Whether you’re in the midst of your breastfeeding journey or about to embark on it, you’re probably wondering how many nursing bras you need. At a bare minimum, you’ll need three bras: “One to wash, one to wear, and one to spare!” 

Why three? For starters, you’ll feel more relaxed knowing you’re prepared for the unexpected leak, hot flash, or baby spit-up. If one nursing bra is in the wash and one’s covered in your baby’s spit-up (and your toddler’s sweet potato pouch), you’ll be thrilled you have that third.

The rule of three is especially key when you’re pumping, which is why we launched our first Wash Wear Spare Pumping Bundle with our game-changing Hands-Free Pumping & Nursing Bras. The last thing busy moms need to worry about is if their pumping bra will dry in time to wear the next day. With three pumping bras, you won’t have to do the laundry every day, making your return to work as comfortable and convenient as possible.

Click the photo to check out this game-changing bra.

Wash, wear, spare applies to all baby-related garments (like our award-winning maternity and postpartum leggings), and it even helps with packing. In fact, that’s how Kindred Bravely Co-Founder Deeanne first discovered the rule of three.

In 2009, Deeanne and her husband Garret, Kindred Bravely Co-Founder, were going to have one last travel adventure before settling down and starting a family. They decided on South America so they could learn Spanish. After backpacking in college with a 60 lb backpack that gave her no end of trouble navigating trains and taxicabs, Deeanne planned to travel as light as possible, bringing only one small stack of clothes that would have to last for seven months!

When you’re looking at such a small volume, it’s impossible to bring all the bras, underwear, and socks you need for even a week, so Deeanne decided to incorporate a rule of three. She would always wear one bra (and one pair of undies and socks), always wash one (and it could be in some state of air drying), and always have one to spare (because you never know when it’ll take longer to dry than anticipated, or you just don’t get around to washing it one day).

(She even got into the habit of walking into the shower wearing her bra, underwear, and socks, handwashing them with soap just as she washed her body, and hanging them out to dry on the way out of the shower.)

The principle of wash, wear, spare worked like magic for Deeanne, and she lasted seven months with those sets of three. Now, as a mom, Deeanne’s applying the lessons she’s learned from her travels to her #momlife. And she’s sharing the wash, wear, spare life hack with us.

Whether you’re embarking on your motherhood journey or an actual trip, keep wash, wear, spare in mind -- so you can spend less time worrying about laundry and more time cuddling that beautiful baby. To make it easier for you to build up your collection, we created this money-saving bundle. Treat yourself or add this bundle to your registry, and spare yourself from stressing about laundry.

Bonus! Here are 15 tips from an IBCLC (and mom of three) to help you become a pumping pro. Click the button below to download and print this infographic: