Nursing Days (What to Wear)

Jun 22, 2011 by desiringvirtue

Let me begin by getting a simple truth out there: breastfeeding is hard. Can I get some “Amens!”? It requires time, energy, commitment, and so much more. (Notice the very large mocha frappe I’m holding?)

Nursing your children is a marvelous way to lavish sacrificial love on them. It is natural. It is beautiful.

But sometimes it doesn’t feel very natural and sometimes it doesn’t feel very beautiful.

I nursed Elliot for 6  months and Hudson for almost 8. I am hoping that our next baby will make it to the coveted 1 year marker, but know that a whole year is a lot harder than the magazines and books lead you to believe!

Now that I am no longer nursing my sweet little Hudson, I thought I would share my favorite and most helpful breastfeeding items. These are all items that I have worn and loved. They are items that made breast feeding easier and more enjoyable.

The Bra

At the heart of breast feeding is a great nursing bra. I have tried a lot of nursing bras from Walmart, Target, Gap Maternity, to online companies. By far, my favorite nursing bra out there is made by a company called Bravado!. While it is true that Bravado! is not the cheapest option out there, the quality just can’t be beat.

These bras are comfortable and well made. I will introduce you to the two that I have used:

1. Bravado! Seamless Nursing Bra. This bra is SO comfortable. It was my pajama bra… and sometimes daily bra. It is wireless, so it may not have the support you desire for every day use, but the comfort is well worth the cost. Trust me.

Something unique to this nursing bra is that it has removable foam lining in each cup. They are like small shields that you can insert (or take out) to keep your nursing pads from showing through to your shirt. I never used them, but many of the people who reviewed this bra on Amazon really loved them.

2. Bravado! Women’s Allure Underwire Nursing Bra. This is the nursing bra that doesn’t look like a nursing bra. It gives you that little “pretty” under your clothes that you start to miss when you are nursing. It offers great support and helps to hide those lines caused by your nursing pads. This is because the material of the cup is an interesting nylon blend that acts as a barrier between your nursing pads and shirt. The great thing about this material is that, though it is thicker, it doesn’t lose its shape or get odd wrinkles after you fold it down (to nurse) many, many, many times.

The Tank

I was once told that layering is the key to modest/comfortable nursing. This is so true. Wearing a tank top under your shirt can give you that tummy coverage you desire while still providing easy access for your little one. The only down side to wearing a nursing tank under your shirt is that you are then face with twice the amount of “buckles/clips” to undo and then redo every nursing session. First comes the tank, then comes the bra and before you know it, you have forgotten the bra clip and you’re walking around looking like you have a strange growth coming out of your chest!

I was so happy to find a nursing tank that would actually serve as a bra and tank top without giving me that uniboob action that most shelf-bra tank tops produce! Of course it was created by Bravado! (One of my all time favorite companies as you can see). This tank is designed to give you the convenience of a nursing tank with the support of a bra.

This tank can also be a very comfortable and convenient sleep shirt (giving you the freedom of not wearing a nursing bra to bed. I found myself wearing my Bravado! Essential Nursing Bra Tank over and over again, and still occasionally don it due to its comfort factor.

*I do not recommend wearing this tank on its own in public or with the bust exposed as it is rather immodest and serves better underneath a complete shirt.

The Nightgown

When it comes to nursing at night, you want to make the task as easy and quick as possible. This is where my favorite nursing nightgown comes in. It is made by Eve Alexander and has a couple advantages over other nightgowns on the market.

The most important quality about this nightgown is the fact that it actually keeps you all contained throughout the night. The construction of the bodice provides easy no-clip access while keeping you from “falling out” throughout the night. Another nightgown that I bought which was similar to this one was not helpful in this manner. Throughout the night I would have to “readjust” which interrupted the little sleep I should have been getting.

I can’t tell you how much I LOVED not having to deal with a buckle/clip in the middle of the night to nurse. With this nightgown all you have to do is slide over one side of your bodice and you are ready to nurse. Because this nightgown keeps everything “in place” you can actually go without a nursing bra altogether and simply attach your nursing pads to the inside of your gown.

This nightgown is made out of a thin material that gets really soft after only a few washes. I will admit it is not the most fashionable nightgown out there, and if you wear your nursing pads directly under the gown they will show through. For this reason I typically wore a light robe over mine before bed time or wore a bra under it until I actually went to sleep. The nightgown is just so incredibly comfortable and convenient that fashion took a back seat on this one!

The Nursing Pad

Traditional:

Oh nursing pads… how I despise thee! Disposable nursing pads are expensive and a pain, but the protection they offer compared to cloth pads is not even worth comparing. That being said, some disposables are better than others and it really stinks to end up with a big box of nursing pads that create an embarrassing ring around your nipple when worn under clothing! While no disposable nursing pad is perfect I have found that there is one that stands out among the rest and it is made by Lansinoh. They are very thin and slightly curved so that it doesn’t look like you are wearing a coaster under your bra. They also have a nice adhesive strip to keep them secure during nursing sessions.

Something Different:

A product that I really enjoyed using was LilyPadz. This product works differently than the traditional nursing pad. Rather than absorb the milk your breasts let out throughout the day these pads keep any milk from coming out at all (if applied correctly). While I do not recommend using these on a day to day basis, they can be really helpful for times when you can’t wear disposable nursing pads. Situations that Lilypadz might come in handy would include under a swim suit, an evening gown, under a negligee, etc.. Basically any time you don’t want to be constrained by the bulkiness of a disposable nursing pad! They work really well and give you a little bit of freedom every once in a while.

The reason I don’t recommend using them in substitute of the more traditional pads is because my skin tended to get very dry when I would wear them for days at a time. For one day or one night every once in a while these are well worth the cost. Each set will last for about a month and even more if your usage is sporadic.

 

 

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