Nursing pillows for breastfeeding and bottle feeding
Holding your baby up at the breast through a long feed is hard on your arms, shoulders and back, and in the early weeks there are a lot of feeds. A nursing pillow goes round your waist and raises your baby to the breast, so it takes their weight instead of you, and it works just as well for bottle feeds.
Ours has a firm filling, so your baby doesn't sink into it, and because it sits round you rather than balancing on your lap, it stays where you put it. After a C-section it keeps your baby's weight off your incision, and between feeds it's there for supervised tummy time and, later, for support while your baby learns to sit. It's never a place for your baby to sleep.
The pillows differ only in their covers. A no box version is the same pillow and cover without the retail box, so choose a boxed one if it's a present. Spare covers zip on and off in seconds: the printed ones are 100% organic cotton, and the plain one is a soft polyester that dries quicker.
Questions, answered.
Do I need a nursing pillow?
You can feed without one, but in the early weeks there are a lot of feeds, and holding your baby at the breast through each one is hard on your arms and back. The pillow takes their weight and stays put round your waist, which leaves your hands free to help with the latch.
Can I use it for bottle feeding?
Yes. It raises your baby into a more upright position for a bottle and takes the weight off your arms, so it helps whoever is doing the feed.
Is it comfortable after a C-section?
Yes. With your baby lying on the pillow rather than on your lap, their weight stays off your incision while they feed. Settle the pillow round you before you pick your baby up, and if a position pulls on the wound, your midwife can help you find another.
Can my baby sleep on it?
No. It's for feeding and supervised play only, because a baby can slump or roll into the soft sides, which is a suffocation risk. If they drop off during a feed, move them onto their back on a firm, flat mattress in their cot or Moses basket.
How do I keep it clean?
Zip off the cover and machine wash that; the pillow itself doesn't go in the machine. A spare cover means one can be on while the other dries, and the plain polyester spare dries quickest.
