Nursing garment
A nursing garment for supporting the breasts of a user, and having an upper torso portion shaped to extend over the breasts and back of the user and a lower torso portion attached to said upper body portion and shaped to extend over the waist and at least a portion of said upper torso portion, wherein said lower torso portion has an openable flap to provide a nursing infant access to one or both breasts of the user. The openable flap has a first generally triangular portion and a second generally triangular portion which are foldable between a closed position and an open position, wherein in the closed position the breasts of the user are concealed, and wherein in the open position one or both breasts of the user are exposed. Each of the first and second generally triangular portions may be releasably attached to the upper torso portion using fastening means.
The present invention relates to the field of nursing garments, and more particularly to nursing garment that comfortably supports the breasts of a user and allows access to the breast by a nursing infant.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONMany women experience an increase in both the size and weight of their breasts during the early stages of pregnancy. This growth and maturation of the breast continues following the birth of an infant child to ensure that the nutritional needs of the growing infant are met until the child is weaned from the breast. For a nursing mother with large breasts, considerable strain may be exerted on their back and shoulders during this nursing stage.
A wide variety of garments have been developed that incorporate a built-in nursing bra. These garments address a variety of problems encountered by mothers when nursing their infant children, such as the convenience of wearing a garment which provides immediate access by an infant child to her breast, and the modesty of the mother by ensuring that her breasts are not unnecessarily exposed in public. However, due to the pressure caused by bra straps that weigh heavily on the shoulders of a nursing mother, these existing garments do little to alleviate the back and shoulder strain experienced by most mothers.
Moreover, known nursing garments are intended to be worn beneath the mother's clothing in the same fashion as an undershirts or bra. The extra layer of clothing may cause considerable discomfort during the warm summer months.
Accordingly, there is a need for a nursing garment that provides adequate support to the breasts of a nursing mother to minimize the occurrence of back and shoulder strain. There is also a need for a nursing garment that may be worn as an everyday article of clothing, and be easily adapted to facilitate the nursing of an infant child.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe subject invention is directed to a nursing garment for supporting the breasts of a user, and having an upper torso portion shaped to extend over the breasts and back of the user and a lower torso portion attached to said upper body portion and shaped to extend over the waist and at least a portion of said upper torso portion, wherein said lower torso portion has an openable flap to provide a nursing infant access to one or both breasts of the user. The openable flap has a first generally triangular portion and a second generally triangular portion which are foldable between a closed position and an open position, wherein in the closed position the breasts of the user are concealed, and wherein in the open position one or both breasts of the user are exposed. Each of the first and second generally triangular portions may be releasably attached to the upper torso portion using one or more complementary fastening means.
The nursing garment includes one or more complementary fastening means with one or more upper fasteners secured to the upper torso portion and one or more lower fasteners secured to the lower torso portion. The one or more lower fasteners couple with the one or more upper fasteners to releasably secure the lower torso portion to the upper torso portion.
The first generally triangular portion is foldable across a first crease line, and the second generally triangular portion is foldable across a second crease line. Each of the first and second generally triangular portions are releasably attached to the upper torso portion. The upper torso portion is formed with a collar extending around the neck of the user. Each of the first and second generally triangular portions are releasably attached to the collar. The first and second generally triangular portions may be releasably secured to the upper torso portion using the one or more complementary fastening means. The one or more upper fasteners are secured to the collar, and wherein the one or more lower fasteners are secured to the apex of each of the first and second generally triangular portions. The one or more lower fasteners couple with the one or more upper fasteners to releasably secure the first and second generally triangular portions to the collar.
The one or more complementary fastening means may be hook and loop fasteners or buttons.
The upper torso portion has a support portion for supporting the breasts of the user. The support portion having two generally recessed portions to receive and support the breasts of the user, and wherein each of the recessed portions may have an opening formed therein for surrounding and exposing a nipple portion of the breast of the user. The upper torso portion having an elastic band disposed circumferentially along a bottom edge of the support portion.
The nursing garment may be short-sleeved or long-sleeved. The nursing garment may also be a woman's t-shirt or a woman's blouse. The upper and lower torso portions may be made of elastic stretch material.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGSFor a better understanding of the present invention, and to show more clearly how it may be carried into effect, reference will now be made, by way of example, to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Reference is made to
Referring to
The upper torso portion 12 also includes a support portion 21 for supporting the breasts of the user. As best shown in
Referring to
Referring to
The openable flap 36 includes first generally triangular portion 38 and a second generally triangular portion 38′. Each of the first and second generally triangular portions 38 and 38′ are adapted to open to allow an infant child access to its mother's breast. In the closed position as shown in
Preferably, the first and second generally triangular portions 38 and 38′ are releasably attached to the collar 22 of the upper torso portion 12. By this design, the weight of the user's breasts is supported along the collar 22 of the nursing garment 10 thereby distributing the weight evenly across the upper back and shoulders of the user.
Referring to
In an open position shown in
In use, when breast feeding is necessary or desirable, the female user may releasably detach the first generally triangular portion of the openable flap nearest the head of her infant child, and fold said generally triangular portion downwardly to expose her nipple. The second generally triangular portion may remain secured to the upper torso portion, thereby acting as a modesty shield behind which the infant child may feed without discomforting the user in public. When it becomes necessary to change breasts, the user may refasten the first generally triangular portion to the upper torso portion, reposition the infant child adjacent to the other breast, and detach and fold downwardly the second generally triangular portion. With the second generally triangular portion in an open position, the infant child may resume nursing from the user's second breast.
While what has been shown and described herein constitutes a preferred embodiment of the subject invention, it should be understood that various modifications and adaptions of such embodiment can be made without departing from the present invention, the scope of which is defined in the appended claims.
Claims
1. A nursing garment for supporting the breasts of a user, comprising:
- (a) an upper torso portion shaped to extend over the breasts, and back of the user; and
- (b) a lower torso portion attached to said upper body portion and shaped to extend over the waist and at least a portion of said upper torso portion, wherein said lower torso portion has an openable flap to provide a nursing infant access to one or both breasts of the user.
2. The nursing garment defined in claim 2, wherein said openable flap is foldable between a closed position and an open position, wherein in the closed position the breasts of the user are concealed, and wherein in the open position one or both breasts of the user are exposed.
3. The nursing garment defined in claim 1, wherein said lower torso portion is releasably secured to said upper torso portion using one or more complementary fastening means.
4. The nursing garment defined in claim 3, wherein said one or more complementary fastening means comprise one or more upper fasteners secured to said upper torso portion and one or more lower fasteners secured to said lower torso portion.
5. The nursing garment defined in claim 4, wherein said one or more lower fasteners couple with said one or more upper fasteners to releasably secure said lower torso portion to said upper torso portion.
7. The nursing garment defined in claim 1, wherein said openable flap has a first generally triangular portion and a second generally triangular portion.
8. The nursing garment defined in claim 7, wherein each of said first and second generally triangular portions are foldable between a closed position and an open position, wherein in the closed position the breasts of the user are concealed, and wherein in the open position one or both breasts of the user are exposed.
9. The nursing garment defined in claim 8, wherein said first generally triangular portion is foldable across a first crease line, and wherein said second generally triangular portion is foldable across a second crease line.
10. The nursing garment defined in claim 1, wherein each of said first and second generally triangular portions are releasably attached to said upper torso portion.
11. The nursing garment defined in claim 1, wherein said upper torso portion is formed with a collar extending around the neck of the user.
12. The nursing garment defined in claim 11, wherein each of said first and second generally triangular portions are releasably attached to said collar.
13. The nursing garment defined in claim 10, wherein said first and second generally triangular portions are releasably secured to said upper torso portion using one or more complementary fastening means.
14. The nursing garment defined in claim 1, wherein said one or more upper fasteners are secured to said collar, and wherein said one or more lower fasteners are secured to the apex of each of said first and second generally triangular portions.
15. The nursing garment defined in claim 14, wherein said one or more lower fasteners couple with said one or more upper fasteners to releasably secure said first and second generally triangular portions to said collar.
16. The nursing garment defined in claims 3 and 13, wherein said one or more complementary fastening means are hook and loop fasteners.
17. The nursing garment defined in claims 3 and 13, wherein said one or more complementary fastening means are buttons.
18. The nursing garment defined in claim 1, wherein said upper torso portion has a support portion for supporting the breasts of the user.
19. The nursing garment defined in claim 15, wherein said support portion having two generally recessed portions to receive and support the breasts of the user, and wherein each of said recessed portions having an opening formed therein for surrounding and exposing a nipple portion of the breast of the user.
20. The nursing garment defined in claim 1, wherein said upper torso portion having an elastic band disposed circumferentially along a bottom edge of said support portion.
21. The nursing garment defined in claim 1, wherein said nursing garment is short-sleeved or long-sleeved.
22. The nursing garment defined in claim 1, wherein said nursing garment is a woman's t-shirt.
23. The nursing garment defined in claim 1, wherein said nursing garment is a woman's blouse.
24. The nursing garment defined in claim 1, wherein said upper and lower torso portions are made of elastic stretch material.
Type: Application
Filed: Oct 5, 2005
Publication Date: Apr 5, 2007
Inventor: Yuliya Azaronak (Toronto)
Application Number: 11/242,879
International Classification: A41D 1/20 (20060101);