Nursing tops- are they worth it?

[Scarlettbg]

Hi,
I'm planning to bf and just wondered what others views are on specialist nursing clothes. Obviously I will get some nursing bras but are tops really necessary? I'm hoping I can discreetly bf wearing normal tops or am I being a bit naive? The ones I have seen aren't all that nice and seem quite expensive. Any ideas where to get them if I do decide to invest in a few? Being pregnant is so expensive, I want to avoid buying more specialist clothes after I'm out of my maternity wear if I can! Thanks in advance for any advice. I'm 32+4 so may need to get some some soon!

I never used them. Fed 3 dcs for a year each. But I'm particularly unstylish so just wore practical stuff. You may want to look nice!

I bought nearly all mine from JoJo Maman Bebe. The styles weren't my absolute first choice but they washed really well and I EBF for a year so cost per wear they were great vfm. I wore one virtually every single day after DD born. I'm now 33+5 with #2 and am planning to use them all again. I found they let me feed anywhere and everywhere with discretion, meaning I loved BF and found it a breeze. Compared to cost of formula, steriliser etc I reckon i probably did quite well, come to think of it!

Maybe have a look online for cheaper ones although as I said the JoJo ones wash so well that they pay for themselves.

I only got nursing dresses. I got them from Target and I've been able to wear them even after I stopped nursing. I was always able to deal with nursing when wearing a normal top, though I always wear loose-fitting clothes.

I had a few, but I didn't really like them and found them faffy. They were certainly very different from my usual style.

I much preferred to wear a slim fitting vest underneath (try Primark, loads of colours for £2 - I have several, and it's the only thing I go in Primark for) a slightly loose fitting tshirt. Pull the tshirt up and the vest down to expose boob, feed, and the top tshirt covers the top of your boob while the vests covers your stomach. Worked for me for two years of feeding DC1 - and you get to wear your normal clothes!

I didn't get on with any of the nursing tops I tried. They were far too much faff and not exactly discreet.

I found just wearing a long vest under my regular clothes meant I could pull my top up or down as needed.

For me, it's a no. I bought a couple of h&m ones off ebay and they are such a faff. I have some from mothercare and they are so not my style, I don't know why I thought I'd want to wear them! I wear a strappy vest with the straps quite long, and another top (short or long sleeve, thin layer or a jumper) over the top. Just pull the vest down and top up to feed, so you cover your tummy and chest. Better for the winter months- it is starting to get a bit warm for this combo some days. Think I'll look for some sheerer tops for the warmer months.

I just wore vest tops with a scarf, felt that pulling a top/ jumper up was a bit too faffy so a vest top or low cut wrap style top to pop your boob out of the top, a cardi/ jacket and a floaty kinda scarf is what I lived in! I ebf for well over a year.

OP it seems I'm the odd one out! I'm not very dexterous though so found it hard to manipulate different layers of tops discreetly and quickly

Imo no. Vest under loose top, top push up, vest push down, baby latch on. Vest covers tummy and top covers boobs, baby covers everything else.

Works brilliantly. Especially with summer coming, nursing tops can be very heavy fabric.

I love my nursing tops. i have 4 of the same style from Jojo Maman and a couple from George. Makes me feel more discreet when I am out - I would by one of a certain style first as a few of mine are a bit faffy but some are great and are a firm favourite.

The vest and loose top option doesnt work for me.

I also loved my cover for first few months - I still use it at 6 months but not everywhere as baby not so keen but in some places its tough luck as my comfort is just as important!

For me yes definitely! But not mother care ones - too loose a strap for my liking. I couldn't get hang of vest/top/and bra pulling up and down and in the summer it was too hot.

I did find with my two that in the early days/weeks naked is best, you need to see the nipple and mouth and discretely BF early on was a major non discreet faff.

Second the cheapy primark vests, layered under another top and a light scarf. Loads cheaper and much easier to match your personal style

Firmly in the no camp here, always felt like they might go wrong and I'd be accidentally flashing boob in the street . Plus they were quite expensive.

Went to asda got a load of cheap vests and boob tubes and wore underneath any old stretchy top. I found the much more discrete and I'm still wearing the 'over' tops now.

Hi all, thanks for the advice. I'd honestly never thought of the vest and normal top combo and I was a bit worried about showing off my post natal tummy to the world. I'm no trendsetter but do have my own style and can't wait to wear my own clothes again tbh! I'm hoping we will get a nice spring and summer when I'm on maternity leave and I'll be able to sit in a vest top in the sunshine and feed.

I had a couple but don't really wear them anymore mainly because they are a bit frumpy!

I do have some nursing vests from h and m which come in multi packs and come in a range of colours, are nice fabric, good value and are quite long to hide my post pregnancy belly! (I also have some jojo maman Bebe ones which were very expensive and the fabric is too thick and seems to pick up the fluff from my jumpers!) I just wear either nursing vests or normal vest tops underneath jumpers and do the pull down pull up method everyone else has described.

I do miss wearing dresses though as this method doesn't work with dresses. Haven't found any nursing dresses stylish enough to wear- I was never a massive fan of cross over/ wrap dress styles which seem to be the only option.

Another vote for JoJo tops and dresses. Have seen me through two pregnancies and 1 year and 8 months of BF so far - daily wearing, constant washing, they look like new.

I couldn't take to the vest-and-another top system. It's more of a faff IMO and I didn't fancy buying a lot of vests I'd never use again, and I get too hot with two layers on anyway. Also you are washing 2 items of clothing not one. BF tops look smarter ime.

Hth

I bought the blooming marvellous simple nursing vest tops and they were great, wore and washed them to death and they are still fine. The thing I liked about them as well is that they are longer than normal vest tops so made me less conscious and of my post baby tummy - didn't care if anyone caught a flash of boob after a while anyway, you just get used to it - most people look away anyway when seeing someone latching.

I bought lots and lots of H&M cheap vest tops in a slightly bigger size and mainly just layered up for feeding (I.e. nursing bra, vest top and looser top on top). Found this to be more discreet than proper nursing tops.

Yes, I lived in nursing tops while bf for two years. I bought some from h&m and mothercare, they are no different looks wise to my normal tops as they had a variety of colours and styles to choose from.

Yes I've lived in mine for the past 4 years (2 babies) and I don't deal with layers and vests well when I do wear ordinary clothes. As someone who feeds everywhere I need to (often on public transport and walking down the high st with the baby in sling) I do need easy access! Best tops I found are Momzelle.

bought some and didn't get along with them - either too fiddly, or just flapping open all the time. Just any long top underneath another did the trick very nicely. Cheaper as well.

oh and a tip - get vest tops with adjustable straps, so if you find them fiddly, lengthen the straps and just wear the bottom top under the boobs. (the one on the photo is special open bust top, but you can do it with any strappy top.)

Thanks for the tip HazleNutt.