How to Hide a Baby Bump Before You’re Ready To Tell Everyone You’re Pregnant

When I first found out we were pregnant after struggling with secondary infertility, I wanted to shout it from the rooftops. But like many women who struggle with infertility, I was scared to celebrate. We had been through such a roller coaster, I couldn’t let myself fully accept I was pregnant, and I was scared to say anything lest something should go wrong. Even after hitting the three month mark, the time when most people share the news and the threat of miscarriage has dramatically declined, I wasn’t ready to tell people. I just kept worrying the ball would drop and something would go wrong. We actually waited until I was six months pregnant to tell people, including some of our closest friends and family, and that was mostly because I couldn’t physically hide my baby bump any longer.

Unfortunately, with your second pregnancy, you start showing a lot earlier and by three months, most of my pants weren’t buttoning, and in certain outfits you could def see a baby bump. But since I wasn’t ready to share the news, I had  to get creative with my wardrobe to hide my pregnancy. 

When we finally did spill the beans, I was surprised at how effective I was at hiding it for so long. Now that I’m enormously pregnant, I still have co-workers and friends who are surprised I’m pregnant. So needless to say, I figured out some good tricks for hiding a baby bump that I’m excited to share with you. I did a lot of googling, and found no stories on this topic, and so many bloggers and people I follow on Instagram were showing off their bumps so much earlier than me, that I couldn’t even lean on them for help.

It’s totally up to you if and for how long you hide your pregnancy, and a very personal decision, but if you’re trying to keep your pregnancy under wraps, here are my favorite styling tricks for hiding a baby bump.

Peplums

This Zara top was under $30 and such a steal. The peplum cleverly disguises and it’s a little oversized so it actually worked as my bump grew. I’m six months pregs here and you can’t really tell.

This dress has a smaller peplum but it also offers a boxier fit and was a go-to in disguising my bump at work.

Jackets

Especially as I got bigger, I wore a lot of jackets to hide my bump. Luckily, my office tends to be cold, so it wasn’t that weird that I’d wear them inside the office too, or on my shoulders during a meeting.

Dresses with Strategic Waistlines

I assumed baggy dresses would work better, but I actually found dresses that nipped in right below your rib cage and offered wider skirts were better at disguising my mini bump in the first and early second trimester.

Busy Patterns

This dress didn’t have a defined waistline, which helped, but the busy pattern was the key to camouflaging my nearly six month bump.

Stripes also work well to distract the eye.

Layers

Layering is one of the best tricks for hiding a bump. Here, I’m wearing a turtleneck over a dress and a blazer over that.

Strategically Placed Ruffles

Ruffles are a pregnant woman’s best friend in the first few months. Here I’m six months pregs, but you can’t find the bump under all those layers and polka dots.

Wrap Skirts

Wrap skirts like wrap dresses aren’t as constricting as your waistline grows, and then I’d just throw over a bigger sweater to conceal.

Vests

I think I wore this vest over dresses at least three times a week during my first six months of pregnancy.

Oversized Sweaters

I lived in oversized sweaters for as long as I could. They also made it easy to continue wearing my regular jeans with a bellyband.

Blazers

Like jackets, blazers are a must for hiding a bump, especially in the early stages.