I nursed Toddler Girl for 17 months, weaned while pregnant and have been nursing Wonder Baby for nearly 8 months now, and hopefully many months to go! That’s a long time in nursing bras! I’m a busty girl (32 GG before getting pregnant and it’s only gone up from there) and got very frustrated in my search for a nursing bra that fit well. It’s hard to find one that comes in a large cup/small band to start with (Why is this? Everyone gets bigger when they nurse!), and even harder to find something flattering and comfortable. With Toddler Girl, I gave up after months of frustration and just wore my normal bra out once we could go a few hours between feeds (there’s no way I can nurse in my Freyas!) and a nursing tank at home. This time around I was determined to find something I liked and ordered a bunch of bras to try. Breakout Bras has great prices and a wonderful return policy! So here are all the bras I tried, for those of you who are busty like me, and can’t just wear a coobie all day.
The Winners:
Bravado! Essential Nursing Tank
They don’t make a tank above an F/G, but the sizing is pretty forgiving; you can just go up a band. I wore the 34 F/G during my first pregnancy and after 2 months. I wore a 38 for the first 2 months until my size stabilized. The second time around I was in an underwire in a month. Trying to wear anything tighter in that time gave me plugged ducts (super fun!). These are great. I can’t wear them out of the house due to the cleavage factor, and I can’t wear them under shirts due to the ruching. They are, however, fantastic to sleep in and wear around the house and pretty supportive even at my size, although not perfect. Comfy for maternity with full belly coverage.
Elomi Seamless Underwire Nursing Bra
I wear this bra every day. It has a great fit, a stretchy enough cup to still fit nice when you’re full, and is smooth under t-shirts. A lot of people will tell you not to wear underwires while nursing. This is true for the first bit, but then your body figures out what it’s doing and mastitis isn’t much of an issue if you’re wearing a properly fitted bra. And busty girls do better with an underwire. The wire doesn’t hit my breastbone, but otherwise it’s a good fit.
The Runners Up:
Hot Milk “Her Tangled Web Tantalized” Nursing Bra – This bra is super cute and quite comfy. I like that it has double the normal number of hooks in the back; perfect for maternity! On the downside the straps were too long for me and had hardly any room to tighten them. I also overflow the cup when I’m full. It’s a nice bra, but not for me.
Bravado! Body Silk Seamless Softcup Nursing Bra – I know that a lot of girls love this bra, but it’s not supportive above a D cup. I don’t mind it to sleep in, but it’s not even enough to wear around the house.
The Losers:
At the advice of the girls at my lingerie shop, I bought two Royce nursing bras, the Sadie and the Charlotte. The Sadie actually busted seams on me and I hated them both. They were supportive but made me look super dumpy. Also, they have no give, with means I usually spilled out the top when full, even in the correct cup. I spent a lot of money on these and am very sorry I did.
Hot Milk Luminous Nursing Bra – This is a really pretty bra, and if I was smaller I’d like it. It has a pretty lace detail under the cup, which just ends up being all squished in my size.
Elomi Goddess Soft Cup Nursing Bra – Lots of girls love this bra. I thought it made me look weird.
Bonus:
Since I started running (I finished couch to 5k!) I’ve been loving this underwire sports bra by Panache. It’s the best I’ve ever worn, has almost no bounce with the back converted to racer and it makes me look 10 lbs skinnier — a nice boost (haha) to get me happy to work out. I can’t nurse in it, but I don’t do a lot of nursing while I run. Also, it’s purple!
And that’s the results from my many adventures in nursing bras. I hope it helps you on your shopping adventures!
Do you have a nursing bra that you love?
GOLD / papaya / 10206 posts
I have the Elomi bra and I love the way it supports me and looks under shirts, but I find the clips to clip it down are a real pain. When she was younger and I was just figuring things out, I couldn’t coordinate holding LO, unclipping and saying under my cover (while I was out and about). Other than that, it’s my fave bra.
cantaloupe / 6146 posts
I LOVE that sports bra you showed! I want!
I love my Le Mystere nursing bra (lhttp://www.luvmyundies.com/Le-Mystere-Florence-Animal-Print-Nursing-Bra-P161-p/lmp161.htm). My hotmilk one is only OK ( ). My not-wired one is le-useless. My converted Marie Jo is awesome so long as I am wearing a not super loose shirt (there is no sling so the strap can get “lost” behind my back).
blogger / nectarine / 2010 posts
Love the Bravado Bliss bra. Not a huge fan of the seamless silk; either my shirts are too low cut or it’s too high, but either way, it shows in my v-necks. And not in a cute way.
For sports bras Moving Comfort’s Fiona is AWESOME! Very supportive for busty moms and the shoulders un-velcro for nursing. It’s not a nursing specific bra, but pretty much every review for it talks about how great it is for nursing.
GOLD / pear / 1845 posts
@pastemoo: That looks like a very nice bra, and it doesn’t come in my size. There is a very small range of nursing bras that go above a G cup
@Mrs. Stroller: I heard so many good things about that sports bra, I was disappointed to find that it doesn’t come close to my size.
pear / 1837 posts
Ooh, I will have to check out that sports bra! (I’m a G, and I love recommendations from other ladies on the better-endowed side). I normally exercise in a Freya sports bra.
I used some Anita underwire nursing bras, but they were never very flattering- I’m so glad you posted this info, I’ll definitely bookmark it for when we have LO #2!
guest
I’m a 32G and I absolutely love Bella Materna’s Wirefree Smooth Cup nursing bra. This is the only bra that met all my needs – wirefree, seamless, slightly padded cups but not molded. It is crazy comfortable and so supportive even without the underwire.
guest
Thank you so much for this post! I didn’t have trouble with nursing bras with my first son (now 2.5 years old). Just picked up a few from Target and off I went. But my new guy is three months old, I go back to work in three weeks and am having the darnedest time! Almost nothing fits, and anything that does fit has really disappointed after a day of wear. I went to the website of the shop you suggested and bought two. They arrived yesterday, and I couldn’t be happier! Both fit perfectly, and I’ve been wearing one of them all day and am quite happy with it. Thanks again! I was beginning to lose hope.
guest
THANK YOU, THANK YOU for this post!!! I was a (Freya) 28FF before pregnancy (my first), and at 28 weeks I’ve now outgrown the (Freya nursing) 30GG that I bought. It’s so difficult trying to find other women with the small ribcage-large bust thing going on to get recommendations from! THANK. YOU.
The first bra I tried was the Freya Rosie nursing bra (I foolishly thought that I’d be able to go up a couple cup sizes and keep it through breastfeeding…silly me!), and I wasn’t disappointed with it!
http://www.figleaves.com/us/product/FRA-AA1212/Freya-Rosie-Soft-Cup-Nursing-Bra/?size=&colour=White&noc=1
Supportive, relatively comfortable, and pretty for a nursing bra! I think I’ll try out one of your recommendations this time – even though I liked the Freya, I want to see what my other options are. It’s the first (and only) nursing bra I tried on, and I just didn’t return it because it wasn’t awful. Haha. I so wish that stores carried more bras in sizes for ladies like us!
And random, but…I tend to notice that Freya bands either run a little big, or they stretch easier than other brands do. So I always order a band size down. Have you ever had issues with this??