buying nursing bras

[Doberbrat]

w/dd I bought a few nursing bras a couple of weeks before delivery but found I wasnt thrilled with them and naturally ended up buying more later.

My fave bras were sold at Kohls which no longer sells them.

I’m a plus sized mamma who got into letters I was unaware could be associated with bras last time I live about a 5min drive from a bra store that does proper fittings and could at least order them for me to try on in store within the week.

I’m thinking of just living in my sleep bras/nursing tanks for the first few days and then, when milk comes in going to the bra store and getting properly fitted.

Good plan or no? I figure if I’m desperate, I still have some of the old well-worn bras from dd. – I nursed for 3.5years so I really really need new ones but in a pinch, they’d do I think!

[Carson]

I hope it's a good plan - that's what I'm doing! I have a few soft cotton stretch ones and one tank, will probably pick up another tank before the baby comes.

Figure that will get me through the first week until my suppy regulates anyway. It's not like I'll be going anywhere that I need to be properly dressed and supported.

[rachel65655]

I am large chested (42F) and need a supportive bra all the time and especially during nursing. I wish there was a store around me that I could be properly fitted. I always went up a size with each additional child although I have worn the same size nursing bra through my last two children. Right now I am already using my old nursing bras to wear for every day so I know I will need bigger ones this time around. I have never been able to wear a sleep bra or a soft cup and have enough support - I would feel constantly engorged because of the lack of support. I personally would just wear my old worn out ones and go for a fitting when babe is a week old.

[anotherpeanut]

sounds like a plan to me! after a week or so your girls should be down a little bit after that inital engorgement too. i really liked the bravado nursing tank as well. i plan on buying a couple for late pregnancy and early nursing, they were were very supportive and covered all my jiggle (and i had alot of jiggle)! good luck.

[beep]

I have not nursed yet, but I have huge breasts and I love love the bras from Decent Exposures.

[Pinoikoi]

I LOVE maternity and nursing bras. I have learned that the first thing I buy when I find out I am pregnant is a good bra. Seriously, being comfortable helps me sleep better which makes me a happier mama! I like Bravado ones and they have a nice selection in the bigger sizes. I also bought a couple of the Motherhood brands, the nighttime one I really like, the day one they sold me makes me look like I have a uniboob.

I will wear it if I need to though. Bravados are sold here at the lactation center at the local hospital.

I MAY need a bigger size after I give birth- I am not really sure. I am in the same size now that I was when I was nursing my last one, so who knows? But I think a quality comfortable bra is worth it even if I do go up and down a couple of sizes in the interim.

[magrat]

I'm definitely not making the mistake of buying nursing bras before the baby comes again! Last time I made do with Gillian O'Malley (Target) cheapy nursing bras in really really the wrong size for the first few weeks. I had some with the band size way bigger than I needed because they didn't come with cup sizes big enough and they were really loose, but at least they prevented a certain amount of jiggling and kept the nursing pads in place.

After that I had really good luck measuring myself careful and ordering from www.breakoutbras.com. I love love love Anita nursing bras, I was even able to wear underwire without ever getting plugged ducts. I don't like Bravado. Admittedly, I did have the wrong size, but I hated pulling them on over my head, and I hate the snap clasps.

[belltree]

I wouldnt buy nursing bras again while being pregnant. All the size estimations were way too small with a too large band, luckily I had only bought one.

I bought one bra right after delivery, which is really large but helped with the engorgement phase, and then bought 3 tank tops once the milk flow was established well (3-4 weeks after birth).

[Ruthla]

When I was pg with DD1, I bought some nursing bras during pg (but I couldn't find my exact size and got bras too big in the band and a smaller cup size. The openings weren't big enough to nurse with!) When I was engorged, NOTHING fit me. I finally ended up wearing snug-fitting tank tops (that fit properly pre-baby) to hold nursing pads in place until I could purchase some properly fitting bras.

When I was pg with #2 (and still nursing #1) I custom ordered some Bravado bras (at the time it was an extra $5 for this service) that had a medium back and "one size bigger than the XL++ front). I wore them all through the pg and after giving birth. When DD2 was about a month old, my bra size seemed stable and I wanted some "real bras", so I bought some, keeping my bravados as sleep/leisure bras.

By the time I was pg with #3, I knew what I was doing. I bought some nursing bras during pg, only because I needed some good bras that fit me well at the time, and why not buy with the nursing flaps? I bought Jeunique bras- about double the price of other bras but they lasted about 6 times as long and were a great investment! At the time I didn't know how sturdy they'd be, I just knew that they were good bras that I could wear "right now", and would possibly fit after giving birth. I also bought about 4 leisure bras- something like this I was bigger than an H cup at the time, but this bra is so soft and unstructured, it worked fine when I went up in the band size. For nursing, I'd leave the bottom 2 hooks fastened and leave the rest open, maybe fastening one at the top if I wanted a bit more coverage under my PJs.

In late pg, I bought bra extenders and kept on wearing the Jeuniques. I had a larger size of Jeunique that fit me when my milk came in (so, for about a week), and then, surprisingly, the ones I wore all pg fit me again. I wore those until DS was about a year old, when I purchased new ones in a smaller size.

I think your plan of getting leisure bras during pg is an excellent one. You're going to need something to hold nursing pads in place right after birth, and you're likely to want sleep bras anyway. Wait to get good, structured "nice shaping" bras until the baby is at least 2 weeks old and you have a better idea what size you are and what styles are going to work best for you. I wouldn't go "right when your milk comes in" because you might be engorged (and an extra cup size or more) before you settle into your actual size.

[MamaMonica]

Moved to Breastfeeding.

[sunshynbaby]

That's a good plan. I did the same thing, but waited for two weeks from my boobs to settle on a size