Nursing tops/tunics

[Sakura03]

I’m hoping to be able to breastfeed my baby and have just realised I’m going to need easy access to the food supply. Any recommendations for where to get nursing tops and tunics from?

Jojomamanbebe do a nice selection in different styles. I have three dresses and a couple of tops from there and they're really uber comfy. (Currently in second trimester)

I've ordered a couple of mamalicious ones in the sale on ASOS website- they do some nice smart ones that I figure will be good for going out at Christmas with a very small bubba. Think for lounging at home I won't bother with nursing tops so will just buy a few for public appearances!

H and m have a good nursing range.

I didn't wear anything special other than bras. So easy to wear a top and just lift it up, when the baby is feeding nothing to be seen!

Honestly, I wouldn't waste money on special nursing tops. I got a couple, but they're a bit ugly and I rarely wear them.

I bought lots of strappy vests from Tesco. I wear them under normal tops and jumpers. I can lift my top up and feed DS while being covered by vest underneath.

I used a tee shirt back in the day when profiteers weren't trying to shame you into covering up.

I found nursing tops a bit of a faff and pricey. Found it tons easier to wear what I want with a cammi vest top underneath. Lift outer top up, vest down no faff, dress don't feel over exposed

I never bothered with nursing tops. The good old fashioned one up one down works well. I got a load of cheap vest tops at Primark to go under my normal tops.

Didnt not dress

I just bought a stack of strappy vests from primark in different colours a couple of sizes bigger and wore them under my normal clothes. Meant I could just pull them down with the nursing bra and keep the rest of me covered up. Worked a treat.

I prefer the "one up one down" method with normal tops and a stretchy vest top underneath, too.

I bought a 2-pack of Bshirts which I wore lots over the summer and still wear with a shirt or cardie over them.

There is a FB group called "can I breastfeed in it?" where people share their best finds. It's great but a bit dangerous for the bank balance

Personally I don't like nursing clothes that are also maternity clothes with loads of room for a bump. They don't hang right. And just nursing (not maternity) is quite hard to find.

First baby I bought some feeding tops, a lot of the time they were a faff. Third baby I went with stappy vest tops (Primark) under regular tops.

I'd wait to see how you get along with breastfeeding before you spend money on nursing tops. My friend bought loads but they ended up not being used as she really struggled to breastfeed and switched to formula after less than a week. I had a couple from JoJo Maman Bebe. Not cheap usually, but I am fortunate to live near the factory shop and got some bargains!

For me, nursing bra / vest and a lifted Tshirt over it wors best. Had a few nursing tops on the early days but ended up exposing much more woth them.

Second here for cami vest top under a t-shrt. T-shirt up to cover top boob and cami pulled down for nipple access.
I also found nursing tops exposed too much upper boob to feel comfortable!

I bought a couple of nursing bras & breast vests which hid my jiggly post natal tummy when feeding and wore my usual tops.

Agree with others - bf'd first DD for 2 years and 6 months in on dd2 and own a total of 3 bfing tops from h&m but don't really need them tbh. strappy vest under a top you can lift up is great as is a button down dress / shirt. still wearing over bump materity jeans and leggings for comfort and they also cover belly if I forget about the vest top. if you really want some most double up as maternity tops /dresses - jojo outlet sometime have some bargains or h&m also good value

I've been BF my daughter for over 2 years and live in nursing tops. I found the 1-up-1-down really didn't work for me as: I'm tall (so there's no spare room in the strap length to get a boob out); I'm plus size (so finding loose clothes is harder and I felt like I looked like a blob); I like wearing dresses (can't lift up a maxi lol); and I run hot (overheat quickly in the extra layer). So what I'm trying to say is it really depends on your body type and style.

If I had it to do over, I'd get in a few nursing vests (2-3) and a couple of bras and then go shopping later on. I've found that my shape has changed a lot over the last couple years, so even the first ones I bought don't fit right any more.

I like ASOS (on sale), H&M and Purpless (about £10/item). If you're fairly slim (under about a size 12) you can get some really fun bits on Amazon/eBay for cheap. They're shipped direct from China and made for their local market which I think is why their idea of an XXXL is about a UK 14.

Thanks everyone - lots of ideas, not sure the 1-up-1 down top would work for me either as I’ve got large boobs, so perhaps just a couple of cheap nursing tops or normal button down tops until I know if the breastfeeding is working for me. I like jojo maman Bebe and ASOS so if I get the breastfeeding going I might get something from there.

I have H cup boobs and still do OUOD. That's why I do it in fact because they are so big that I like to keep them pretty covered. The key is to get stretchy vests that you can easily pull down under your boobs. Mine are from H&M. Nursing vests don't work over a nursing bra because they all have an elastic support band, plus it's annoying to have to unclip the vest as well as the bra. In the early days at home I just wore nursing vests with no bra, I like my Hot Milk one because you can get the bigger cup version which has a bit more material for containment!

I'm an F cup and ouod worked fine for me. namechange is right though - a nursing vest with a nursing bra is too many clips. I bought a black & a white one of these which I wore pretty much every day in the beginning.

www.breastvest.co.uk

It saves trying to stretch a normal vest down over big boobs. I'm going to be getting a few more this time around too.

Why are the majority of nursing tops also maternity, ie space for bump?! Either you're pregnant still so not nursing, or nursing so no longer pregnant. Even when you still have the big wobbly belly, you want something loose to cover it, not a maternity top that accentuates it! I just don't get it! Sorry to hijack the thread, OP.

Can anyone recommend any nursing tops/dresses that are a 'normal' shape but give boob access?

Ooh thanks namechange and Cracklesfire 😊 good to know it works for big boobs too!

n0ne
I don't know why, but it's very annoying! JoJo do a couple of nursing (non maternity) dresses but most of their stuff is also maternity.
Boob is a brand that does nursing (non maternity) stuff but it's quite expensive.
What annoys me is that so many maternity and nursing clothes have horizontal stripes, as if we want to accentuate our bigger boobs and mum tums

I had GGs pre pregnancy (no idea what I am now and don't want to think about it!) and one up one down works great for me. I use the M&S soft non-wired nursing bras, they come in S/M/L/XL instead of standard bra sizes. So comfortable and easy to work with.