breastfeeding tops

[MedicalEd]

Hi, Am 37 weeks + 5 with my first baby and am looking for some discreet feeding tops.
Does anyone have advice on particularly good ones or equally ones to avoid please?

no need for special tops, just layer a strappy vest with good stretch in the straps (a cheapy one will do, I got some from peacocks) under your normal tops, and pull the top layer up and the vest down.

I don't know if this helps but I never bought any. A lot of women do 'one over and one under' and then you don't have to buy specific breastfeeding tops. So I wear a stretchy vest type top and then any other top over and when I feed I lift the outside top up and the vest down so my tummy stays covered.

You can add a cardigan too and be extra covered up. It is a bit less restrictive than needing a wardrobe of new tops.

H&M definitely do some though if you want to try it.

Good luck!

H&M do some nice tops that aren't too expensive. JoJoMamanBebe is also good.

Although so is a pashmina, or cheap vest top under other top, pull on down and other up.

M&S have good vest tops with stretchy straps.Can't say I have ever seen a breastfeeding top I liked the look of, they all seem very dull.

I bought a JoJo one which I didn't particularly like and looked very Mumsy.

So, I just used a vest top with a cardi, the waterfall cardis are very good and very discreet. I pulled up the vest top. Don't worry though, once the baby has latched on nobody can see anything and will just think you are cuddling your baby.

If you want to go to a Bfing Friendly Place for the first time, just to get your confidence up, you could always try one of your local Bfing Support Groups.

Congratulation btw. I had DC1 at 38+1 so LO could be here sooner than you think

I don't have any. They are inevitably fugly and expensive. Google 'breastvests' - genius invention. Basically a vest that sits under your feeding bra and covers your tummy so all you do is lift up your usual top, unclip, latch baby on and then baby's head covers any boobage and your top covers anything above that. They are about £15 so slightly more expensive than the ordinary vest option but I always found it uncomfortable pulling the neckline all the way down (but then I have quite big boobs ).

I wear them with the seamless Carriwell feeding bra, which looks more like a crop top/sports bra, so from a distance the whole thing just looks like a vest anyway IYSWIM.

Just means you can wear whatever tops you like and aren't restricted to feeding gear.

for the nights I had a mothercare button down nightie, other than that I used cardigans and a normal stretchy top. zip cardy down pull top up - done.

This is great thanks. I've got some stretchy vests so I'll have a 'practice' and see if they go far enough.
I was in Stockholm last summer and saw a very tall slim woman walking down the road with her baby breastfeeding in one arm, she had a vest and a cardi on, couldn't see anything. I just thought she looked very glam.

Sounds lovely .

Its easy to think that in order to be able to Bf you need a lot of complicated and expensive kit when in actual fact you really just need your baby, your boob and the tv remote .

I agree with the 'pull down the vest, lift up the top' idea too. I've always done this. H&M do some nice longer length vests which are good for covering a post natal tummy and they aren't expensive, you can get a few colours to go with your normal tops.

I always found the slits/holes in 'breastfeeding tops' to be too small, especially in the early days when your boobs are enormous and you're trying to get the hang of feeding discreetly. Those special tops actually make it harder I think, cos the holes are too small.

Good luck with your baby!

I've got loads of bf tops from ebay from when I fed DS1, and yes, they are all fugly! But now with DS2, I'm struggling to find floaty upper tops to stick on over a vest that don't also expose 3 inches of fugly breastfeeding bra...

One bf-specific thing I'd really recommend though is an Emma-Jane breastfeeding vest. I'm using it under pjs at night to hold pads on (am still at the stage where I leak a lot) and it's comfy, soft and well-made. They cost though - look on ebay first!

hallamoo, I'm finding the holes in bf tops far too small to pull my boobs through at this stage (5 weeks).

I really like the Bravado breastfeeding tanks. They have a built in bra and I just wear them under normal tops which I lift up. I agree that specially designed breastfeeding tops can be very fiddly and just get in the way.

The 'Boob' Swedish tops you can get from the NCT are good though quite expensive. Mamaway (available on ebay) also do some nice tops.

Yes, I have this lovely long-sleeved stripey top from Boob that is slit in the middle so is easy to use and very discreet. I wear it all the time. Expensive, but worth it.

Mamaway have some nice stuff. I just got a tunic/dress from them to make a change from wearing short tops with vests.

I really like the top I got from Mama Feelsgood, it's always the first one I wear after a wash. :) They currently have a sale on of discontinued styles!

Hi op, I have never bought special breastfeeding tops. I often year baggy blouses with a vest underneath. I pull down my bra and vest so that my tummy remains covered. There are lots of lovely fashionable blouses in the shops just now. Great for feeding, great for dressing up or down and great for hiding my post pregnancy tummy, even 9 months later! Dorothy perkins have lovely ones, as do top shop and miss selfridge.

M&S do awesome stretchy two-pack vests in a silky fabric, in lots of different colours. I always wear one of them under a T-shirt.

Mind you I'm back at work now and have to wear dresses. I confess to stripping off to bra, underpants and tights in my (locked!) office to express

I got my vest tops from new look £1.99 each and there fab for underneath!