Undercover Mama nursing tank (review and giveaway)

A long time ago, I wrote about maternity clothes and what items and styles were still flattering to wear post-pregnancy. One of the items I mentioned was Undercover Mama Nursing Tanks.

I fell in love with Undercover Mama tanks because they were useful beyond nursing. Yes, the sole purpose of these awesome tanks is to make nursing more convenient. Many mothers do not like using a cover over their child while nursing, and let's be frank: most kids don't like the covers either. My son hated the cover because he overheated quickly, and I hated it because of the attention.

Yes, that's right: the attention.

In my mind, as a new mother, the nursing cover would make it discrete. Nobody would pay any mind to me, life would go on, etc. Nope. Here in the real world, people were drawn to the cover. They stared at it. They tried to guess what was going on under it. It made me stand out more!

Christmas 2011 - Brown Undercover Mama tank under a red sweater

Complete opposite of what I wanted to happen! Sadly, not all shirts are easy to nurse in. There are those that are able to pull down enough to nurse, and that's great. Not all necklines are that accommodating, though.

Pulling a shirt up to nurse was easier, but left my stomach exposed. On cold days, that would be extremely unpleasant for me, and on nice days it was still not very pleasant because, despite what much of the world seems to think of breastfeeding mothers, I'm not an exhibitionist. I just want to feed my child.

Undercover Mama tanks solved the problem. They attach to your bra in one of two ways:

A loop around the nursing bra and reattach the nursing bra:

A hook that slides over the bra strap:

My nursing bras got lots of use. LOTS of use. I nursed Bobble until I dried up when I was pregnant with Squiggle, and they got worn my whole pregnancy because they were the most accommodating bras I had, then they were worn up until Squiggle was 30 months old and we stopped nursing.

Undercover Mamas were a wardrobe staple for that entire time, and still are. See, while nursing Bobble (and while pregnant with Squiggle), I still worked. My work environment was casual dress. Nursing gave me a significantly larger chest than I had before pregnancy, and Undercover Mama tanks became lifesavers for my work wardrobe. They covered up all the cleavage that was now exposed in my nice work shirts, saving me from having to buy new work clothes.

Better yet, I didn't have annoying straps slipping over my shoulders. With the tank attaching directly to my bra, I had one strap, but all the benefits of the layered shirt.

I gave up on trying to get a decent picture when Squiggle kept yanking on me (head seen in lower half of picture), so I just cropped. You just care about the Undercover Mama tank in the picture anyway, right? :)

Now that I don't nurse, I still use my Undercover Mama tanks for extending length of coverage for those shirts I adore but are just a bit short on me (safe to bend over without exposing my back or raising my arms without exposing my tummy!), and to provide that chest coverage without having to have additional straps to fiddle with.

These tanks are honestly one of the best things I've discovered since becoming a mother. In fact, though I don't plan on having more children and I no longer nurse, I still plan on purchasing more of these tanks when I get my next job. They have a variety of colours, and they are very well made. My oldest Undercover Mama tank is nearing 5 years old now, and the only change in it is that it is a bit shorter now than it was when I bought it. 5 years of washing and drying finally shrunk it a bit. It's now short enough to where it fits in length like a normal shirt would on me, so I can't use it to provide coverage under a shirt that is too short on me, but it still works great when the purpose is to cover extra cleavage.

Mother's day 2012 - White Undercover Mama tank under a t-shirt

You can adjust the tank to cover more or less based on where you have it placed on your bra strap. The above picture is from Mother's day 2012, when Bobble was just over a year old. You can see the top of my Undercover Mama tank there, and it was much needed with this shirt since Bobble stretched the neckline of it out so much it wasn't funny! (He'd tug on the shirt when he wanted milk instead of just waiting patiently.)

While I just have basic tanks, you can also get some with lace trim on the bottom. The basic tanks, though simple, come in 14 different colours, and one print (black and white polkadot). Basic tanks are $24.99 each, and the Lace trim tanks are $26.99. Keep a look out for special deals on their site, though!

So, really, these are pretty much a must-have for any working mother, and any nursing mother. Actually, they are a must-have for any female, mother or not, that layers shirts and is sick of a tank top strap slipping over their shoulder, or sticking out of their shirt neckline!

Because Undercover Mama is so awesome, one of my readers is going to get one of these shirts FOR FREE! Yep, they've offered up a shirt for me to giveaway! One lucky winner will get one basic nursing tank in their choice of size and colour! (US/CAN only.)


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclaimer: Thoughts of Fluff was sent the above product for review. This did not influence my opinion of the product in any way. All opinions are my own and may differ from those of your own. Thoughts of Fluff is not responsible for prize shipment.