This is a maternity product review of sorts, but I'm hoping more people will chime in with their opinions.

For those of you who don't know, the bella band is a maternity product composed of a tube of stretchy nylon that is intended for use over regular pants. The idea is that, when you don't feel big enough for maternity pants or just don't want to invest in them, you wear your regular jeans/pants unbuttoned with the bella band over the hips to cover up the opening.

Original:
http://www.ingridandisabel.com/

Less expensive version:
http://www.target.com/BeBand-m.....#38;page=1

I have several of the original bella bands, and the truth is that I can't give a review of their effectiveness and usefulness for maternity use. I discovered these after the birth of my son. At that time, I actually used them for nursing and to smooth down the belly. As a "pull-up nurser" (I prefer to pull my shirt up rather than unbutton or pull down on the neckline) I wanted something to cover up my belly when I pulled up. I didn't want to have to mess with unlatching a cami and a bra and they don't make nursing bras with little skirts as far as I know so this was my solution. I can't vouch for the Target version, but the original bella band is fantastic quality, does not stretch out and served my purposes perfectly. My only complaint is that I found that the band tends to roll up or scrunch from the bottom to the top of my hips. For my purposes, this was not a big deal.

For this pregnancy, I did wear the bella band in its intended use a handful of times, but I was always fearful about the bottom rolling or scrunching up. In this case, it's really important that it doesn't because I don't want be exposing my unzipped and unbuttoned pants. The few times I did wear it, I managed fine but psychologically, I don't think I could get over the risk.

What is your experience with the bella band?