I’m sure that a Boppy Pillow is every nursing mom’s breast-friend. See, what I did there?

I consider myself a minimalist buyer, I don?t buy all the latest and greatest product advertised in the market.

I pick and choose what I really need.

That said, nursing pillow is something I really think should be on every breast feeding mamas to buy list.

What is a Boppy Pillow?

Boppy pillow is a nursing pillow which is a curved ‘C’ shaped pillow with a opening in the middle. It is convex and can be wrapped around your tummy. It is mostly used to prop the baby up during breastfeeding or bottle feeding.

Boppy pillow also has many other uses and can last even after your nursing days are over.

1.How to use Boppy Pillow for Breastfeeding/nursing:

I personally think that I couldn’t have survived nursing my newborn without a nursing pillow. I had an epidural with my first delivery and I had sharp back ache when I don?t position my back upright.

Trying to feed a newborn baby while making sure my son was latching well,meant I was stooping down a lot. Which really aggravated my back pain. I used the nursing pillow to prop my newborn up, right against my tummy, which really helped with easing the strain on my back, neck and shoulder.

I can imagine how a nursing pillow can come very handy for moms who had a C ?section.

It is very easy to use Boppy for breastfeeding, put the pillow around your hip, get seated somewhere comfortable, in a chair, glider or on the bed. Then pick and lay your baby over the pillow. When placing the baby on the pillow, make sure that your baby’s tummy is against your tummy, their chin facing up, and nose pointed towards your nipple.

A Boppy pillow can be used with different breastfeeding positions. I preferred the cradle hold during the newborn phase and found the nursing pillow to be very useful to bring the baby up to my breasts to get a good latch.

To use the Boppy to nurse the baby in the football hold position, bring your pillow to the sides (like shown in the video) to help support the baby.

This video will show to how to use a Boppy pillow for breastfeeding in different positions:

Related Reading: 11 Breastfeeding Essentials Every Nursing Mom Needs

2.How to use Boppy Pillow for Bottle-feeding:

There are different ways you can use a Boppy pillow while bottle ? feeding.

a.For support: Holding a newborn who is wobbly and fragile can be intimidating. It can easily turn into a challenging task when you have to maneuver to bottle ?feeding. You can use the Boppy pillow to place your baby safely on the pillow will you the extra support you need to bottle ?feed. Just like breastfeeding, a? Boopy can help take the stress off your muscles while bottle?feeding

b.Paced feeding: Paced feeding is important to practice if you will be switching between bottle and breasts. Paced feeding allows the baby to experience the same milk flow as they would while nursing. This avoids nipple confusion and prevents babies refusing the breasts after being introduced to bottle-feeding.

Paced feeding is also ensures that your baby is not overfed and reduces colic and spit up’s.

One of the important steps to practice paced feeding is to ensure that your baby?s head is lifted up at a 45 degree angle. Trying to hold your baby up using your hands can be strenuous on your arms. You can easily use a boppy to lift your baby’s head up to for the optimal bottle feeding position.

Related Reading: 5 Reasons Why Breastfed Baby Won’t Take a Bottle ( & 10 Ways To Fox It)

3.Tummy Time:

If you are thinking that a Boppy is a useless piece of baby gear once you are done nursing , then you are wrong. There are many other uses of a bobby pillow like using for tummy time or to encourage sitting.

Before you start to think about using Boppy pillow for tummy time, I want to stress that 100% close supervision is needed while you are using? Boppy for tummy time.

Tummy time is recommended to be done once your baby’s umbilical cord falls and dries. It strengthens your baby?s core muscles and helps them develop head control. Always start tummy time for a few minutes and extend the time as and when your baby shows interest.

Typically, tummy time is done by turning your baby upside down, and making them lie on their belly. When you practice tummy time for the first time, babies usually hate it and resist it by crying. To ease them into tummy time you can lay them over a Boppy pillow which will get them accustomed to this new position.

Throw a blanket on the floor, and position the Boppy pillow in the middle. Lie your baby between the C shaped opening with their belly resting against the front curvy part of the pillow. Encourage them spend some time in this position, place some toys or a book to grab his attention.

Gradually as your baby grows older and develops the muscle strength he will spend more time on the tummy.

Be very cautious and maintain a close supervision while practicing tummy time on a Boppy pillow. Younger babies have very little head control and it is possible for them to bury their face in the pillow which can cause suffocation.

4.Supported Sitting (Front & Back):

Babies will start to gain hip strength and develop coordination to sit up at the age of 4 – 8 months. They require lot of practice until they perfect their siting skills. Until then your Boppy pillow can be used to give them the needed support while sitting or catch them from landing on the floor.

To use Boppy pillow for sitting, place your baby in the C shaped opening with their back resting against the curvy surface and their legs facing outward towards the opening. You can also reverse the pillow and wrap it around the back, place a toy or book on the front.

As with practicing tummy time, I highly recommend careful supervision. Babies and infants are notorious for landing in positions that the are not supposed to.

An adult should be present to make sure to pick them up as soon as they fall down or end up in a position which might restrict their breath-ability.

5.Acid Re-flex:

Many infants experience Acid re-flex which causes them to spit up often and makes them miserable.? When the lower esophageal sphincter, a muscular valve between an infant’s stomach and esophagus, is not mature, it allows food to pass through the throat causing them to spit up.

Their digestive system matures as they grow old, until them acid reflex can cause gas pain and make babies very fussy.

My daughter has terrible reflex and would spit up a lot during the early days. Proping her up on a bouncer or a Boppy pillow helped to keep things down.

6.Congestion:

My baby girl catched a cold when she was just 3 months old. Clearing her nostrils with nose frida and making her lie in an upright position on the pillow gave her the relief.

7.Pregnancy Pillow

While investing in a pregnancy pillow has its own benefits, some of us would rather buy products that serve multiple purposes.

You can use a Boppy like how you would use a pregnancy pillow. Put them under the belly and between your legs to get better sleep. If you are experience back pain or sciatic pain during pregnancy, definitely use this to minimizes your discomfort in bed.

8.Post-partum Pillow

Every part of my body was sore after my delivery of my son. I had a 3rd degree tear and developed a hemorrhoid from all the pushing. I dreaded sitting on the couch and bed for the first week or so. Sitting on the Boppy was so much better and took the pressure off my butt.

9.Back Support:

I already mentioned how you can use the Boppy to support your baby’s back while they are sitting. I have also used the Boppy multiple times as a neck pillow or just throw it behind for my back support while I am sitting on the couch.

10.Propped Playing:

My babies loved their play mat. With all the vibrant colors and toys hanging around, it was a hit with my babies. Only thing is when they were too small, they were not able to reach for the toys and enjoy the sensory experience. Making them lie on the nursing pillow lifted them up closer to the toys.

Other uses of Boppy Pillow:

11.Siblings Bonding:

I remember my son who was 1.5 year old wanting to hold his baby sister. I made him sit down on the floor, wrapped the Boppy around him and he held his sister. That was such a perfect moment to treasure.

Of course, make sure to closely supervise. I was holding the baby with my hands to be extra sure that my baby girl doesn’t get dropped on the floor.

12.Travel Chair:

When I was breastfeeding , my nursing pillow came with me everywhere. Partly because I needed the support while nursing. Partly because I could make my baby sit or lie down next to me instead of bring multiple baby items on short trips.

13.Visitors:

We had many visitors who was so scared to hold newborns. Bopppy to the rescue!

14.Gadget Holder

My family was in India and the only way my parents could see their grand kids was through Skype. I would prop the phone or tablet against the Boppy and hold me baby straight so that my parents can look at them.

15.Pets

I won?t necessarily share the same pillow with my pet and my baby, but once your babies are grown up and you dont need the pillow anymore, feel free to pass it on to your pets. Throw a blanket the Boppy and let them enjoy the snuggle

Boppy Pillow for Sleeping?

While the Boppy pillow can be used for many other things other than nursing your baby, it is not intended as a safe place for babies to sleep. In fact, the manufacturer clearly stats in on their website NOT to use Boppy for sleeping.

Allowing babies to sleep in the Boppy is a seriously risky business. Babies and infants can easily curl up and be suffocated when left unsupervised or allowed to sleep on the pillow. Boppy pillow is to be used when your baby is alert and active and always under vigilant adult supervision.

Let’s Wrap Up:

In my opinion, a nursing pillow is a must have breast-feeding essential. Knowing that they can be used for many more years even after the nursing season can make it a worth-while purchase.

Have you used a Boppy pillow for nursing? Have you used your nursing pillow for any other purpose? Please share it in the comments below. Pin this for later read or share it with a friend!

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HOW TO USE A BOPPY PILLOW (FOR FEEDING, TUMMY TIME & MORE)

 

 

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