Nursing Bras?

[MelW]

I am totally not a bra person. I don't own a single "grown up" bra- just a couple of racer back, heavy-duty bras for exercising, and more relaxed scoop back sports bras for casual/everyday wear. And a lot of tank tops. I wear bras in the summer under thin t-shirts and to work, but otherwise often go braless.

I have made efforts in the past to buy "grown up" bras- which by my definition is anything that has a clasp, or a cup size, but always resort to sports bras or tank tops in the end. :p

BUT- every baby book, baby list, etc. has nursing bra under the list of necessary supplies. In our prenatal classes, the instructor suggested having one or two nursing bras, and making your first trip out of the house with the new baby to buy more (because then you'd know your new size). My plan was just to go braless for feeding, and wear my "casual" sports bras (which I can pull my breast out the top of- I tested it :bouncy ) if I needed extra support, or a place to put a pad for leak control if needed.

So, for the experienced mamas- am I crazy? Will this work? Should I just get over my fear and get fitted for a nursing bra? I feel like a bit of a teenager- it's been so long since I've worn a real bra that I don't even know my size. I think I'm about a C cup pre-preg, and maybe a bit bigger now. If you do think I need one, any brand/style suggestions?

[AmyGirl28]

I couldn't agree with you more. I am not a bra person either. I love my sports bras too. I looked at a few nursing bras. I was thinking about getting one for outings. But I am a SAHM, so I am home most of the time and can just go braless or whip it out the top of my sports bra. I will be interested to see what the other mamas have to say.

[MrsMoe]

I got mine from Thyme Materinity and I love them! I think theyare only in Canada though...

http://www.maternity.ca/en/index.cfm

[memory maker]

I have nursed 2 kids so far and have only 1 nursing bra. I usually just use sports type bras and pull them up to nurse. I am maybe a B cup while nursing, so I dont need lots of support. The one that I have is a Bravado, but I just ordered 2 Yes! brand for cheap off ebay and they are supposed to be similar to bravado

[kroonkles]

I used these all through this pregnancy and while I nursed my youngest. Super comfy. (I'm on the small side, though)

http://store.yahoo.com/sierrablue/elcotcrosmin.html

[RainCoastMama]

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[Kavita]

Okay--NOT an experienced nursing mom--but I can't help butting in and saying that I so far have really liked my bras from www.decentexposures.com. I'm REALLY assymetrical (prob. about a cup size difference) so I have a lot of trouble finding bras that actually fit both breasts at one time! I hate wearing a bra too, and have only caved because I'm getting saggy enough to be embarassed in public! But these are more comfortable than any other bras I've tried, and you can get them with a "looper" in front for more definition, or get rid of the looper so it's more like a sports bra. I pay $1 extra for the looper to be velcroed, so that I can use it or not depending on what I'm wearing--more like having a regular bra and a sports bra for the price of one!

They will customize them for you in a variety of ways, their customer service has always been awesome, and you can either nurse in by pulling it up over the breast, pulling your breast out over the top, or you can get one with nursing flaps with either velcro or hook and eye closures. I think that for a small fee they will even convert bras back to your non-pregnant or nursing size after you are done nursing. I bought two in larger sizes for pregnancy and decided to see how it goes with the nursing before making a decision about getting ones with flaps.

I'm also thinking about getting a couple of Glamourmom nursing tanks, since I'm a tank top girl!

[flapjack]

I just go with vests (tanks?) with elastic under the bust, and pull the neckline down when nursing. There's nothing more embarrassing than walking round with blood on your shirt after zipping your nipple into your nursing bra.

[dziejen]

There's nothing more embarrassing than walking round with blood on your shirt after zipping your nipple into your nursing bra.

:dropjaw Or painful!!! OW!!

[Gunter]

I have never nursed...but when my boobs started growing, I bought a nursing bra from Target by In Due Time that has little snaps on the inside bottoms. I plan to be at home the first two months or so then only work PT. I bet I will be topless around the house...unless I leak a lot!

[samsmamma]

bravado for me. i have 3 and i love them

[kel]

I've nursed three kids and I don't normally have big breasts, but they get enormous when I'm nursing! I use nursing bras, for one reason because sometimes when you just pull up or down a non-nursing bra to nurse, it can press on your breast, and especially early on when the milk comes in and you can get pretty engorged - that pressure can cause infected milk ducts. This is just my own experience - I produce a ton of milk and am pretty uncomfortable without a good bra during that time. But definitely having some kind of comfy bra to hold breast pads in place - a lot of the time when you're nursing on one side, the other side will start spurting, too! And I've never had a nursing bra with a zipper! :) So I haven't had the bloody shirt problem! Most have hooks or snaps.

[s_kristina]

I guess I am the freak here with enormous boobs, but that just seems to be life. I am praying that they are as big as they will get right now at a 40 I or J cup, but they probably will be up a bit more for a week or 2 when my milk comes in. most of the time when I am at home I go braless after I stop leaking. With my dd I used a nursing bra all the time until she was around 2 or 2.5 for easy access in public. In that time I used bras from Motherhood maternity and from Leading Lady. I liked the bras from Leading Lady much better and they looked nicer to me. Since I anticipate that I will end up nursing for a long time after ds is born I do plan to spend a good bit of money on bras this time so they last. I asked a couple ladies I know online that also have huge breasts and was told of www.norvellcustombras.com They are around $50 each so I will be waiting until things settle down pp to buy them. Right now I am planning to make a trip in to Orlando in hopes that I might be able to find a Goddess or Bravado bra that would work for 6 months or so and that is cheaper. I have recently been reminded of the importance of a well fitting bra thanks to a nasty plugged duct that turned in to mastitis over the past week when I tried to wear a too small bra for a couple days. I would not wish that on anyone so be careful with sizing!

[HoneyTree]

I can't offer this as a testimonal, but I've got my eye on this Blue Canoe Jane's top, http://www.rawganique.com/Wunitard.htm. I've heard other moms recommend it, and it's organic cotton. The only thing is I have only found them online, and I have never arrived at the same size as the sales clerk when I measure myself, so I'm worried that I'll end up ordering something that doesn't fit.

[willemsmamma]

I got up to a 38DD from a 36B last time and this time I'm going from a 36 D to???? I have to wear a bra to be comfortable. I did get a couple cheap microfiber sports bras size 42 for the immediate postpartum/milk coming in time but I agree with kel in that the extra pressure on an extra full boob doesn't feel good. I've used the seamless medela nursing bra you can get on ebay. It was really comfy but didn't provide much support or shape during the day (I'm really saggy... ). I also ordered 3 or 4 from Motherwear, they have a great selection of bras and always have something on sale. Plus a great return policy. I had a bra from them that I just didn't get around to returning after a snap fell off afer washing a couple times. It was even a little pink from being washed with something red and they still took it back. I've also used the Yes! bras from ebay and liked them postpartum for the first few months until my milk supply was more established and I went down a size. Not much shaping there either, but more than the medela bra.

[MistyB]

I used sports bras or sports style nursing bras the first time around most of the time. If I wanted a nice bra, I just wore a VS padded cup bra but could easily pull it up to nurse.

I think I will pretty much go with the same thing this time. I may try out the nursing snap down tanks like you find at motherhood, target and ...can't remember the name of the more more expensive brand right now...they just seem like they could be a bit weird though. I may just do a spaghetti strap regular sports bra under another spaghetti strap tank. Maybe do that and then layer with a cardigan style sweater.

[Daffodil]

You can definitely do without nursing bras, or I least I can. (My breasts are on the small side - B before pregnancy, C while nursing - and I almost never had any leaking at all, so I didn't need to worry about nursing pads.) I have one nursing bra (a Bravado, quite comfortable), but it's easier to use a regular soft bra and just push it up to expose the breast than it is to fiddle with the snaps on a nursing bra. And I can't imagine doing anything but going braless around the house. My first baby nursed so much there would have been no point putting a bra on.

[Queen of Cups]

You ladies who go braless must not leak like I do! I SOAKED through at least one pair of nursing pads a day, and I had to have a bra to hold them on or else I'd be walking around damp and smelling of sour milk all day every day while nursing a newborn. I even have to wear a bra at night! Pre-DS I went braless whenever possible (whenever I wasn't at work, basically), but since he was born I've worn one practically 24-7. Also, going up a cupsize or two (depending on how engorged I am) made it a lot less comfortable to go without...

I'm so cheap, though, that I've just bought nursing bras at Target and Wal-Mart. Walmart has a new nursing bra that is underwire and beige lace that I love, but I'm not planning on wearing it much the first few weeks because I've heard underwire bras increase your chance of getting a plugged duct (which turns to mastitis if untreated).

[MelW]

Thanks for all of the tips, everyone. I think that leaking is quite likely for me, since I seem to be producing a lot of colostrum and leaking occasionally already.

I'm a bit of a brat about not liking to be told what to do, so the fact that every baby book and baby list had nursing bras as an essential made me want to go without. :mischief I need to stop being so stubborn, and at least have the flexibility to consider my bra options...

[mamaharsh]

Coming in late to the discussion...

I have one nursing bra from when Nate was little. I think I wore it the first week.

I've had great luck with the Barely There bras (I think they are Hanes). I'm fairly small chested, so they provide just enough support and they are very stretchy, so I've always just pulled them down. I nursed N for almost three years and never had a plugged duct or anything from them.

This time I also bought some pretty lowcut tank tops from Costco. They have the built in support band. They are very stretchy (I could get them over my very pregnant belly LOL), so I'm sure I'll be able to pull them down. I plan to wear them under my normal shirts this winter (I'm not a nursing top kind of girl) and figure that will keep my side warm while nursing.

So, there are non-nursing bra options if you don't want to go the nursing bra route.