High quality but inexpensive nursing tops

January 7, 2021 3:26 AM

Nursing and formerly-nursing MeFites, I need your recommendations. Babe 2 will make her grand entrance in 3-5 weeks and this time around I want to be better prepped for life as a nursing mom with a small but good quality selection of nursing friendly tops lined up.

Buying more crap at Target every 6 weeks "just to get through for a bit" was my unintended and eco-disaster strategy last time. I always looked and felt...blergh. I nursed for 20 months and plan to go the same timespan or longer this time, so if I can buy some items that will go that distance I'd be really pleased. Shirts, camis, and bras that don't make me feel saggy are all needed. Nothing underwire please, it just caused leaks last time. If you can recommend a light-duty sports bra for family hikes that lets me run after child #1 I'd be very grateful.

I don't really need anything super formal, I'll be in the office 1-2 days a week but jeans or twill pants and a nicer top are more than enough there. My non-pregnant wardrobe does include cardigans and some shirts that button all the way down already. Climate is northeast USA.

posted by The Librarian to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (15 answers total)

I had a very hard time finding actually nice nursing tops (both in terms of quality and design). At first that stressed me out, but then after a few weeks I realized that I didn't actually like using any of the nursing tops I had bought and preferred to just hike up whatever shirt I was wearing. I say this only because if your goal is to look/feel good, then maybe consider just buying tops you really like and working around them for nursing? Of course, your comfort level may be different -- I didn't do a lot of nursing in public places, so it wasn't a big deal to just hike/open a shirt and my kid didn't mind having a muslin blanket draped over her. I did like the Kindred Bravely French Terry nursing bras -- even as a large-chested woman I still wore them in public and felt sufficiently supported and wildly comfortable.
posted by Mrs. Rattery at 4:20 AM on January 7, 2021

I liked my shirts and dresses from Latched Mama quite a bit. https://latchedmama.com/
posted by john_snow at 5:19 AM on January 7, 2021

I loved the Bravado seamless nursing bras so much that I kept wearing them till they wore out, long after weaning. Over the Bravado, I wore a Uniqlo Airism camisole, and then whatever shirt I wanted. Your shirt lifts up, the cami stretches so you can just pull down on one side, unhook Bravado. This arrangement leaves very little exposed skin so it works in any setting. Airism is light enough that I wore this setup even in summer.
posted by xo at 5:47 AM on January 7, 2021

I usually wore a t-shirt that could be pulled up and a loose button shirt over it, so I could adjust as needed. I always had a flannel blanket that I could use for coverage if necessary.
posted by theora55 at 5:55 AM on January 7, 2021

Came here to recommend the Bravado seamless nursing bra. So comfy I also kept wearing mine after finishing nursing.
posted by omnie at 5:59 AM on January 7, 2021

I liked the tulip style tops, personally, particularly for breastfeeding out in the world--getting recombobulated was super easy.

H&M occasionally has some cute things; I had one top that I got complemented on. Here's what they've got at the moment.
posted by damayanti at 6:21 AM on January 7, 2021

OMG, +1 for Latched Mama! Not being sure what would work on my body type, I ordered a ton and returned about half but the stuff I kept, I basically lived in for two straight years and it all wore like IRON. Extremely high quality for a very reasonable price point, and it was SO amazing to be able to wear cute dresses in summer and truly feel like a woman and a sexy one at that, and not just a schlumpy, saggy mom (I did what you did with my first kid, coasting by on cheap stuff from Target, and extremely regretting it the entire time). I also have a hoodie from there that is so cozy and so flattering (feels so wrong to say that) that I still wear it regularly even though I'm more than a year out from nursing.
posted by anderjen at 7:40 AM on January 7, 2021

Two recommendations:
Gap nursing - found a bunch of my favorite sweatshirts and dresses here for nursing. Currently a lot of it is on sale too.

This one is more expensive - Seraphine - but they often have sales and their quality honestly cannot be beat in this space.

If I were you, I'd stock up on inexpensive Gap stuff with one or two Seraphine items to pull out when I'm feeling bleh.

I have had less luck with Latched Mama compared to some of the others - I'm pretty busty though so the looks just weren't flattering / made me feel kind of unfinished. YMMV.
posted by peacheater at 7:59 AM on January 7, 2021

Heartily nth the recommendation for Bravado nursing bras. I personally like the Buttercup.
posted by potrzebie at 9:07 AM on January 7, 2021

This is my favorite nursing top when I have to leave the house. It's technically a maternity top, but the top unbuttons for nursing.

I also like this for more casual settings, if it's your style. I was skeptical but just bought anything that looked decent on Amazon and it ended up being super flattering and cozy.

I have one blouse I got from Motherhood Maternity that's a faux wrap shirt, but really any wrap shirt would be great for nursing.

Other than that, I wear Target maternity tanks because they're super stretchy and easy to pull down for nursing.

I ordered a TON of things from H&M and they were all atrocious so don't waste your time.

They also have StichFix boxes that are maternity and nursing-friendly - a former coworker swears by them! It kind of depends on the stylist you get though. If you haven't tried them before, make sure you get a promo code for a heavy discount/risk-free initial order.
posted by DoubleLune at 11:17 AM on January 7, 2021

I am a believer in pull-up tops for nursing. So I found that almost any non-snug or stretchy top worked well.
posted by SLC Mom at 11:42 AM on January 7, 2021

I'm another that didn't so much like nursing tops as much as I liked stretchy t-shirts that I just pulled up. But, I also had my baby this year, so I wasn't going out at all and didn't have to worry about modesty. Putting a wrap over my baby wouldn't have worked because I have the grabby-handiest of babies but I know many people that just did t-shirt plus scarf/shawl/wrap.

I did really like the Kindred Bravely bras. The terry one I only wore at night but some of the others worked great during the day. I don't think they were very office-appropriate, but again, I've been working from home because of Covid so it didn't matter to me.
posted by epanalepsis at 12:09 PM on January 7, 2021

I use just my regular shirts and blouses, especially for pumping at work, and either unbutton or pull up depending on the style. I do have a couple of these Undercover Mama nursing tanks that I use when I’m worried I’m going to be cold with my shirt undone or when I’m out with my toddler and want more coverage nursing in public. You can use them with any nursing bra that as those clips at the strap (so most non-sleep nursing bras).
posted by radiomayonnaise at 4:08 PM on January 7, 2021

Thanks all. I'm also now remembering that I won't really know my true cup size or waist size until several weeks (months?) after birth and buying a ton of stuff now is just pointless.

For now I wound up buying a Bravado bra and some of the Undercover mama tanks (less straps sounds amazing), and I'll steal my husband's flannel shirts for a while. Once things have calmed down size wise I'm planning some orders from many of these places, especially Gap and LatchedMama, and I think I'll try the StitchFix option too.

I know the light tank top to pull down/stretchy t-shirt to pull up is always an option, but frankly I hate it. I'm pretty excited about buying some things with side-access that won't result in a huge uncomfortable bunch of fabric above my boobs.
posted by The Librarian at 3:17 AM on January 8, 2021

There are some very cute options in this etsy store!
posted by kitarra at 2:04 PM on February 7, 2021