The Dairy Fairy Arden. All in One Nursing and HandsFree Pumping Bra

3 stars because I don’t know what to think yet. I just got it today, I tried it on and I’m not as impressed as I wanted to be. I’m a 44H in a goddess nursing bra and I was hoping this would fit, the band is perfect, support for a large chested woman is lacking (they look like smashed pancakes), the V I’m the front is too low, but overall My main concern is the the nipples won’t match up to the super small holes for pumping. I have pumping pal flanges which work great for me but I don’t think it works with the ‘pumping’ bra. I really wanted a one-stop pumping, nursing and support bra. This just doesn’t quite fit the bill for me, I’m going to try it for a couple days before I mail it back. Maybe it will grow on me but I’m still dreading being trusted up like a thanksgiving turkey because I wanted to get away from my setup I am currently using (sports bra with holes cut in it for pumping, under a Goddess nursing bra with a nursing cami over that and then my actual shirt). It’s a shame what plus size women go thru trying to find a proper pumping/nursing/support bra. :/ may be back to the drawing board soon but I will update.

This is a really great, really clever bra, and The Dairy Fairy offers INCREDIBLE customer service! I wear it on days when I'm at work (i.e. doing more pumping than nursing), since it's an awesome pumping bra that looks good under clothes, and just a "good" nursing bra. If I'm at home and nursing a lot (but might need to pump once to build up my stash), then I stick with a regular nursing bra, not the Arden.Pros:- Awesome for pumping. When the bra is sized properly (more on that below), the nylon-lycra inner bra holds the flanges very securely for true "hands free" pumping. AND you don't have to remove your shirt, remove your "regular bra", and put on one of those hands-free bustiers. Just undo the outer "wings" on the bra and pop in the flanges - and you're good to go. Side note, I'd say this bra holds the flanges with about the same level of security as the hands-free bustier (Lansinoh brand).- Nice, normal "non-mom" cleavage without an underwire. This wasn't my goal, but a nice side-benefit. Nursing bras so frequently left my post-partum DDD girls looking a little droopy and sad in the cleavage area, which is a shame since they work so hard to keep my kiddo fed! They should look happy. The cleavage is a result of the outer "wings" - you can fasten them on 3 different settings. For me, even the loosest setting resulted in attractive cleavage that makes my nursing shirts look way better. Yay!- Good for nursing. Not incredible, but really good. Once you get the cross-over "wings" unfastened, it's very comfortable to just pull down the inner cup and nurse. But then you have to re-fasten them (more on that below). I'd love it if it had those nursing clips at the top so I could just take down the whole thing and not deal with unfastening the wings. I'm thinking about buying a set of clips on amazon and sewing them in to this bra. :)- Well-made. This bra is expensive, and you can see why. Good, high quality, supportive material, strong fasteners, etc.- Some of the best customer service I've ever had. I bought the wrong size, washed it, wore it, and then wrote to the seller to tell them that it was a terrible fit. Julie immediately replied, made an exception to the "no-returns-once-washed" policy, and worked with me until we got the right size. To say that I was a "challenging" customer is an understatement (sorry Julie) - and she was so accommodating and nice. You can tell they really care. If you have ANY questions about sizing, ask for help. They are awesome.Cons:- Sizing is tough. I followed the chart and it said I should wear a large (~36DDD to 38G depending on how I measured myself - squarely in the L/XL/PP size range). When I got it, I *thought* it fit everywhere except the band between the cups in the center, where it was horribly baggy. I sent pics to Julie and she told me that she could see wrinkles in the cups - and with the baggy band between the cups, she could see it was too big. She convinced me to try the Med, and it was perfect. I wouldn't have believed it, since I thought the cups were too tight, but now that I wear it, I can tell she was right. SO - try it on. The cups should be snug and stretched, no wrinkles at all on either the outer or inner cups. The band should fit snugly, and if it bags in the center (but fits elsewhere), try pulling the sides toward your back to stretch it out. It will stay stretched. It might feel smaller than what you're used to; this is okay. If fit is an issue, contact them and they'll help you figure it out. DON'T remove the tags or wash it til you're sure. :)- It's impossible to re-fasten with 1 hand. (doubly impossible with 1 hand while holding a squirmy baby). For max comfort, you really should un-fasten the cross-over "wings" to nurse (a.k.a the outer part of the bra cup - don't know what to call it?), vs. just pushing the whole thing down to expose your boob for nursing (which is a little uncomfortable) - and it's tough to put back together. I always have to put my daughter down first, then finish re-fastening the bra. Once you can use 2 hands, it's surprisingly easy to get things buttoned up correctly - but no way I could do it while holding a squirmy baby, and I definitely couldn't do it in public after nursing (at least not without obviously looking like I'm messing around A LOT with my bra.)So there you go. Overall, this bra serves a very specific purpose (days when I'm mostly pumping, plus doing some nursing) and it is AWESOME for that purpose. Hope this helps!

This bra has been great for pumping at work. It's easy to use, and goes nicely under most of my work clothes. It holds the pump flanges securely, and I'm easily able to move it aside to nurse when I get back to my baby. The improvement I would suggest for this bra is to have padding/lining in the front wrap around parts. Especially after pumping or nursing, my nipples tend to protrude, and I don't really need to show them off to everyone I work with, and would also add an additional barrier for any leaks. It's been fine in most of my clothes, but not all of them.I do really like the silky soft fabric!

I'm still 36 weeks pregnant, so I'll update this review once baby is here and I get to try it for it's intended purpose. I am a 40DD as it stands right now, and using the Dairy Fairy sizing chart, I should be an XL. The cups have plenty of room as my milk comes in, but frankly, I'll need to get a band extender. There are six band settings on here, so if you have bigger boobs and a smaller rib cage, this should work fine, however, if you have a large ribcage like I do, know that this band is far too tight even on the biggest setting. Overall construction seems to be high quality, and the fabric is quite soft. I especially like how you can adjust the actual size of the cups, though clipping the side under the cross is a little harder just because you can't see what you're doing.

Yet another product that I really wanted to love. I'm only giving it 3 stars because I'm still wearing it because I haven't found a replacement. But I don't find it comfortable as a nursing bra and it's not tight enough to be an effective pumping bra. It does the job on both accounts but not well and certainly not for how much it costs. I did give it a valiant effort, I've been wearing it daily during the week for over a month so I really did give it a try but I found every day after work I immediately took it off and put on my regular nursing bra to nurse my daughter. And while pumping at work I feel like I have to push the flanges against my breasts to really get a decent hold.Overall I would not recommend this bra though admittedly it gets the job done, just not very well. I'm hoping to find something better.