Nursingwear – necessary or not?

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In a nutshell, “no”.

But, I wear nursing clothes all the time when I have a nursing baby. And since we often wean only in the second trimester of the next pregnancy, I would transition from nursing to maternity wear directly. Actually since we have been blessed with 5 children in 7.5years, I often joke that I am either in nursing wear or maternity wear! But I digress.

Why do I say that nursing wear is not necessary but I wear them all the time? The issue for me is : modesty. Something sadly lacking in today’s supposedly modern and liberated world.

Have you seen the number of pregnant women showing all and sundry their protruding bellies in the name of being proud of their pregnancy? Or worse still (a pet peeve of mine) recently post-partum ladies squeezing into their too tight pre-pregnancy outfits?

Hey! One takes 9 months to get to a certain pregnant weight. One should not expect to lose it all immediately (though one certainly hopes one could!) after we birth. Our cultures reveres youth and slimness to an extreme obsession!

But I digress again…

Back to nursing clothes and modesty. When I had my first child, affordable and nice nursing wear was literally non-existent.

Since I didn’t believe in cooping myself in the house or retreating to a toilet (yucks!) every time I needed to nurse the baby, I had to be innovative in my choice of clothes. I usually wore separates.

And my tops are usually slightly larger than normal tees or shirts. I would then hike up my top and then arrange it so that it did not cover/smother the baby while remaining discreet.

This required much practice as I wanted to show as little skin as possible. This meant that I needed to be able to latch the baby on quickly and to never wait till the baby is wailing his head off and attracting loads of attention to nurse the baby.

I don’t believe in unbuttoning the shirt from the top down (eg. the way breastfeeding posters demonstrate) – again in the name of modesty. We really need not show any part of our boobs when nursing!

Then while pregnant with my second child, I discovered an online nursing store, Moms In Mind. Wow! I thought I was in heaven! Lol! I could now wear normal looking clothes instead of just loose tees and shirts! And wonder of wonders, I could even put on a dress and not need to strip down to nurse my baby!

But the best benefit of all – to me – was that I could now nurse much more modestly than before! No fear of accidentally revealing any part of my body. Of course baby can still lift up the nursing flaps. But generally, it made nursing modestly much more convenient.

So no, while I would say one need not have to have nursing wear, it does make nursing modestly much more convenient.

A disclaimer would be : not all nursing wear are equal. If one chooses to buy nursing tops that are very tight or buys one that is not well cut for your body type, then you can still end up exposing your bosom or your tummy!

An another option for nursing discreetly is to use a nursing bib or a sling. I did not like the nursing bib (which wasn’t available back when I had my first) because it actually called more attention to what I was doing than if I had nursed in a normal top!

Plus my babies all hated to be covered up. So they would try to lift the bib off their bodies when they got older! Nursing in a sling was slightly better but I often felt that it was too hot and I couldn’t master switching sides quickly enough! So in the end, a nursing top or dress was more convenient for me.

Nursing wear need not cost an arm or a leg. Nowadays there are so many online nursing wear stores to buy from or there is always eBay and yahoo auctions to check out. But I would suggest that if you have never worn one before, to get yourself fitted. As mentioned, an ill-fitting nursing outfit is as immodest as a too tight “normal” top.

And to go with this topic – is a nursing bra necessary?

I would say it depends on erm….how well endowed one is. If one is very much blessed in the chest area, then I would suggest that you get a good supportive nursing bra. But if one Is more petite, then it is not necessary.

I started with the drop cup, hook clasp bra and the button front nursing style. Now, being more experienced in nursing, I much prefer the convenience and ease of a “normal” cami style bra. This style has no clasps or buttons to fuss with. I merely push the cups one side and nurse and it goes back in place once nursing is done. This is great for sleep too.

As for whether you need your bras to have underwire or not, it really is a personal preference. But it has been noted that for some women, an underwire bra can contribute to blocked milk ducts! Ouch! So you may have to try and see if it works for you. I personally dislike underwire bras – nursing or not.

So …. happy shopping!

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