Not quite breastfeeding but nursing bras!

[moomin35]

So I have just bought my first ever nursing bras in preparation for breastfeeding which I hope I can successfully do when my baby arrives. They are the kind that 'flap down' undoing clips exposing the nipple but they don't appear to expose very much of the nipple if that makes sense!! Has anyone used these and found the same? Any advice or experiences?

If they don't expose much nipple they might be quite hard to get the baby latched on - the baby needs to get lots of breast tissue into their mouth.

I wouldn't buy bras before the baby is born - or maybe just some soft ones - as you don't know what size you will be. I was 30DD before pregnancy and am now in 32E nursing bras, but I expect that will change soon (baby is 12 weeks).

I really enjoyed preparing for DS too - I felt much calmer about the birth knowing that I had things in place :) so I don't think its crazy to get some bits that you need!

I have a couple of these bras and they feel more supportive as a bra but to be honest I have to hoick out more boob for a feed anyway as the angle etc isn't quite right. I have HHs so maybe they work better with smaller sizes? The tricky thing I found with bf is that it takes a while to get used to the angle that you have to hold baby in - with me it really wasn't anything like the position that they show you at the bf class! I had to use a feeding pillow so he sat quite high and I still have to hold the breast (despite lots of criticism about blocked ducts etc). I had to move the breast around much more than I thought I would , tickling nose etc. You might find these bras too restrictive early on but they may come into their own when you have the technique down!

I found I lived in the comfort nursing bras for the first couple of weeks. Towards the end of my pregnancy I also wore these and it didn't bother me if I hadn't been able to bf they would have still been comfortable! Asda were selling a very good value one at £8 - the sizes are a vague S, M, L XL so you needn't worry if your size changes.

I find with all of this style of bra (which I favour) you have to not just undo it, but pull it under your boob, or lift your boob out of the cup, which is comfy and not restrictive, because the flap bit just wrinkles up.

For me, feeding was not as I imagined - position baby, baby eats, done! Far more moving the breast around, adjusting as you go, holding things in place, which is really hard with a bra that doesn't let you get it completely out!

You'll do great. The boards here are really helpful with the early days of feeding too.