Maternity & Nursing

Are Nursing Bras Really Necessary

For the first weeks at home a soft bralette pulled aside does the job, which is why the question comes up at all. What changes the answer is feeding somewhere other than your own sofa, and feeding at night. A drop down cup opens with one hand while the other hand is holding a baby, and it puts the fabric out of the way instead of bunched under the chest. The case for a nursing bra is one handed access rather than support, and that is worth knowing because it tells you how many you actually need. Two in rotation covers most people; a drawer full is rarely the answer.

Nursing and Pumping Are Two Different Openings

These get shopped as one thing and they are not. A nursing cup drops away to leave the breast clear, which suits a baby and does nothing for a pump. A pumping bra holds a flange in place so both hands stay free, which means it needs a firm opening rather than an open one. A bra that genuinely does both is rarer than the listings suggest, so check which opening you are buying before the price. If you expect to pump at work and feed at home, two bras doing one job each will beat one bra doing both badly.

What to Buy Before the Birth and What to Wait For

Buying the full set at thirty six weeks is the common mistake, because the shape then is not the shape a fortnight after the birth. Support bands are the exception and are worth having early, since they are used through the last weeks as well as after. Buy one or two nursing bras before the date and the rest once feeding has settled, which is usually two to three weeks in. A stretch knit with a wide band forgives more change than a structured cup does, which makes it the safer of the two to buy in advance.

For everyday briefs and the seamless cuts that sit under the same clothes, see Lingerie, and for the pumps, coolers and bottles that go with this stage, Nursing & Feeding.