet and you are forty minutes from home. The hack: a spare nursing top in the changing bag, always. How to do it: a folded tee or a second tank in the bag, the car and the pram basket, with a muslin in the same pocket. The day you need it you will be glad; the day you do not it weighs nothing. And dress in layers that change one at a time, so a wet top is a wet top and not a wet outfit.

Eight dilemmas, eight fixes, and not one of them needed a nursing-wear shop. That was the surprise of the first year: the problems were real and the fixes were mostly already in the house, a tank, a shirt, a scarf, a spare top. Once they were in place the daily getting dressed stopped being a small defeat and became four minutes I had chosen.

Every piece in these hacks is one of the ordinary shapes in the Everyday Motion Capsule, a hundred outfits for the walk, the school run and the park, every one opening for a feed, laid out and then worn, with three pictures of you in them on the house. For the whole year, the Year Round Capsule is two hundred of them. And if you want someone who knows your closet to apply the hacks for you each morning, that is Anah inside the Atelier.

Tank, shirt, scarf, spare. The focus is on you, mama.