When Will I Start Wearing Maternity Clothes?

Maybe you’re dreading buying maternity clothes. (Guess what? You don’t have to! You can rent your favorite items instead.) Or maybe you can’t wait for those stretchier fits and—finally!—a legit excuse to go shopping. But either way, that day is coming—it just might happen sooner for some people than others. When you’ll start wearing maternity clothes entirely depends on the person. Here’s when it happened for some Bumpies:

“At 13.5 weeks, I’ve just started wearing some maternity. Some of it is just way too big still and some of my regular clothes are too tight, so I’m in the awkward transition stage.” - JnJ04

“I probably started wearing maternity clothes at 16 weeks, but I can still fit into some regular clothes with my tummy sleeve.” - TheDudleys

“I’ve been in maternity pants since 6 to 7 weeks for comfort (this is my 4th so I got big pretty fast), shirts closer to 15 weeks.” - MichelleWP

“I’ve been in maternity clothes since about 10 weeks.” - Pamela82

“I started wearing some maternity clothes at around 11 weeks.” - vande2006

“I bought my first round of maternity clothes quite early—about nine weeks. It was just baby bloat at that point, but it never really went away, and at 18 weeks I have a nice firm baby belly!” - Mrs.Meyer

“I bought maternity at about 12 weeks, just because I so desperately needed a new bra! And I ended up buying several other items, including a belly band. I have been interspersing some maternity items with my regular clothes, as I can still wear most of my normal clothes, some with the belly band and some still without. Luckily, regular non-maternity styles are fairly maternity friendly (empire waist tops and dresses, stretchy gauchos, etc), and it is easy to mix them into a maternity wardrobe. (I am 15 weeks now.)” - SPBGBRIDE

“At almost 17 weeks I’m still in all of my regular clothes. I’m not sure when I’ll start in maternity clothes yet, but absolutely every woman is different and among my friends I don’t see any trend for who will show sooner. I expected to be obviously showing by now because I’m so short waisted, but I haven’t gained any weight and I’m looking normal. (Well, normal with boobs that have nearly doubled in size…)” - staryeyes

“I was in maternity pants by 9 weeks.” - boulder,cobride

“I started wearing maternity clothes at home on the weekends at about 16 weeks. I held off wearing them at work until closer to 18 weeks. I outgrew my shirts first because my boobs just could not fit into a regular shirt! I wore over-sized sweaters through February. I was down to one or two pairs of work pants I could wear by 18-19 weeks, and had to use a Bella Band so I could wear them unzipped. Even now at 23 weeks, I’m still too small for some of my pants. The transition period seems to be lasting a long time.” - sistrkate

“I started wearing maternity at around 12 weeks, and while a couple of my more forgiving elastic waist pre-pregnancy skirts are still wearable, I’m mostly out of my regular clothes.” - batsteph

”I started wearing maternity pants at 14 weeks or so. I couldn’t take wearing my pants unbuttoned anymore. So I went to Old Navy and bought a bunch of yoga pants. I knew they fit then and would stretch as well so I would be able to continue to wear them. I am 18 weeks now and they still fit comfortably and I still have much more room to grow. - cnickler

“I had to buy new bras at 8 weeks as that was the first thing to grow. I stopped fitting into my jeans at 3 months.” - taurusbride

Want to check out some stylish maternity wear? Head here to see The Bump favorites.