Breastfeeding
LJUTCMommy
member
FTM Nursing Bra Question
LJUTCMommy
member
I'm a FTM who is currently 34 weeks pregnant. I've purchased a couple basic nursing bras, but I'm planning to buy more about 2 weeks after DD is born since I'll have a better idea of the size I'll need.
Currently, if I'm just hanging out at home or sleeping, I don't wear a bra. Will it be necessary to start wearing a nursing bra 24/7 after DD arrives? If so, what is the benefit/ reason?
I know I'll need the bras when we have guests, visit friends and family, or when we're out in public. I'm a 32 DDD now so I can only imagine what it will look like if I went out in public bra-less with milk boobs.
This discussion has been closed.
Re: FTM Nursing Bra Question
Personally, I prefer no bra. If you're going to be pumping a lot, you might want to wear a hands free pumping bra, or you might need to keep lanolin or something else on sore nipples that a bra could keep from getting on your clothes or hold a breast pad in place.
Also, for the record, my size didn't change.
All of this. When I have to wear a bra I like the looser cotton non-underwire ones or even the nursing tanks with a shelf bra in them. I also spend a lot of time at home on evenings and weekends in Medela sleep bras. I actually tend to get more milk on days when I wear looser bras or no bra.
I wore unlined cotton clip off nursing bras during the day and sleep bras overnight for the first 4 or 5 months. DS had a tongue tie, so I was dealing with cracked bleeding nipples for the first two months. I needed something to hold the gel soothies, shells, or pads on. I could go topless for about 10 minutes after a feeding (to let the nips air out and heal) before I'd be full enough that I'd start leaking. Then it was time to go through the salt soak/vinegar rinse/lanolin/shell routine again. By 4 or 5 months, I was able to go back to wearing my regular lined no wire bras that could be pulled to the side to get a boob out. At almost a year, I still leak enough that I have to wear cotton pads all the time.
FTR I never leaked at all during pregnancy, so the crazy leakiness caught me off guard. I had to use disposable pads for months because I would soak straight through the cotton ones.
Personally if you are nursing you will want nursing instead of regular. You could hike up your cup or pull your boob up and out but to me his was never comfy.
My advice is get a coupl sleep nursing bras is you don't already have them and then wait and see how things go for you after.
DD is 6.5 months old and I still wear pads in my bra (and still leak every night). I don't think I leak more than a drop or two during the day, but I'm paranoid and don't want to explain wet spots on my shirt at work :P
I didn't get fitted for a nursing bra until DD was 5 weeks old. I only bought one, thank goodness, because it doesn't even fit anymore. Everyone has a different experience with changes in chest size, weight loss, etc. I went from a 36B to a 38D (when she was 5 weeks old). I'm one of the lucky ones from a weight loss standpoint, and am 30lbs smaller than I was before I got pregnant, so now I'm closer to a 34C. I just got 2 new bras last week... hoping they last until DD decides to call it quits with nursing.
I thought for sure my boobs couldn't possibly get bigger... aaaaand they did. It took a little while for my milk to come in and they didn't get bigger right away, so I thought I was all set, and then they did.
I never used to wear a bra around the house/to bed, and I don't now, but I need to. Just hard finding a 34J! But I do wear those camisoles with built-in bras, that never really worked for me before because I was too big for them to help, but they are perfect for wearing around the house and to bed. Loose enough that they are comfortable and I can take the boob out to feed and gives just enough support for them to not hurt. That was the big thing for me- if I don't wear something, they hurt too much and it is too uncomfortable. I'm not sure why that happened, but it has to be something to do with the milk, not just the size, since they were always pretty big.