Nursing bra sizes?

[Rachels]

I assume (and in fact keep reading) that I need to have some nursing bras on hand before giving birth, but am confused about how I'll know which sizes to buy. I hear vastly different things about how much breast size changes once your milk comes in. Do you moms who have already had your babies have any advice? Thanks!

[trumansmom]

My favorite nursing bra is the Bravado bra. It's designed like a sports bra which allows for variations of a couple of sizes. I personally went up 3 sizes from my pre-pregnancy bra size, and have found these bras to be extremely comfortable.

Good luck!

[Geebee]

The general advice is to buy one or two nursing bras in your third trimester. What happens after the baby is born appears to be different for different women. My friend kept telling me to go bigger, but I wasted money on a too-big nursing bra. I actually went down in size (especially the rib-cage size) after having my baby because I was retaining so much fluid during pregnancy. And I had plenty of milk.

My advice - buy one or two, and buy more after you get home from the hospital. You could buy some in a couple of different sizes and return what doesn't fit. Or you could send someone to buy you some in different sizes after the baby is born. Just make sure that it is from a place that offers full refunds (and not store credit, like some of those maternity stores).

I hope that helps (or doesn't confuse you more)!