The Mom Behind the Nursing Clothes You’ll Actually Want to Wear
Peggy Economou wears a couple of hats (as most women do). The native New Yorker is the co-founder and CEO of Teat and Cosset, an apparel company designed for pregnant and nursing women, and a mom to her adorable daughter, Dafne.
With comfortable yet trendy pieces, like the totally chic Gemma sweatshirt, Teat and Cosset gives moms a wardrobe that boasts fashion and functionality. We picked her brain for the best parenting hack, her advice for new moms and finding that ever elusive work-life balance.
I was born and raised in NYC, and after graduating from Colgate University with a degree in economics, I came back to New York to work in banking. After eight years in finance I decided to quit and travel the world. During my travels I met my husband and subsequently moved to his hometown Siena, Italy, got married and had my daughter Dafne, who’s now almost 4 years old.
Soon after having my daughter, I realized how challenging it was to find functional nursing clothing that was also cute and high-quality. I had the “lightbulb” moment one night, while I was struggling to open my PJ top to nurse my crying baby. I thought—why not make pajamas with snaps instead of buttons?! That was the first style in the collection.
I think our entire new fall collection is strong, but if I had to choose my favorites I would say the Olivia sweater and our new Bianca pant/leggings. The Olivia is the perfect mix of special yet everyday, with the bell shaped sleeve giving it a feminine current detail, while the stripes, colors and knit are 100 percent classic. Plus, it’s made of 100 percent natural fibers (cotton/cashmere blend), so nothing synthetic is touching baby’s skin! The Bianca leggings are a dream. “Comfortably chic” would be the best way to describe them!
I struggle every day with balancing my time between family and work, which I think is especially hard for an entrepreneur because work never stops. I try to stop everything I’m doing when my daughter comes home and dedicate a few hours every evening to her. A mompreneur friend of mine recently gave me some good advice to try to do at least one special thing each day with my child.
To this day I will never understood why no one had told me how difficult breastfeeding could be. I had imagined it to be this wonderful, natural experience from the start. I think knowing in advance that the first few weeks can be tough would have helped me understand that my initial struggle was normal. I also wish I knew that babies are exhausted after labor and tend to sleep many uninterrupted hours the first night to recover. That would have been nice to know after my 48-hour labor so I could have at least slept that first night to recover myself!
Beyond that, three things to keep in mind:
- Take care of yourself. It’s easy to not feel like ourselves after having a baby, and this step is important to reconnect with ourselves.
- Don’t forget your partner. I’ve seen many couples struggle in the beginning because mom is dedicating all her time to the baby. Remember to show some love to your partner and also show him how he can help.
- Get some sleep. We’re trained to think that sleeping is a night thing, but as a new mom we have to learn to sleep at all hours of the day. I’d suggest getting someone to watch the baby while you sleep during the day because “sleeping when baby sleeps” doesn’t always work!
MAM pacifiers! They saved me the first few months of breastfeeding and gave my daughter something else to suck on for comfort.
I’m parenting differently in a couple of ways. I’m definitely not as strict as my mother was, and often times I wish I was! My parents also pushed us to get an education and studying was a priority. While I do plan on emphasizing school, I don’t think it’s absolutely necessary to get top grades and go to a top school to be successful. I would like to see my daughter pursue her passions, so if I can help her and nudge her in that direction, I definitely will. If she doesn’t get good grades in math or science, I want her to know that it will be ok.
The energy I can muster at the end of a long, tiring day when I see my daughter!
Now that my daughter is a toddler, I try to turn everything into a game for her. It’s the only way kids do things they don’t want to do (like get dressed) and eat things they don’t want to eat (like asparagus)! I convinced my daughter to eat asparagus by telling her they were little trees while calling her a “tree-eater”—she loved it!
Last year, my daughter went through a phase of refusing to get dressed in the mornings. Taking her to daycare became a nightmare. So one morning, I took her to school in her underwear—and it was pretty cold outside. You can image the looks I got from all the other parents. Thankfully, she didn’t get sick!
A midday nap on the weekends is my all-time guilty pleasure. At least it’s a guilty pleasure that’s good for me! A glass (or two) of wine is a close second and goes a long way at the end of a tiring day.
Published September 2018
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