After Trying Every Nursing Bra I Could Find, These Two Were the Only Ones I Kept

Nobody warns you about the bra drawer chaos that comes with a new baby.

One week, you’re happily wearing your regular bras. Next, you’re in a full-blown identity crisis trying to figure out what “nursing-friendly” even means, while panic ordering five different bras online, hoping just one will work.

Then they arrive. One digs into your ribs. Another rolls up at the band. And another somehow requires an engineering degree to unclasp while your baby’s crying at 3 a.m.

I went through that trail, so you don’t have to. With National Breastfeeding Month here, I wanted to share the two bras that earned a permanent spot in my rotation.

Thirdlove: The Brand I Wish I’d Known About Sooner

I first discovered Thirdlove through other moms in my pre- and postnatal Pilates classes. They couldn’t stop talking about how comfortable the brand was, so I ordered my first bra, and I’ve been a fan ever since. 

What sold me: Thirdlove wear-tests on real women, not just one “standard” shape. They offer sizes AA–H, including half cups – making it much easier to find a comfortable fit during a stage (hello postpartum) when your body seems to change every week.

Here are the two nursing styles I reach for every single day.

Cotton Underwire Nursing Bra ($72)

This is my everyday favorite on days I want to leave the house looking like a person. It’s Thirdlove’s classic T-shirt bra shape, but nursing-friendly, so it gives me that smooth, no-lines-under-my-shirt look while still having the clip-down feature. 

The underwire is poke-free (I was skeptical too), and the extra row of hook-and-eye closures has been a lifesaver for the size fluctuations of the postpartum months. 

It’s soft, stretchy cotton, so it doesn’t feel stiff or “medical” the way some underwire nursing bras do. It feels like the bra I’d have chosen before becoming a mom – it just happens to make nursing incredibly easy.

Organic Cloud Cotton Wireless Nursing Bra ($68)

This is my 2am-feeding bra. I sleep in it, nursing pads and all.

It’s wireless, made from soft organic cotton, and it has that extra row of hook-and-eyes too (which matters more than you’d think postpartum!).

The clip-down cups make one-handed nursing or pumping genuinely easy, even half-asleep. It has built-in foam cups that give just the right amount of support so I still feel lifted enough through the day, while feeling incredibly soft against sensitive skin. Especially after birth, when my breasts felt incredibly sensitive, and even the slightest touch or movement could hurt, this bra felt protective and comfortable to wear.

The Underwear Nobody Tells You You’ll Need

Underwear is something I never really thought about before giving birth – but after a C-section, anything with a waistband sitting on my incision was pure misery.

I went up a size in my normal underwear and tried the ones that claim to be “high-waisted comfort,” but nothing really worked until Thirdlove’s Comfort Stretch Brief ($24).

The difference was immediate. The soft, four-way stretch fabric sat smoothly without digging in or putting pressure on my scar, making it one of the few pairs I actually wanted to wear during those first weeks of recovery.

Once I healed a bit, I branched out into the rest of the ComfortStretch line, but in those early postpartum weeks, the brief was non-negotiable. 

Final Thoughts

Nobody really prepares you for how logistical new motherhood is – feeding, sleep, even just what-am-I-wearing.

Having two bras that I could rely on every day took one small thing off the pile, so I could focus on the only thing that actually matters: the baby in my arms.

If you’re due soon, or you know someone who is: put this on the registry. Recovery isn’t glamorous, but this makes it dramatically more manageable, and it’s the kind of gift that actually gets used, every single day (unlike the fifth swaddle blanket).

Take the 2-minute Fitting Room Quiz and let Thirdlove point you toward your size. Trust me, it beats ordering a pile of bras and hoping one fits.

You’ve got enough to figure out right now — your bras shouldn’t be one of them. Take Thirdlove’s 2-minute Fitting Room Quiz and let them find your fit for you