A friend said this to me as the clocks went back: “Nothing from my pre-pregnancy closet fits, and I don’t know what I’m supposed to wear now.” Add a season change on top of that and it can feel like starting from nothing four times a year. It is not. A breastfeeding wardrobe has a small core that works all year, and each season asks for three or four swaps around it. That is all. I have taken three babies through the whole calendar and the core has barely changed.

This guide is the calendar: what the core is, what to swap in and out each quarter, the layering that keeps a feed quick when it is cold, and which maternity pieces earn their place for another year. Nothing here needs buying in a hurry; most of it is in the loft in a box with the wrong season’s date on it.

The core that works all year

Two clip-down nursing tanks, one pale and one dark. Two wireless nursing bras. A button-down shirt in the size your chest is now. A wrap top. A fine cardigan that buttons. Dark jeans in this month’s size with a mid rise above the scar. White sneakers. A large soft scarf. Nine things that are in the January wardrobe and still in the July one, which is why they are the only pieces worth buying well. Everything else is a seasonal swap and can be cheap, borrowed or already in the drawer.

Spring: swap in the light layers

In: a denim jacket, a light trench that opens to the hem, a floral wrap dress, a pull-on midi skirt, linen trousers, ballet flats. Out: the heavy knits and the boots. The feeding trick for spring is the jacket worn open over the tank, so the layer stays on when the sun goes in. Spring Ready: ten fresh outfits for breastfeeding moms is the season pictured.

Summer: swap in the fabrics that breathe

In: linen shirts, soft shorts with a high waist, a wrap dress in jersey, a button-front maxi, flat sandals, a straw bag. Out: anything that needs a layer under it to be decent, because in July a layer is a decision you make once. The feeding trick for summer is the dark tank under a pale top; it is where the mark goes. The twelve-piece summer capsule is the whole season from twelve pieces.

From the capsules

The Year Round Capsule

Two hundred nursing-friendly outfits from fifty-six pieces, fifty for every season, laid out and then worn. $29 once, yours to keep.

See the capsule →

Fall: swap in the layers that open

In: a cardigan or two, a half-zip, a shirt dress with tights, ankle boots, a coat that opens fully. Out: the sandals and the thin tees. The feeding trick for fall is the cardigan buttoned to the middle and opened from the bottom, and the knit lifted from the hem over the tank; nothing comes off on a cold bench. Breastfeeding-friendly fall essentials and layering for fall are the season, worn.

Winter: swap in the warmth without the pullover

In: a fine turtleneck a size looser, a long coat that opens to the hem, a knit dress with a neckline that pulls down, thick tights, knee boots, the long scarf. Out: the crew necks that only work when it is mild enough to feed in a tank. The feeding trick for winter is the coat held open with one hand and the turtleneck lifted over the tank, so your neck and shoulders stay warm through the whole feed. The twelve-piece winter capsule is the cold months from twelve pieces.

Layering so the feed stays quick in the cold

Three layers, the feed in the middle. The tank against the skin, which stays clipped until the baby is on. The top or knit over it, which opens or lifts. The coat, cardigan or scarf over that, which stays on and becomes the cover. The mistake is a warm layer that has to come off; the fix is a warm layer that opens. A cardigan, a half-zip, a trench, a poncho. Never a pullover anorak.

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The maternity pieces worth keeping for another year

The stretch jersey dresses, because they wrap and they do not dig. The soft wide trousers with the fold-over waist. The wrap tops. The button-front shirts you bought big. Anything with a panel, a ruche or a tie that was there for the bump still works for the chest and the scar. Ten maternity pieces you can reuse postpartum says which ones and how.

And the bottoms: a nursing wardrobe is mostly about tops, so the bottoms can carry over from everything. Soft waists, mid rises, the size you are this month. Buy for now; the box with the old jeans can wait.

Four seasons, nine pieces that never change, and three or four swaps a quarter. The thing I want you to take from this is that the season change is not a new wardrobe; it is a trip to the loft and one afternoon. The core carried me through three babies and every month of the calendar, and it will be in the first thing I pack for the fourth season of this one.

If you want all four seasons already laid out, the Year Round Capsule is fifty-six pieces and two hundred outfits, fifty for each season, laid out and then worn, with three pictures of you in them on the house. If you want someone who knows your closet and the weather outside to pick the layers each morning, that is Anah inside the Atelier. And if a knit in the box might or might not lift well, Will it feed tells you from a photo, free.

Same core, four seasons. The focus is on you, mama.