Nursing Bra
A good nursing bra can make all the difference to a nursing mom, providing support, improving comfort, and making breastfeeding easier and more accessible. A good nursing bra will make your customer feel and look her best. She may even wear it out of your store, so happy to have found the right bra for her.
So how do we help your customer find the bra she needs? A nursing mother will need a variety of bras for different uses and occasions and depending on what stage of her pregnancy or breastfeeding she is in. Successful stores offer their customers a variety of nursing bra styles to properly fit many shapes and sizes and accommodate the ever-changing nursing breast.
There are three important features that go into a good nursing bra—fit, function, and fashion. Understanding these features is the key to helping your customer find the right bras for her.
Fit
Fit is the number one factor to focus on when choosing nursing bras for your store. The size of a nursing breast can fluctuate many times during the day so it is important to ask your customer to consider when they last nursed and also to remember that they may need to leave room for a nursing pad.
There are several phases a woman may be in when she is looking for her bra.
A woman in early to mid pregnancy may find her pre-pregnancy bras too tight. A nursing bra can be a good choice for her, since she can find a better fit and may be able to get use out of her bra during breastfeeding. Ideally, a woman will be fit for her first nursing bras during the final stage of pregnancy—around 38 weeks. At this point, we can take her band size and recommend that she go up at least one full cup size for when her milk comes in. For this stage, we focus on comfort and ease above all. Ideally, she will be looking to purchase at least two non-underwire nursing bras. Supportive fabrics that allow for stretch and easy care are the best choices for a new mom.
Your customer may also be a mom who is already breastfeeding an infant or has a baby some weeks, months, or years into breastfeeding. This customer may be looking for a bra for everyday or for a special occasion, for nighttime or even for fitness. For the customer who is already nursing, we can look to a few different features of a nursing bra to provide the best fit.
- A nursing bra cup should always be comfortable and not too tight, providing support while not squashing the breast tissue.
- Fabric, especially for a newly nursing mom, should allow for breast change—ideally cotton and micro fiber soft cup bras.
- Bands should be snug, but not tight, and support the breasts from the back rather than pulling down on the shoulders.
- Once breastfeeding is established, a woman can use an underwire bra for daytime wear.
It is a good investment to ensure that your staff received training from the nursing bra suppliers and also from bra fitters to be able to offer your customers a high quality of service. Different suppliers will size their pieces differently—some nursing bras are sized using band and cup sizes and others small, medium, large etc., each encompassing a range of sizes, so it is important to provide staff with sizing information for each brand.
Function
Key features of a nursing bra that relate to its function are openings, fabric care, and adjustability.
Some nursing bras open from snaps or zippers at the centre or below the cup, while others open at the top of the cup. There are soft cup bras designed to be lifted above the breasts or pushed to the side. Choice is based on the preference of the customer, since all openings have their benefits and offer your customer a variety, which again is the key. More important than where the opening is found, is the ease of opening and the quality and strength of the clip, zipper, or snap. The bra will be opened countless times—and it is very important that our customer be able to unfasten and fasten the bra easily, since she will often be doing so with her hands full.
Fabric care is an important consideration, particularly in the initial phase of breastfeeding where our customer is caring for an infant. A new mom does not want to spend too much time caring for her garments. It is important to point out fabric care to customers so that they do not damage their pieces unintentionally.
Look for bras for that offer adjustability. The size and shape of a nursing breast is always changing—because of this your customers will need to adjust their bras many times during the day. Simple to adjust straps allow women to adjust the fit of the bra on one side after nursing easily, without having to remove their bra to tighten straps from the back.
Fashion
Not to be overlooked, fashion is very important to your customers at all stages of breastfeeding. Fashion is the feature of a bra that is often the easiest to sell. Your customers are looking for a nice looking bra. There is no reason that a nursing bra needs to sacrifice style for function. Today's nursing mom is able to wear beautiful bras.
There are a variety of options in terms of fashion. Fabric types, color, and bras that have lace and other accents are always a wonderful addition to any nursing bra selection. Your customers will be thrilled to see there is a pretty option and the eye catching designs will also add some style to your display and grab the customers' attention. Another wonderful addition to your selection are bras that are seam-free and smoothing, hiding nipples and nursing pads when necessary, and bras that are demi-cut to allow your customer to wear v-neck and wrap tops without her nursing bra showing through.