Who Are Boppy's Designed For?

At my baby shower, I received a Boppy nursing pillow. All I knew about breastfeeding was that my sister had done it, and that I planned to. When the baby was born, I had my husband bring it to my hospital room. I used it while I learned to nurse her. Once I was home, I used it every time I fed her (unless we were lying in bed). After we started leaving the house more, I spent a lot of time at my parents'. I'm not sure why, but I didn't bring the Boppy with me when I went over there. It really is much easier on your back to prop the baby on some sort of pillow, so I was always adjusting couch cushions under her. There were plenty of times when I had to nurse her somewhere in public with no pillows in sight. I would usually prop one ankle on the opposite knee and hunch over a bit to feed her. Once she was a year old, this became easier because she was bigger. I used that same Boppy with my second baby. It ripped in half when my third child was a few months old. My husband replaced it for me, but I confess that I haven't used the new one much. It was partly because the baby was past the newborn stage, but there was a bigger reason than that. You see, the Boppy itself made me feel bad about myself.

Here's the terrible truth: having babies often makes you bigger than you were before. Even if you will lose the "baby weight" and be back in your regular jeans when the baby is six months old, when he/she is a newborn you will, at the very least, have a big belly. A Boppy's center fits on my extremely petite seven year old. Anyone bigger has to stretch it open to fit. I have a plus-sized friend whose Boppy split open when her baby was only four months old. Do you know how that makes you feel? Like a woman who is too big to fit into a Boppy.

Since I started having babies, some genius invented My Brest Friend nursing pillow. It is adjustable and has a cushion behind Mama's back too. I have never used one, but it appears both more functional and better for a woman's self esteem than the Boppy.

I have to add a small word of warning about nursing pillows in general. I have met more than one mother who became so dependant on her's that she claimed to unable to nurse without it. You don't want to drag the giant thing with you everywhere you go, so this is a potential problem. If you can't/won't nurse in public, you won't be nursing for long. If necessary, practice breastfeeding without it every once in a while to prove to yourself that you can do it.