CP: Nursing Pillows

spacepotatoes

How necessary is it to have a nursing pillow? Trying to decide whether I really need one or not.

momthatlifts

I have been wondering the same thing...

Ladiebug710

Love my Boppy.  I used it all the time when LO was small, as he got bigger a regular pillow was OK.  But I also used it to prop him up a lot as well, so it has been very well used for a lot more than just nursing.

spacepotatoes

Just realized there's no option for those who only want to see the results...like me! It won't let me edit the choices, sorry!

(I am one of the SS votes)

danabsd

I honestly don't think I would have been as successful as I was BFing without my MBF.  

spinsoffresonance

Some moms swear by them but I don't have one and never felt like I was missing it when nursing DD. I like to sit back when I nurse such that the weight of the baby is on my belly, not on my arms. I think it also helps making sure the baby is in the proper position for a good latch rather than relying on the pillow for positioning. One thing to keep in mind is if you rely too much on the pillow, it might make it difficult to NIP.

awc1986

My SIL recommends using one as you can give your arm a rest. I have the choice of a wedge pillow and a support/reading pillow, so I'm just gonna see which works best.

katesy21

I love my boppy. It was a must have until LO was much bigger, like over 6 months.

RachelCA29

I already have one that my SIL gave me because she was done with it (her twins are almost 2). I think it's a boppy, but she didn't tell me specifically. I love it because I use it to sleep at night to keep my legs apart and prop up my growing belly.

Even if I don't use it for BFing (if it's not comfortable or not the right thickness, etc.) it's been nice for pregnancy sleeping. But since I got it for free it's hard to say if it would be worth it to BUY for myself at this point in time. But I probably would have bought something similar for BFing, just because it seems like something that would make it more comfortable to hold/position a baby for feeding.

spacepotatoes

RachelCA29 said:

I already have one that my SIL gave me because she was done with it (her twins are almost 2). I think it's a boppy, but she didn't tell me specifically. I love it because I use it to sleep at night to keep my legs apart and prop up my growing belly.

Even if I don't use it for BFing (if it's not comfortable or not the right thickness, etc.) it's been nice for pregnancy sleeping. But since I got it for free it's hard to say if it would be worth it to BUY for myself at this point in time. But I probably would have bought something similar for BFing, just because it seems like something that would make it more comfortable to hold/position a baby for feeding.

That's what I was hoping to do with my snoogle, too, because the package showed how it could be used for nursing. But now, it seems totally impractical to try and wrap myself in that giant pillow to nurse.

@lica001 I hadn't even considered how it would affect latch or anything like that so thanks for mentioning it!

It sounds like maybe the best way to go would be to register for it and leave it unopened until the baby's here, then see how things go.

jay3907

I loved my boppy!!!!! I used it for so much more than just breastfeeding. Actually I barely used it for breastfeeding since I had a hard time getting DD to latch but it was awesome. I am definetly buying another one this time around.

jenb_99

I really liked having my Boppy for the 3 weeks I actually nursed DS. It got in the way of bottle feeding, though. But then it came in handy later for tummy time and again for propping DS up before he was able to sit up on his own.

So it was worthwhile for us, but not so much for its primary intended purpose.

keeumm

We were given a Boppy from a friend, and I'm going to try it. I think that the Snoogle (sp?) body pillow thing can also be wrapped around you to serve as a nursing pillow. There was a whole page of instructions that came with the pillow that showed different ways of using the Snoogle, and I'm pretty sure that was one of them. 

spacepotatoes

keeumm said:

We were given a Boppy from a friend, and I'm going to try it. I think that the Snoogle (sp?) body pillow thing can also be wrapped around you to serve as a nursing pillow. There was a whole page of instructions that came with the pillow that showed different ways of using the Snoogle, and I'm pretty sure that was one of them. 

Yeah, I'd mentioned that above. But the full-sized Snoogle seems too big for this to be comfortable/practical. I could see the Snoogle Mini being really good, though.

kristine526

SS here, because I'm a FTM and I'm not sure how muchmy opinion really matters.

From the amazing things ive read about the MBF, I'm not even considering going without a nursing pillow.

MrsT2008

I found it 100% necessary in the first couple of months. Once baby got bigger I could make due with a regular pillow or just propping her up a little (like I did when I'd go out).  But otherwise, you have to hold the baby up while they nurse.  8+ lbs gets heavy when your arms have to hold them up for 30+ minutes.

keeumm

spacepotatoes said:

keeumm said:

We were given a Boppy from a friend, and I'm going to try it. I think that the Snoogle (sp?) body pillow thing can also be wrapped around you to serve as a nursing pillow. There was a whole page of instructions that came with the pillow that showed different ways of using the Snoogle, and I'm pretty sure that was one of them. 

Yeah, I'd mentioned that above. But the full-sized Snoogle seems too big for this to be comfortable/practical. I could see the Snoogle Mini being really good, though.

This is my second fail of the day where I missed a previous mention. Sorry about that!

aforst

I loved my boppy and used it all day every day.  If I didn't have it I just used another pillow to prop him, but it was never as comfortable. 

spinsoffresonance

spacepotatoes said:

RachelCA29 said:

I already have one that my SIL gave me because she was done with it (her twins are almost 2). I think it's a boppy, but she didn't tell me specifically. I love it because I use it to sleep at night to keep my legs apart and prop up my growing belly.

Even if I don't use it for BFing (if it's not comfortable or not the right thickness, etc.) it's been nice for pregnancy sleeping. But since I got it for free it's hard to say if it would be worth it to BUY for myself at this point in time. But I probably would have bought something similar for BFing, just because it seems like something that would make it more comfortable to hold/position a baby for feeding.

That's what I was hoping to do with my snoogle, too, because the package showed how it could be used for nursing. But now, it seems totally impractical to try and wrap myself in that giant pillow to nurse.

@lica001 I hadn't even considered how it would affect latch or anything like that so thanks for mentioning it!

It sounds like maybe the best way to go would be to register for it and leave it unopened until the baby's here, then see how things go.

That was something they talked about in my BFing class. In order to get a good latch the baby needs to be right up against you, tummy to tummy. They mentioned that if you use a nursing pillow, the baby tends to lie farther away on the pillow rather than on you and it can cause latch issues. That's why they recommend laid back breastfeeding. If you nurse tummy to tummy the weight of the baby ends up on your body not on your arms, so the pillow isnt necessary. Obviously plenty of moms BF successfully with a pillow, so don't read too much into it.

Shell+Bell

For me def necessary. I had 2, one in the bedroom and one in the living room. Super helpful in the beginning, healing from Csection. I stopped using it at about 6 months or so, DS just got too big and the pillows just got in the way. But up to that point it just made things so much better. FYI, I started with 3 pillows, all given to me, so I'm not sure if my frugal self would have actually bought more than 1.