Maternity clothes may be fun for some women, but others may find themselves struggling to dress their ever-changing bodies.
Many women find themselves struggling to keep their maternity pants snug and on their waists where they belong.
Pants with buttons may start feeling snug quite early as your belly grows, but you may feel like maternity pants don’t quite fit either before you’ve developed a fuller, rounder belly to hold them up. You end up in a sort of in-between stage where nothing seems quite right. But, you don’t have to stay in this fashion limbo.
No one likes walking around feeling like their pants are going to slip. And, no one should have to constantly pull their pants up every few steps or feel like their pants will fall down when they least expect it.
Thankfully, there are many tried and true ways to keep your maternity pants right where they belong with a bit of creative thinking.
If you’re sick and tired of feeling your pants slip down, try out some of these tricks to keep them up.
Wear a Maternity Belt
Many women turn to maternity belts to keep their pants up.
Contrary to the name, these belts are stretchy pieces of fabric that are worn to cover up the tummy, similar to a camisole without the straps. These belts are typically tight-fitting, but not tight enough to constrict or hurt your bump in any way.
Wearing these belts above the panel on your maternity pants helps to hold them securely in place. Alternatively, you could wear them underneath the panel to provide cloth for your pants to cling to, allowing them to stay in place better than they would have.
Wear a Tight Camisole
Similar to wearing a maternity belt, you can also opt for wearing a tight camisole. You could wear it over or under the panel on your maternity pants, depending upon your comfort zone. By adding that tight fabric, you create a bit more staying power that can help keep your pants in place.
Fold the Waist Area Down
Often, the problem that causes maternity pants to slip is that the panel doesn’t have enough strength to keep them in place.
However, you can also fold the waist panel down a few times to create a thicker band that will be able to keep its place better.
You don’t have to do it all the way down, but by putting in a few 1-2″ folds at the top, you may be able to hold your pants where you want them.
Size Down if Possible
Another common reason that maternity pants fall down is that they are not sized correctly.
While you probably don’t want to get clothes that will be too small as your body continues to grow with the pregnancy, if you notice that your pants are slipping down often, you might need a size smaller.
This is especially true if you notice that the fit around your legs is a little baggy as well.
Make a String “Belt”
A creative way to keep your pants in place is to make your own “belt” that won’t constrict your belly.
You could take one of the strings used to tie maternity shirts in place and tie it at the top of your belly, where you want the band to stay.
Make sure the string is over the panel of your pants first. Then, with the string tied securely in place, you can wrap the top of your panel over and tuck it underneath the string.
This should work similarly to a drawstring in a pair of sweat pants and should give some extra staying power to your pants.
Pin the Panel to Your Undershirt
If the other methods don’t work, you could always choose to use safety pins to carefully secure the panel on your maternity pants right to your camisole, undershirt, or even your bra if you have a full-panel pair of pants.
This simple solution should help, but if your panel is a thin material, it may tear.
Use a Hair Tie to Hold Excess Panel
If you want to quickly secure your pants in place or notice that the panel on your pants is too loose, you can pull the excess fabric and use an elastic hair tie to keep it in place, similarly to how some people will secure oversized t-shirts.
You’ll essentially create a little “tail” of bunched-up excess material, which can then be tucked right into the waist of your pants to hide out of sight.
Choose Pants with Belt Loops
Some brands of maternity pants will come with belt loops, just like regular jeans.
By selecting these instead of other options, you could always simply use a belt to keep your pants where you want them until your bump gets too big for one.
Keep the Pockets Empty
If you’re lucky enough to have maternity pants with real, functioning pockets, resist the urge to use them!
If you’re already struggling to keep your pants in place, adding weight to the pockets, underneath your bump, is only going to work against you.
Gravity and whatever you put into your pockets will pull your pants down. Empty pockets are easier to keep up and in place.
Wear Suspenders
If all else fails, you could always choose to use suspenders to keep your pants firmly in place.
While it may not be the most stylish of options, it still works well to keep your pants up.
If you notice that the belly panel on your pants is too thin for the clips of the suspenders to cling to, you can always fold the panel over itself a few times to create a thicker fabric.
Conclusion
When you’re pregnant, you’ve got enough on your mind to have to worry about how to keep your pants sitting on your hips.
By using these various methods, you should be able to find something that works well for you and can help solve your problem.
