A good night's rest is important for everyone, and even more so for women and girls, their beauty and health. Often representatives of the fair sex sleep in a bra and worry whether it is harmful. Let's try to figure it out.

Is it possible to sleep in a bra: pros and cons

Cancer risk

All doctors, especially mammologists, are against sleeping in tight underwear. According to statistics, breast cancer occurs in those who sleep in a bra 10 times more often than in those who go into the arms of Morpheus without it. Bones and foam inserts, which create a greenhouse effect, are especially harmful. Discomfort increases when sleeping on your side or stomach, and chest compression interferes with normal sleep.

Impaired blood supply and growth

Doctors do not recommend constantly wearing a bra even during the day until you are 18 years old.. What can we say about the night, when the body recovers, relaxes and grows. But how can breasts grow if they are imprisoned in a tight bra? If you want your breasts to grow faster, sleep without a bra. Moreover, in addition to slow growth, pinching blood vessels can only lead to disastrous consequences.

Sleep disturbance

A tight bra can cause disturbances at night: the underwires resting on the ribs will leave a mark not only on the body, but also on the safety of sleep. What about women who sleep in bras for fear of heaviness in their sleep? They don't have to worry - the heaviness of the breasts will not interfere with nighttime comfort, since they won't even feel it.

"Zap Syndrome"

The bra clasp puts pressure on the same place in the back, thereby causing pain in exactly this place of the spine. Do you think wearing it around the clock helps prevent this syndrome? Of course not.

Decreased breast sensitivity

Remember that feeling when you sit for a long time at work and your lower back stops feeling anything due to the pressure on it? The same situation applies to breasts that are in a permanent corset. Over time, the breast gets used to the pressure and loses sensitivity. Do you want to lose one of the most important erogenous zones? Hardly.

Pregnancy and breastfeeding

During pregnancy, many women stop taking off their underwear for fear of deterioration in the shape of their breasts. A good, properly selected maternity bra has room for growth, but even that cannot be worn around the clock. Moreover, the sensitivity of pregnant women increases greatly, and at the end of the day there is often a desire to take off all their clothes. This option is, of course, preferable. But if you still don't want to completely empty your breasts at night, look for bras specifically designed for sleep.

New mothers are probably the biggest proponents of sleeping in a bra because of the need to feed their baby at night. They often use special breast pads to prevent milk from leaking. Such inserts need to be put somewhere. In addition, even if there are no problems with milk secretion, the sensitivity of the nipples is so high that any contact with bedding causes discomfort. And night pajamas or a nightgown will not solve the problem, since they also create unpleasant friction, although not as rough as with bed linen. Therefore, a nursing mother simply needs a comfortable bra, even at night. And air baths between changing clothes will help prevent cracking of the nipples.

This bra makes it convenient to feed your baby without taking off your underwear

Which bra to choose for sleeping

For sleep, many companies produce special knitted or cotton tops that resemble sports ones. An alternative to regular bras can be T-shirts made from the same materials, with an internal insert for the chest. However, be sure to try on and choose the right size before purchasing. Under no circumstances take a smaller one, even if you have always taken this size of underwear. Taking care of your health at night is just as important as taking care of your appearance during the day!

A few words for those who believe that you need to look perfect for your loved one at night: do not strive to show yourself in all your glory both day and night. A man must understand your condition. If you always want to look attractive, beautiful negligees made of soft fabric will help you.

A soft bra does not restrict your breasts while you sleep

If you want to keep your skin looking its best, you may want to consider anti-wrinkle night bras. They are designed to prevent their formation in the décolleté area. It is still difficult to judge the effectiveness of such a wardrobe item - the invention is quite new.

Anti-wrinkle sleep bra prevents the skin in the décolleté area from wrinkles

A properly chosen bra is like high-heeled shoes, beautiful and comfortable. But even in beautiful shoes, no one thinks of going to bed. Why does a bra evoke such desire? The myths that this helps keep breasts in shape are unfounded; no one has yet been able to prove this. But the increased risk of breast cancer is very real.

Beautiful female breasts always attract attention, give confidence and are a symbol of sexuality. During pregnancy and childbirth, significant changes occur in the mammary glands, which can ultimately lead to loss of shape and firmness. A properly selected bra after childbirth will help correct some imperfections and prevent unwanted breast changes. How to choose the right one and what products are there?

Read in this article

Do you need a bra after childbirth?

Opinions vary on whether or not to wear a bra during pregnancy and childbirth. Moreover, for each statement you can find a sufficient number of convincing arguments. Undoubtedly, the approach should be individual in each specific case, because the size, shape, predisposition to changes in the mammary glands, posture and condition of the chest and back muscles are different for everyone.

The bra is used not only for aesthetic purposes. Properly selected underwear performs a number of important functions for a woman’s body.

The main ones include the following:

• The bra supports the breasts. This is especially important for those with “significant advantages”, as well as with rapid enlargement of the mammary glands during pregnancy. Young mothers, who have significant milk production, every now and then notice how their breasts fill up. And, in accordance with the laws of physics, under the influence of gravity the usual “sagging” of the mammary glands occurs. As a result, “empty zones” are formed, especially noticeable after the end of lactation.

If a girl regularly uses properly selected underwear, this effect can be avoided to some extent. And if you also alternate breasts when feeding, then the mammary glands will change, but in parallel and insignificantly.

• For those with a small size, this is not so much of a threat. But if the mammary glands have significantly increased in size, then the load on the shoulder girdle and pectoral muscles will increase by the same amount. If a girl did not purposefully train them before pregnancy, she cannot escape the feeling of heaviness and aches in these areas. Therefore, it is advisable to use underwear after childbirth for this group of women.
• It is also important to choose the right underwear for girls who have problems with the spine, for example, scoliosis, etc.
• This way you can avoid overstraining individual muscle groups. After pregnancy during lactation, the intensity of sweating in girls changes.

If you use bras made from natural fabrics, you can prevent irritation and diaper rash in the most “tight” places. Linen, absorbing liquid, will prevent this.

Of course, enlarged mammary glands, and sometimes they “jump” by 3 to 5 sizes, give a girl’s figure a special silhouette. But if you choose the right underwear, your breasts will look like an asset, and not add another five years to your age.

Whether or not to wear underwear during pregnancy and lactation is up to each woman to decide for herself. Those with a small size can afford this without consequences.

It is also important that during pregnancy the girl gains no more than 7 - 9 kg, and that after the baby is born, milk flows evenly throughout the day, without overfilling or stretching the glands.

How to choose a bra

• In order for underwear to have only a positive effect, not bring a feeling of discomfort, and especially not contribute to stagnation of milk, it must be selected correctly.
• Before deciding which bra to buy after childbirth, you should take note of the following recommendations: It is better to give preference to products consisting of at least 70 - 80% natural fabrics. Additions of elastane and other synthetics will give the underwear pliability when worn, but at the same time it will not stretch excessively over time.

Bras with a push-up effect are better off waiting.

• Firstly, wearing them is generally not recommended for women, even in everyday life, since they compress the mammary glands, contributing to the development of mastopathy. Secondly, they mostly consist of artificial fabrics.
• Even those who, for some reason, do not breastfeed, should not choose such underwear, at least in the first 6 to 8 months after childbirth. It is this time that is necessary for the complete restoration of the mammary glands after pregnancy, the ducts collapse and reverse changes occur in them.
• You should buy nursing underwear no earlier than in the third trimester, preferably at 36 - 38 weeks. The fact is that during pregnancy the most intense breast growth occurs, and the circumference also increases. It is impossible to say exactly what the size will be after childbirth, especially since on the 3rd to 5th day the milk remains intensively, and the mammary glands still swell.
• If a woman is breastfeeding, you should take a closer look at special underwear with special fastenings. It allows you to quickly and comfortably expose the desired part without unfastening the bra completely and without squeezing the mammary glands.
• If possible, it is better to purchase several products, as an option, with different fastenings. This will be especially useful for women who lead an active lifestyle during lactation.
• When choosing a bra, special attention should be paid to ensure that the product does not compress or squeeze the mammary glands. Otherwise, it can provoke lactostasis and other unpleasant situations.
• Covered underwear will give you a feeling of confidence, especially during workouts and other intense activities.
• Also, when choosing, you should take into account that you may have to use milk leakage inserts.
• At night, it is better to purchase special tops and shirts. They are similar in functionality to nursing bras, but they are even softer and more pliable.

Watch the video about choosing a bra:

By shape and appearance

Today you can find a wide variety of underwear for nursing mothers. Each has its pros and cons. The following main options can be distinguished:

• The classic and most common is underwear with special fastening on straps. With a slight movement, the cup “opens” and you can easily reach the breast. The disadvantage of such bras is that they do not always keep medium and large-sized mammary glands at the proper level, and this is important. Therefore, some young mothers prefer to use them only for home use.
• Criss-cross system. Comfortable and often seamless, but only suitable for small breasts.
• Linen with locks in each cup. To feed your baby in this bra, just unfasten the special insert. This option provides good support for any breast, but the downside is that you can accidentally injure the skin. Also, with very tight-fitting outerwear, locks can be visualized.
• Bras with front clasps, they can be basic or additional. Such underwear can give a beautiful shape, but when unbuttoned, in most cases, two mammary glands are exposed at once. And if a woman uses nipple shields, they will constantly fall out, which will cause discomfort.
• There is also special elastic underwear without fastenings, locks and other similar mechanisms. But all their properties are due to the fact that this underwear consists almost entirely of synthetic materials. But this is not acceptable to everyone and is not entirely desirable from a hygienic point of view.
• Particular attention should be paid to tops and shirts. They are the best option for night feeding, replacing shirts. They can be with built-in bodices, with hidden buttons, fasteners, lacing, or simply convenient for lowering. You can always choose the option that is most suitable for a given girl.

Determining the size

It is also important to determine the required size; the sensations when wearing underwear depend on this. Ideally, a woman should hardly feel it. But in any case, you should not rely only on the verified size, since each manufacturer can deviate in one direction or another without warning buyers about it. Therefore, it is best to try on a bra before purchasing.

Typically, the size range includes a number and a letter, for example, 75 D. Determining both at home is not difficult at all.

Calculate the number

To do this, it is necessary to measure the circumference under the mammary glands at the level of the lower third of the sternum, in the submammary fold. Compare the resulting figure with the following table:

Calculate the letter

To do this, you will need the circumference of the chest under the mammary glands, which should have been determined in the previous paragraph. You also need to bend down to 90 degrees (letter G). Then record the value of the circle that runs along the areolar region and back.

Under no circumstances should measurements be taken while standing as the readings will be incorrect in most cases. Next, you need to calculate the difference between the two obtained figures and correlate the data with the table.

Despite the fact that the bra after childbirth will even be perfectly selected, you should not use the same one around the clock.

Continuous wearing for 8-10 hours is considered optimal, after which it is better to either change the product for another, or even give the mammary glands a rest and put on a top or something similar.

This is primarily due to the fact that, no matter how optimally the bra is designed, it still compresses the mammary glands. Proof of this is marks on the skin from stitches, etc. Secondly, the constant use of the same model concentrates all the force on certain areas of the shoulders and spine. As a result, it is in these areas that the young mother will eventually feel stiffness, muscle tension, even marks on her shoulders, etc.

When it comes to wearing bras at night, it's best to find a less traumatic alternative. For example, all kinds of tops, elastic bras, cross bras, etc. are ideal.

Or you can generally not use any such underwear during night sleep, but give preference to ordinary nightgowns, but with a top that is comfortable for feeding.

A properly selected bra after childbirth will not only help not to injure the mammary glands, but will also protect the breasts from unnecessary stretching under the influence of their own weight.

Today, the choice of such products is so large that a suitable model can be found even for the most demanding young mother. Using simple recommendations, you can easily keep your breasts healthy and beautiful even after several births.

There is constant speculation and controversy around what a nursing mother can and cannot do. Some prohibitions and taboos regarding the lifestyle of a nursing mother, which have become firmly established in everyday life, in fact do not have any reasonable justification. We separate imaginary prohibitions from real ones!

1. Is it possible for a nursing mother to sleep on her stomach?

This is one of the most common prohibitions regarding breastfeeding - allegedly, a nursing mother should under no circumstances sleep on her chest and stomach. Otherwise, if you believe the philistine judgment, a mother who likes to sleep on her stomach will experience stagnation of milk and begin to develop lactation mastitis (inflammation of the mammary gland).

Very often, in the common consciousness, the image of a nursing mother is a woman exhausted by household chores, with a baby literally hanging on her chest around the clock! Or even more than one... To be fair, many mothers themselves agree to such “milk slavery”, but there are also those who want to live an active life - work, travel, sometimes have fun - but with the help of loved ones or nannies maintain breastfeeding. What should such women do?

IN FACT. A nursing mother is also a person. And not just the “dairy farm”, which drags around everywhere with a baby at its breast. If a mother wants to continue developing her career, and also wants to sometimes see friends, go to fitness or attend an opera premiere, then this does not turn her into a stepmother. A well-organized process of expressing and freezing breast milk is quite capable of freeing up several hours a day for a young mother, without infringing on the child’s “milk” rights.

3. Is it possible for a nursing mother to feed her baby if she has a high fever?

It is difficult to imagine a breastfeeding woman who, over the course of 1-2 years, will manage to never “catch” a cold or flu, not get hurt, or even simply overheat in the sun. But for some reason, among mothers who practice breastfeeding, the rule “if I have a high temperature, I will not breastfeed” is very common. Is such a taboo fair?

IN FACT. Even if you have a fever, breastfeeding your baby is possible and necessary. Let’s not be unfounded, but let’s give a scientific rationale: even after catching the flu, in the process of producing milk, the mother’s body manages to saturate the “baby food” with powerful immunoglobulins, which perfectly suppress this very flu virus in milk. Since the “control center” of breastfeeding is in the brain, the signal for the production and “injection” of immune defenders into breast milk comes long before you even realize that you have caught the flu. This means that there is no reason to stop breastfeeding if your temperature rises. Quite the contrary - during a period of widespread illness with colds and flu, it is worth breastfeeding your child more often and for longer...

4. Is it possible for a nursing mother to apply cosmetics to the skin of her breasts?

On the one hand: the skin of the breast during lactation is in dire need of cosmetic care (it is difficult to think of a more relevant time to fight for the firmness and elasticity of the skin of the breast), but on the other hand, there is a possibility that the child will “eat” ointment, cream, serum or other cosmetic products that can hardly be called a “dessert” acceptable for the baby... In this situation, many nursing mothers choose not to take risks and generally refrain from using any caring cosmetics for the skin of the breast. But in vain!

IN FACT. Cosmetics can be dangerous to the health of an infant only if they enter his body. How can this happen in a situation where a nursing mother applies any cosmetics to her breasts? There are two ways: either the baby will “lick” the cream or ointment from the skin of the breast (or rather, from the nipple), or the cosmetics will penetrate directly into the breast milk. The second option is completely excluded, since no cosmetic product has yet been invented that can penetrate the skin to such depths. And you can eliminate the first option yourself - you just need to make sure that the cosmetic product does not get on the areola and nipple.

A nursing mother not only can, but also must take care of the health, beauty and elasticity of her breasts. After all, in a family, as a rule, the baby is not the only person who needs this breast...

5. Can a nursing mother be a vegetarian?

IN FACT. Of course, protein is extremely important for the growth and development of the baby. But not on its own, but only as a supplier of essential amino acids. They are called irreplaceable because they cannot be reproduced in the human body by synthesizing any substances, but can only enter it in a ready-made form from the outside. For children, 10 amino acids are essential: valine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, threonine, tryptophan, phenylalanine, arginine and histidine. Without a regular supply of these amino acids, the child will develop abnormally.

Now about the main thing - we can get a full set of essential amino acids only from animal protein (foods: meat, fish, eggs, milk). Whereas protein of plant origin is always characterized by an incomplete composition of essential amino acids - sometimes one is missing, or even seven, eight, or nine at once... Therefore, the need of the human body (including the growing body of a baby) for vital amino acids can be met with two ways - to eat products of animal origin or to be able to competently combine plant foods so that, piece by piece, you can regularly collect the necessary set of essential amino acids “for lunch.” Usually experienced vegetarians can do this. And if a nursing mother can be considered one of these vegetarianism gurus, then there is no need to worry about the health of her baby.

Let us remind novice vegetarians that for the full synthesis of proteins in the human body, the presence of a complete set of essential amino acids is necessary - if even one is missing, then all the others will not be used. As a rule, for a person on a plant-based diet, it is particularly difficult to obtain methionine, which is contained in extremely little in plant foods. (All other amino acids can be easily obtained from grains and legumes, as well as fruits, nuts and seeds). Let's reveal a secret: to get methionine, eat Brazil nuts and sesame seeds more often.

If a nursing mother is a vegetarian with knowledge and experience, then if she has common sense, she may well feed her baby with no less nutritious milk than a meat-eating mother. But if you are still a beginner vegetarian, then the period of breastfeeding a baby is not the right time for experiments.

6. Is it possible for a nursing mother... to feed her baby during menstruation?

There is an opinion that when “critical days” occur, a nursing woman’s breast milk becomes extremely unpleasant in taste and can harm the baby’s health due to changes in hormonal levels in the mother’s body (including in breast milk). In this regard, many nursing mothers, with the arrival of their first menstruation from the moment of birth, stop breastfeeding, transferring the baby to formula and first complementary foods. Are they right?

IN FACT. Today it is reliably known that during menstruation (which, as a rule, resumes six months to a year after the birth of the baby, regardless of whether you breastfeed the baby or not), neither the taste, nor the composition, nor the quantity of breast milk changes in any way. A child may behave somewhat restlessly not because he feels tasteless, bitter or unfulfilled. And because during menstruation, women’s breasts usually become thicker - so during the “critical days” it becomes more difficult for the baby to suck out mother’s milk. But beyond this circumstance, no problem exists!

7. Is it possible for a nursing mother to actively engage in fitness?

Fitness fans know that during active training, during anaerobic glycolysis in the body, the level of lactic acid (lactate) increases sharply. Intensive and constant formation of lactic acid leads to the so-called acidification of the body (the pH level decreases). Based on these data, an unwritten rule was born prohibiting nursing mothers from engaging in fitness - they say, a high level of lactic acid in the body will negatively affect lactation: the milk will begin to taste bitter, its composition will change, and gradually the baby will stop breastfeeding.

IN FACT. In recent years, doctors in many countries have been conducting regular research on the impact of fitness on women’s health, including breastfeeding. And they came to the conclusion that sport does not have any significant negative impact on feeding and the quality of milk. The fact is that with a reasonable training schedule, lactic acid simply does not have time to “saturate” mother’s milk - already in the first hour after training it is almost completely eliminated from the body. And the small amount of acid that does end up in mother’s milk does not affect the taste of the “product” or its composition to any significant extent.

Adjust your workouts so that the interval between the end of the fitness load and the start of feeding is 60 minutes or more - and then playing sports will only benefit you and your baby.

A reasonable fitness training schedule for a nursing mother should be understood as: either one-hour sessions 2-3 times a week, or daily exercise, but no more than 30-40 minutes.

8. Is it possible for a nursing mother... not to wear a bra?

It is a very common opinion that heavy maternal breasts without proper support (in the form of a special or regular bra) do not fill evenly - the lobes of the mammary gland located at the bottom of the breast replenish “milk reserves” faster and in a larger volume than the upper ones. Which, following simple logic, should, in the worst case, lead to lactostasis (stagnation of milk), and in the “best” case, ruin the shape of a woman’s breasts once and for all.

IN FACT. There is no reliable evidence that the breasts fill in any sequence, alternately filling one or another lobe of the mammary gland. If the shape of your breasts themselves is not too large, neat and more or less firm, then wearing a bra is not at all necessary. In other words, if you didn’t need this item of underwear before giving birth or in the last months of pregnancy, then there is no special need for it during breastfeeding.
If you are the owner of curvy, voluminous shapes, then wearing a bra is determined more by issues of your personal convenience and comfort, rather than by any negative prospects of “spoiling” your breasts.

9. Is it possible for a nursing mother... to visit the sauna and bathhouse?

One of the most “wonderful” misconceptions about breastfeeding is the theory that visiting a bath or sauna can heat the milk in the breast to such an extent that it will spoil and lose its beneficial properties.

IN FACT. No specialist can give an unambiguous general answer as to whether a nursing mother can or cannot enjoy going to the bathhouse or sauna. And all because the main criterion when choosing an answer is the individual health status of the mother. Of course, breast milk does not deteriorate in any way (and does not even warm up) due to the fact that the “carrier of milk forms” warmed up in a sauna or bathhouse.
Another thing is that in hot conditions the body quickly loses fluid - in fact, it becomes dehydrated. For a nursing mother, this can result in a decrease in milk flow. However, it is easy to prevent such a problem - the mother should drink plenty of water before and after visiting the steam room: water, herbal tea, milk, weak green tea or fruit juice. In this case, a reasonable passion for bath procedures will not harm breastfeeding.

Special warnings: the steam room should be avoided in the first 6-8 weeks after birth (namely, until postpartum vaginal discharge stops). In addition, breastfeeding mothers who had problems with the cardiovascular system before pregnancy should not take a steam bath.

Even if you are healthy and literally fit the definition of “blood and milk”, but during or after your stay in the steam room you notice slight signs of dizziness, migraines, difficulty breathing or rapid heartbeat, you should postpone your “hot hobby” until those times when your baby begins to eat like an adult. Or - significantly reduce the temperature in the steam room, as well as the time spent in it.

10. Does a nursing mother need to bandage her breasts to stop lactation?

For some reason, there is still a widespread belief among breastfeeding women that to naturally complete breastfeeding, it is enough to tightly compress the breasts with an elastic bandage for several days. A very dangerous misconception!

IN FACT. Under no circumstances should a nursing mother (or a non-breastfeeding woman) have her breasts bandaged. The theory that the mammary gland, tightly compressed by a bandage, simply loses its reservoir for milk and that is why it gradually stops being produced (since it has nowhere to accumulate) is erroneous and dangerous. Doctors have long proven the direct relationship between breast milk production and the baby’s needs through hormonal control of this process. In other words, because you squeeze your breasts tightly, less milk will be produced. But stagnation of milk (lactostasis) or even inflammation (mastitis) in the compressed ducts of the mammary gland are very likely.