So Happy to Have a Boppy!

The Boppy Pillow is one of a few items that I knew I wanted to have before my son arrived. I planned on breastfeeding and had seen the Boppy Pillow used before. Without even using it myself, I could see that it was a useful tool for the breastfeeding mother.

The Boppy Pillow is a U shaped pillow designed to go around your waist and help support your baby and arms while breastfeeding. Many of you will already know that breastfeeding, while important and often rewarding, can be a very tiring task. Even a newborn, light as they are, gets heavy feeling if you have to hold them in one position for any length of time. Sometimes babies can feed for a long time… 20-30 minutes and your arm definitely gets tired after that long. Besides that, for a few months you spend (what seems like) half your day breastfeeding.

Some may think at this point… Why not just use a pillow? The answer is all about the difference in support. You would have to prop and position about three different pillows around you to provide the same comfort and support that the Boppy provides. Like I said the Boppy is U shaped. It fits around your waist and is tight enough that it stays in place very well. It is very flexible, so it will fit around a wide variety for body types. Nevertheless the shape hold true and so it sits snuggly against your body. It gives you support under both of your elbows, your arm holding the baby in place and it carries the weight of the infant. To do that with pillows you would need a firm and thick pillow for your lap and a pillow for under each elbow. Who wants to go collect and position three pillows each times they breastfeed… Especially when your baby is crying because he/she is hungry. Let me tell you, it is just not going to happen. The Boppy though is simple and quick to put in place.

Because of the great support that the Boppy provides while breastfeeding, I (and I am sure others would agree) found that I was more patient and more likely to leave my son in place for a longer period of time. Without the pillow, I was always more impatient and would want to stop at the first sign that he was getting full. With though, I was content and comfortable and much more likely to leave him there longer giving him a chance to take his time and sometimes even fall asleep. In addition, the pillow was really wonderful for those late night feeding where you are so tired you can barely hold your head up, let alone hold a baby to your breast.

Besides being a great asset while breastfeeding, the Boppy has a couple of other uses as well. Even a mother (or father) who is bottle-feeding will find the pillow useful for supporting the infant while feeding. It is also sometimes nice even when you are just holding your baby. My husband even grabbed it a few times and used it while he was watching TV and holding our son.

That is not even it! The pillow is really a perfect shape for using during tummy time and for helping to prop him/her into a sitting position. When my son was still quite young I would use the pillow and a blanket to prop him into a reclined sitting position. This way he had a little better view of what was around him and not just straight up. As he began to hold his head up I would put prop him on the pillow. Again it gave him a better view and he enjoyed having his face a little further from the floor.

The pillow is very firm and roughly 6” thick. It is covered in a soft cotton material and can be washed if necessary. You can, and I highly recommend, purchase covers for the pillow. The covers come in many fun designs, colors and fabrics. They are easy to put on and zip snuggly into place. They help protect the pillow from spills and spit up. They are machine washable and much easier to clean than the pillow itself. Again… highly recommended. In fact get a couple so you can wash on and use one.

My son is a year and a half now so I am currently not using it. It is however washed and ready to be used again soon. I will be pulling it out again this May when my second arrives. The pillow runs around $25 and the covers are about $8. This may seem a little high to some, but let me tell you it is sooooo worth the expense, especially as your baby grows and becomes heavier. Anyways, you will get a lot more use out of it than many other baby items purchased. Besides the crib and high chair, what else do you use for longer than three or four months? If you are going to be breastfeeding (and even if you are not) take my advise… Get on of these. I am sure will be very happy you did.