I really, really wanted to make it work, though. I had very few friends who had nursed, so I asked around on how they accomplished it at home. Several had used a Boppy (LINK) because that's what was at Target, so I got two - since I had a medically-necessary C-section, we had one upstairs and one downstairs. Here's a photo of one of the ones I had, which runs $39.94:
In case you're unfamiliar with the concept - basically, you put the pillow around your waist, put the baby on the pillow, and you put your boob on the baby (well, in his/her mouth). This just is meant to make it easier to cuddle them to you and get a good hold while nursing.
I may have mentioned before that I'm pretty busty. Not enormous, but healthy-sized. More than I actually need. I felt like this made it difficult to hold A in a traditional cradle hold, so we wound up using the football hold (where you hold the baby off to your right or left side, their feet behind you and head in front of your breast). The Boppy really did not accommodate that very well once she got much beyond a few months old - the top of the Boppy is rounded and not incredibly wide, so I felt like she'd start to roll off unless I really held her pretty close to me. Heaven forbid you need to take a drink of water while nursing, your beloved infant is going to land on the floor on their head. Seriously not cool.
What I did like about the Boppy was that it was great for her to recline in when she was small (only when awake, never let them sleep in it, ESPECIALLY unattended), and was then good for helping support her when she was learning to sit by putting it behind her when she got a little older. Here's a photo of her around 6 weeks chilling on the Boppy while I was pumping:
(Apparently unamused with my 9 a.m. witticisms)
So they had their value, but I'm guessing I'd likely use the football hold again on a second child. Additionally, due to the fact that we have to do in-vitro fertilization, our chance of twins is a lot higher than the average person's. Scary high, to be precise. If one baby can barely balance on a Boppy after a few months, two sure couldn't simultaneously (unless they're born to circus performers and have natural acrobatic skills). Due to all of that, I've done some additional research since and will probably go with a My Brest Friend pillow in the future (LINK to their products page). Even their most basic pillow has a larger flat surface than the Boppy, which would be beneficial. What's great about the My Brest Friend, though, is that you can also get different models - in particular, there's a model for twins or plus-size mamas:
Lots more surface area there, enough that you could put a baby on each side. I also love that the My Brest Friend goes behind you, as well, so it gives your back support (really, 360 degree support, which is nice. It's more ergonomic than the Boppy. I also like to imagine that this is sort of like wearing a portable picnic table, which is awesome - I could fit some chicken wings, pasta salad, and a lemonade on there! Their prints are very cool, too, if you're into looks (which I admittedly sometimes am).
So, overall - the Boppy was okay. It worked when A was little, and it worked for non-nursing reasons pretty well, but I don't think it was the best system possible.
Value: $39.95. This is pretty normal for a nursing pillow. Heck, even if you just purchased two bed pillows and tried to develop some sort of system, it would still be at least $14 a pillow, even at Target or Wal-Mart. So the value is pretty good - you want a specialty product, you pay a bit more.
Child entertainment level: Oddly, pretty high for a nursing pillow. You can use it quite a bit for them to recline or practice sitting. 5/10, maybe?
Practicality: For me, this was fairly low. 4/10 or so. I will be using a My Brest Friend in the future, if we have another baby.
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