Nursing Bras - Foolish to buy at 38 weeks?

[SlouchingPanda]

I'm off for a waddle potter round the shops tomorrow and wonder if anyone has advice about the best time to buy nursing bras. I'm almost 38 weeks - is it best to buy them now (and essentially guess what size they will be when my milk comes in) or have you waited until they baby's born to go and get fitted properly? My worry is that I might have a few other things to do with my time after he/she puts in an appearance, and the last thing I will want to be doing is trawling round the shops trying on bras - a nightmare at the best of times...

Any advice or experience would be much appreciated!

Marking my place as I've been wondering about this too!

I just wore the maternity/ nursing bras I was already wearing when my son was born nearly 2 years ago. They were a bit uncomfortable when my milk came in but I found they settled to their pre-birth size after a few days. They didn't stay freakishly enormous as they seem to be when milk comes in!

Wait, or buy something that'll accommodate a few sizes (I really liked bravado ones). It's not just your boobs that will change size, you'll also find that the circumference of your ribs for the bra band will go down after your bump is a baby :)

We have a bra lady near me who will come out and do fittings and bring the bras to you .
I found out through the NCT I think but a quick google should show if you have something similar. I'm 34 weeks and planning to get at least 1 bra fitted at 37/38 weeks and then see how I go.

I'm 35 weeks and bought a couple of bravado ones today as they can cope with me getting bigger and then smaller again. I've always found maternity bras useless so just kept on wearing underwires until they got too uncomfy at the weekend. Last time I bought nursing bras late on and they were still hellish uncomfy when my milk first came in. You could wait and just wear a few nursing vests to start off and then purchase bras once things have settled down or go down the bravado route. I got mine in John Lewis today where they have pink ones at half price.

I bought nursing bras at the en dof my pregnancy, ended up stopping at the shops 2 days post birth, with baby in tow on my way back from the hospital to buy bigger ones, then had to go back two days later again when my milk came in properly for bigger ones still.... They never did really fit properly as I am large busted, so I ended up going to bravissimo to be measured later.

I'm still nursing DD now at 24 weeks pregnant, and my boobs have been the same size for an age now, they never went down in size after the initial engorgement, so I am hoping I can use the same nursing bras again. If I get bigger still I'm going to have real problems...

I was advised to buy one for immediate use and then wait for a couple of weeks when the milk comes and your boobs have settled down as it's hard to guess what size you'll be.

I bought a bravado silk nursing bra for my maternity bag. They come in small, medium and large and I got mine at John Lewis. It was £30 which was more expensive than I wanted but I needed something to put in the bag and for immediate wear after the birth.

It was the best thing I bought. Very comfy, more so than any other nursing bras I've tried and my DD is now 11 wks. They are all pretty bad IMO but the bravado one has been the best for me.

My tip, buy two for immediate use as I lived in the bra for the first two weeks- totally gross as it was milk soaked and I was sleeping in it. Also it was hard to get out to get measured properly after the birth (managed it at about six weeks though) so get two just in case.

Also- Lansinoh breast pads for inside the bras. By far the best breast pad. don't bother with any others at first. Would have saved my two weeks of a we bra if I'd known about those

Good luck and congratulations

I bought mine at 37 weeks and it worked well. I got measured in bravissimo where they had me put my fist inside the cups when trying them on and it was actually pretty accurate. I just bought one thinking that if it fit I would order more and if it didn't I'd at least have something to wear when i went back to get measured again. I mostly wore supportive nursing vests for the first week or so but had a baby who fed for an hour at a time every couple of hours and the thought of going shopping and trying stuff on was way beyond me.

wet bra- not we !

I was wearing nursing bras from about 20 weeks as my boobs were hard/ sore etc.

They are not underwired and usually have at least 3 sets of clips at the back to adjust, you may have 'fuller' days than others.

Maybe go for something on the slightly larger side as the support unfortunately is minimal anyway and you will probably be wearing breast pads in there too (stock up on those by the way).

M&S do a good range but their measuring/ sizing is diabolical so just go for what's comfy, or roughly your size. If you plan to breastfeed for a while (situation permitting) you can always go back when your milk settles and get some more.

Happy shopping!

And, if you happen to go into labour when out shopping, hot foot it to the nearest John Lewis/ M&S as they'll send you a lurvely hamper!

I guess it depends on how large you are and how much support you need but I've got maternity/nursing sleep bras from mothercare that come in dress sizes not bra sizes and are super stretchy to just move to one side to nurse.

I agree re bravado very comfortable and no need to be too precise on sizing? Think one girl in my nct group was going bra shopping weekly which perhaps could have been avoided with a more flexible option!

Another Bravado fan here. Buy a couple of their seamless tanks to get you brought the first week or two and then reassess.

Thanks for all the advice! I'll go and have a look tomorrow and maybe get one or two things to carry me over...

Whatever you do, don't go to Mothercare to get measured... Nice bras, but they have NO idea about sizes. Measured me at least 3 cup sizes too small.

At my antenatal class last week, they said it was best not to get measured in advance as there's no way of accurately guessing the end result. They said it's best to get something that will stretch with you - like one of those 'genie' bras or it seems here you can get bravado/mothercare ones - and then get properly measured after milk comes in.

I've been wearing a sports crop-top that was always a little too big pre-pregnancy (ie nowt support) in bed these past few weeks and love the support I've been getting from it - feels like I'm not bouncing around for once! There also seems to be room to grow, so maybe this will help me to start off with...

Thanks for the advice everyone - rather than waste £30 per bra on something which might well be useless depending on what size these bad boys end up, I have opted for some reasonably stretchy crop tops from Primarni for the hospital bag/first days. Plenty of room for growth and easy enough to whip them out for feeding - a bargain at £2.50 each, so not a disaster if they are totally unsuitable and the luminous pink one is really cool.