I wore dresses in the summer.

I hate dresses. I can, however, say that under belly pants are stupid when you're very pregnant. I liked them well enough until about 6.5 months and then they were sometimes nice after delivery. For my first who was born early Sept., I wore over belly shorts. I also wasn't really running around outside when it was really hot, so I didn't notice that it was so much worse than any other summer. July and August are HOT no matter what you wear.

I never, ever wear dresses. But that’s all I wore during the summer when I was pregnant.

Another for dresses. I wore a lightweight granny-type shorts-style slip under them to prevent chafing. So much better than pants. Also had a couple pair of elastic waist shorts and used a belly band over them like PP above.

Anonymous wrote:I wore full panel white jeans with no problems, and also agree that dresses were great IF I wore maternity shorts under them. Otherwise my thighs chafed :-/ plus the last couple months I wore a support belt almost every day and I didn't like it on my skin.

OP here. All the dress suggestions were surprising me because even when not pregnant my thighs tend to chafe badly at the start of dress season and I literally have to “break my thighs in” the way you do new shoes until I build up a tolerance. So wearing dresses every day while pregnant sounds...well, sore and itchy. I know I have far more sensitive skin than average but I’m surprised you’re the only one who mentioned needing something to prevent chafing in dresses.

I guess I’ll just buy a dress or two and maybe one pair of over the belly shorts and see what my preference is before committing to too many of one thing. (I just hate that summer styles are basically cleared out of stores by the time summer really hits.) Thanks!

You can also just wear a Bella band over your regular shorts for the full panel feel.

I wore full panel white jeans with no problems, and also agree that dresses were great IF I wore maternity shorts under them. Otherwise my thighs chafed :-/ plus the last couple months I wore a support belt almost every day and I didn't like it on my skin.

I’ve only been pregnant in summer but I agree that dresses are the most comfortable thing to wear.

The panel isn’t a huge factor in hot vs not hot. It’s just gross out there no matter what. I had a lot of those roll over skirts, where you can wear it up or down. They were great.

My summer 2nd-3rd trimester uniform was dresses, skirts, and elastic waistband shorts (work out shorts mostly). Did not want anything over the belly then.

I was due in October and lived in dresses.

Dresses all the way.

I've been pregnant in both seasons, and I loved over the belly pants in fall/winter. In summer, however, dresses are THE BEST. I think they are way better than pants when pregnant. The over the belly thing would be too hot, or at least, they were for me (I had some over the belly shorts I never wore).

I'm totally in the same position. I'm sticking with over belly for now (18 weeks) and for summer will do shorts and dressers instead of pants. I figure I can chase a 3 year old in a dress too?
By the time the heat hits I'm going to be really pregnant so side panel and 1/2 panel would be uncomfortable and restricting anyway.

For my first pregnancy I was in maternity clothes in cold weather months and LOVED over the belly pants. I’m expecting my second now and will be pregnant for mostly hot/warm weather months. I’m still fitting into my regular clothes but I’d like to start ordering shorts or summer weight pants when I see sales. So my question is if you loved over the belly bottoms in winter months did you also prefer those in summer? The side panel type look uncomfortable but I’m wondering if over the belly will be worse in the heat? (I’ll be at home this time chasing a toddler in the heat instead of in a temperature controlled office in my cozy dress pants so I basically need a new maternity wardrobe.)