The best maternity sleep bras

If you’re breastfeeding, you’re going to need the best maternity sleep bras. These are slightly different to regular maternity bras. You might not think it now, while you’re pregnant with your lovely big boobs that behave just how they’re supposed to, but wait until your milk comes in.

If you thought you had big boobs now, think again. Full of milk and ready to feed your beautiful new baby, those breasts are going to have a mind of their own. Without a good bra, they’ll be downstairs making a cup of tea while you’re still asleep in bed (albeit for half an hour before your baby wakes up again).

Yes, this is spoken from experience.

Invest in some good sleep bras and they’ll look after those precious milk makers while you try to get some rest. Then, when the baby is ready for another night feed, your nursing sleep bra will allow you to easily and quickly remove a boob for instant feeding.

After giving birth, and onwards if you're breastfeeding, your breasts will continue to change shape; they're working hard to feed your baby, and there's still a lot going on in your body. So the right supportive underwear is important, during the day and the night.

We talk a lot about finding the right position for feeding your baby, and the right underwear is important to make sure you're comfortable while you're breastfeeding. Support and comfort are important 24/7 - before you had your baby, you probably didn't have to worry about looking after your breasts while you sleep. But now, it's more vital than ever that a good sleep bra is supporting you while you rest.

What you need to look for in a good sleep bra

• You'll want a sleep bra that's soft and comfy to sleep in, but also supportive and big enough to allow not only for moving around in your sleep but also for the changing size of your breasts as they fill up with milk before the next feed. So make sure you choose a nursing sleep bra that is flexible, soft, and with room to move.

• Make sure they're not compressing your breasts - you want comfort, and also you don't want to cause blocked milk ducts, which can lead to mastitis.

• Comfort is obviously vital for maternity sleep bras - so definitely don't choose one with underwires, and keep clasps and clips to a minimum. For most sleep bras you can just pull them on, rather than doing them up.

• You also want to make sure there's room inside the sleep bra for breast pads, as you'll likely find that your boobs leak a lot overnight.

With all this in mind, we've rounded up the best maternity sleep bras you can buy today. Ideally get three or four bras, so that you'll have spares when they're in the wash.

The best maternity sleep bras 2023