How/when to measure for a nursing bra?

I have a couple of nursing bras that I bought when pregnant with Rhys, but never wore as we didn't BF, I started wearing them towards the end of this pregnancy and they fitted fine, but now that my milk has come in they've not a hope in hell of fitting (I don't understand at all the advice of measuring for nursing bras at 36-38 weeks ).

Anyway, I desperately need some that actually fit, but how should I measure? Do I measure when my boobs are at their most ridiculously full, or just any time?

Any recommendations of where to buy? I'm normally a 38DD, so goodness knows what size I'm going to be now, it'll be scary LOL, so I need somewhere that sells relatively big bras.

Thanks

Measure your under bust with your arms down so your ribcage isn't expanded. You go down a size to what you measure so if you measure 38", you will need a 36" back. When measuring for a bra, you go down a back size & up a cup size to get a good fit.

I was measured in Mothercare & Debenhams as a 38E but they were a tterrible fit. I then went to John Lewis who measured me as a 34G . The fit was amazing, my boobs were lifted & I lost a dress size all in one bra shopping trip

I did online shopping for mine & there's a Freya factory shop 1/2hr drive from me so I caqn get greaqt quality bras much cheaper!

I would say that you would be better with a good quality bra rather than a cheap one.

Can you get to a Bravissimo shop? They are the best fitters, I find other shops like Debenhams etc pretty rubbish. Unlike other stores they don't measure you but just look at you and can tell what size you need. Nursing bra shop is a good place to start.

I agree that somewhere like Bravissamo woudl be great. JL measure your back but not your cup. Freya just look at you and try them on too. Milk wise, I persoanlly would measure between feeds when you are not bursting

I was measured at M&S and they did two packs at a decent price.

My boobs were ridiculously inflated for the two weeks after the birth but settled down after that.

I don't think there are any shops like that here, the only one I did know of was la senza which was fairly naff anyway, but is now gone.

I know back home there's a famous bra fitter in my home town lol, but I won't be going home for a while.

So I'm going to have to do it myself, am I better than measure when relatively engorged, to make sure I'm definitely measuring big enough? They haven't settled down yet as he sometimes feeds hourly and then out of the blue will decide to sleep for 4 hours and I feel like I'm going to explode.

I'm planning to get one of these for sleeping at about 8 months pg and then early days of bf.

http://www.envie4u.co.uk/nursing-bras-breastfeeding-bras/nursing-bras/nursing-sleep-bras/bravado-custom-nursing-bra.html

I hate soft cup nursing bras with a passion but know I need one for the first few weeks and this one was recommended because it covers a few sizes so accommodates changing size.

At about 8 months I will get the size where my current size is at the very bottom if the range, leaving plenty of room for expansion.

TBH, as soon as my supply settles I'll be straight back into underwires like last time -either u/w nursing bras or I'll convert some of my ordinary u/w bras to nursing bras using snaps.

The lady who I go to always said as soon as your milk comes in then let your straps right out to accommodate the increase and help prevent mastitis.
Your ribcage takes a while to go down so the fitting at 36 weeks should be fine for those first few weeks.