Do I need to buy a nursing bra for hospital??

[X5OT]

Was wondering when I should go and get measured for a nursing bra, and what the rest of you are doing about this? My cup size has remained exactly the same all throughout my pregnancy (bummer!), although I have gone up from a 34C to a 38C. I am now 36 weeks (pretty much!) and hospital bag is packed, but the last item to go in is a 'nursing bra'. I'm wondering whether I should go and get one now (just a cheapy one from Mothercare) in my current size, or whether to bother with getting one at all until I come out of hospital. I've been told that when your milk comes in after about 3 days your breasts can expand hugely, so I don't want to waste money buying nursing bras now, in the knowledge that they may not fit at all after the birth.

I really have no idea what to do ...

Any advice appreciated!

Thanks in advance

 

[LinsG]

Hi, I've been wondering what to do about this myself. I did hear somewhere that you should go at about 38 weeks to be measured for one, so i think i might do this but only buy one, as i'm sure they will get sooo much bigger!

 

[annem]

its on all the check lists i've found. I'm just getting two to take to the hospital and then i can return the 2nd one if its too small

 

[fothers]

The woman in M&S told me to come and get measured 2w or so before due date for nursing bras- I assume with their experience they will judge how huge your watermelons will get

 

[denice]

hi, as a lingerie section manager at m&s, i can tell you that its good to get measured, however, we can only estimate the size, what we usually advise is a band size 1 size smaller then you are during pregnancy, and then 2 cup sizes bigger, as your milk comes in and you need to fit your breast bads in to. hope that helps.

 

[X5OT]

Many thanks for the helpful info girls! I think I'm just going to wait a couple more weeks, hopefully baby wont arrive tooo early, and buy one nursing bra. Then get measured again a few weeks after the birth. I don't want to waste money on bras that aren't going to fit in a few weeks.

 

[clairescunny55]

my boob size didnt really alter until my milk came in about 3-5 days after birth, you should be out of hospital by then anyway so buy some bigger ones for then. xx

 

[leckershell]

The woman in M&S told me to come and get measured 2w or so before due date for nursing bras- I assume with their experience they will judge how huge your watermelons will get

I bought mine in advance.

They said to me to take my 36 weeks size, take away a number and add a letter. This for me was... at 36 weeks I was a 36b. This turned into a 34c through their calculations. This for me was too small but made do for the first couple of weeks. I then went back and got properly measured once my milk had come in and evened out a bit and I could have fit 36d/38c.

So I have 2 bras in 36d and 2 bras in 34c. I bought a double hook bra extender on ebay which boosts my 34 bras up to the right back size so that they weren't wasted.

Hope that helps? If you end up with a size that's too small in number, you can get the bra extenders for like £1.50, and that saves throwing away the bras. When you are breastfeeding your size changes throughout the day anyway, so at some point, whichever bra size you get is either going to feel too small before a feed or too big afterwards. I'd probably suggest getting a bra extender in anyway - I've found it useful to have

x

 

[annem]

The woman in M&S told me to come and get measured 2w or so before due date for nursing bras- I assume with their experience they will judge how huge your watermelons will get

I bought mine in advance.

They said to me to take my 36 weeks size, take away a number and add a letter. This for me was... at 36 weeks I was a 36b. This turned into a 34c through their calculations. This for me was too small but made do for the first couple of weeks. I then went back and got properly measured once my milk had come in and evened out a bit and I could have fit 36d/38c.

So I have 2 bras in 36d and 2 bras in 34c. I bought a double hook bra extender on ebay which boosts my 34 bras up to the right back size so that they weren't wasted.

Hope that helps? If you end up with a size that's too small in number, you can get the bra extenders for like £1.50, and that saves throwing away the bras. When you are breastfeeding your size changes throughout the day anyway, so at some point, whichever bra size you get is either going to feel too small before a feed or too big afterwards. I'd probably suggest getting a bra extender in anyway - I've found it useful to have

x

thanks for that i think i've followed it

 

[leckershell]

That was what Mothercare told me anyhow... lol

 

[lio]

I bought 2 yesterday in M&S. I got 1 size bigger, because i read that your breasts will be approximately 1 size bigger, when milk comes. But if you buy in M&S you have 90 days to return it anyway, So if it doesn't fit, i will just take it back, as long as you have receipt.