Which nursing pillow to choose

Why is it better to feed newborns while sitting?

One of the most important stages of raising, caring for and communicating with a baby at an early age is breastfeeding. All neonatologists and pediatricians talk about the unconditional benefits of such natural feeding. It is no coincidence that in order to restore psychological balance and establish close contact between mother and child, a newborn is put to the breast in the delivery room.

There are many positions for feeding a baby, they are not chosen by chance, it all depends on the intensity of milk production, the size of the breasts and nipples, the age of the child and even the time of day. However, the so-called “cradle” position remains the most popular and most comfortable. During feeding, the mother sits with her back resting on the back of a chair or sofa, the baby lies horizontally in her arms, with her tummy turned towards the mother's body. This position reduces the load on the adult’s spine and provides comfort to the child.

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How to use a nursing pillow?

Although the placement of a pillow on a woman’s body varies depending on the pillow model, the general principles for using the product are as follows:

Having decided on the place and position of the upcoming feeding, install the accessory on yourself, securely fixing it. Find the most comfortable position and good support.
Place the baby on his side, facing his chest. The baby's body should be horizontal. It is allowed for the legs to be located slightly below the head, but not vice versa!
Place the nipple into the baby's mouth, slightly lifting his head. When the baby begins the sucking process, you can relax.
The pillow provides closer contact between the baby and the nursing mother. Therefore, it is important to ensure that the child does not rest his nose on the pillow.

Important! The baby must be held throughout the feeding.

Help and support

In infancy, children grow by leaps and bounds. They also eat very often. Within a month, the mother may feel that her baby has noticeably gained weight and it becomes more and more difficult to keep her there during meals. In addition, since each time the growing body requires more and more milk, the time of the “meal” also increases. In this case, a special feeding pillow will become an indispensable assistant for young parents. It will ensure the correct position of the child’s body and reduce the load on the woman’s lumbar and thoracic spine.

It should be noted that the pillows presented in the Dreamcatcher online store are very compact, so you can take them with you on visits and to the clinic, on long trips and even for a walk.

There are two main types of these accessories on the market:

fixed at the waist, thanks to a convenient boomerang-shaped shape and ties on the pillowcase;
pillows without fixation, with an additional pillow that allows you to change the angle of the surface.
Both options are equally convenient and in demand. And yet, there are certain nuances that will help you choose a nursing pillow that is ideal for you.

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Advice for young parents

When deciding to buy a nursing pillow, you should pay attention to some important nuances:

If the mammary glands are located high and the distance from the knees to the nipples in a sitting position is quite large, you need to choose a larger pillow with a high base.
For obese women, the best option may be the “Mommy’s Joy” feeding pillow. It is not fixed at the waist, but simply placed on the knees. If necessary, a small standard pillow included in the kit is placed under the main accessory on the side of the baby's head.
The choice of colors and designs is practically unlimited; in the catalog you can choose charming options in pink, cream, lilac, blue, peach, white and light green. All of them are decorated with soft lace and cozy appliqués.
The material of the pillow should be as safe and easy to care for as possible, since babies may regurgitate milk during feeding.

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Pillow designs for nursing twins

A product of this design can be used as a pillow for pregnant women and nursing.

During pregnancy, a bagel pillow helps the expectant mother find many comfortable sleeping positions: its upper edge is placed under the head, the lower edge is located between the knees, and the tummy is comfortably located in the protrusion of the middle part.

Hugging her, the woman quickly falls asleep.

A pregnancy pillow can be used during childbirth, relieving stress on the spine and relieving pain during labor. They place it under your feet: it helps fight swelling.

By placing it under the lower back, a pregnant woman can take a semi-lying position and rest comfortably.

What should a nursing pillow be made of?

Since we are talking about products for infants, the issue of quality should come first. Particular attention should be paid to the material of the case. It is best if it is hypoallergenic cotton, which has good hygroscopicity, is easy to wash and dries quickly.
Safe, light and elastic synthetic materials are suitable as filler - artificial swan down, holofiber and polystyrene granules. They do not cake, do not absorb unpleasant odors, dry quickly and restore their original volume. In addition, dust mites, which are the cause of many diseases, will never grow inside such pillows.
When choosing the decor of a nursing pillow, you should choose a simple design that will not distract the baby from eating, a minimum of lace and volumetric elements, calm shades - this is what will make the process harmonious and truly useful for both mother and child.

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DIY nursing pillow for twins

After I became pregnant with twins, I began to pay increased attention to this topic, and it turned out that there are not so few of us! I hope my attempt will be useful to someone (it would be difficult to name my experience). I would like to warn you right away that I have no sewing experience (not counting the fact that I sewed myself a nursing dress, which my husband still laughs at), if anyone has... that is, a link or a good instruction, please, you can insert it, I just looked for step-by-step instructions for dummies like me on this issue, but I couldn’t find it. There are those who sewed themselves, but apparently they already have some ideas, because in the description there were a lot of terms and ambiguities for me

The quality of the photos is not very good, because I was sewing while we were visiting my grandmother, and they didn’t take the charger for the camera! Everything about everything took me two days, taking into account the fact that at the same time I had to entertain my Mr. fidget and most of the time was spent thinking in the style of “How to attach this thing to this thing?” So, foam rubber No. 5 was purchased at a hardware store, thickness 5cm, the size of the sheets was told to me standard - 1m * 2m, cost - 900 rubles; in the sewing department - flannel, width - 90 cm, length - 3.5 meters. I found lightning in old houses, one 50cm, the other 45cm. In the process, I really needed a construction knife, cutting out the foam took a long time and painfully)) I cut out a pattern from a newspaper, the width of the fabric was too small, so I had to sew two pieces together in the center

Pillow dimensions: width-1m, length-85cm, height-foam rubber in 2 layers-10cm

I would like to make important comments, having tried the pillow in action (still without twins, staging) and reading all sorts of forums, if you sew, adjustments to fit your figure: 1. Try on the opening for yourself from a newspaper or unnecessary fabric, 36 cm is an experimental method, it’s better to let it will be back to back than with a reserve - it is unlikely that you will be more pregnant after childbirth than now. I read on the website that skinny mothers’ babies simply fall between the pillow and the mother) 2. Using some kind of pillow, try on the height. For girls with large breasts, a high pillow will be uncomfortable, for girls with small breasts, a low one. To prevent babies' mouths from being higher than your chest or out of their reach. So, I made blanks for the “sides”

Two long narrow ones (EXCLUDING seam allowances - 5cm * 1m) - for the upper large part where the zipper will be inserted Two long narrow ones (10cm * 85cm) - side outer One long (about 10cm * 140cm depending on your opening) if there is enough fabric, I sewed two - these are for the inner sides. Two short (10cm * 32cm) - front sides. I took up the foam rubber: You can’t really equalize, if you don’t sew the foam rubber together, they will move a little inside the pillow anyway. To sew in a zipper, I first sewed both halves, bending the edges, then made a zipper, simply sewing it somehow with a needle, and then the zipper itself on my mother’s old machine. Then the most interesting part began - sewing the sides to the bases. I sewed on the largest one, I got one big poncho, then the outer sides, then the inner ones, I thought that due to the lack of experience there would still be errors, so I left the smallest ones (32cm) for the end, and I already corrected all the mistakes on them - they are still the same in general, they will be behind your back and not functional. While I was writing this post, I was lying a lot, because initially the outer edges were planned to be larger in order to put strips of foam rubber on the inside, so that there would be like sides for the kids, so that while you were laying one down, the other wouldn’t roll away, but these couple of centimeters were imperceptibly eaten away somewhere, so For incompetents like me, use more seam allowances! It doesn’t take long to cut off the excess, it’s worse if there’s not enough. Well, measure as often as possible so that it is at least 10cm, otherwise I would start a line at 10cm and after half a minute it would already be 9 or 11 - so that the foam would actually fit in later. That's all, unfasten the zipper, turn it inside out, and push it in (at first it seemed difficult, but then nothing, it won't go anywhere - it fits in like a darling!)

If you are still thinking about sewing or not, I’ll add: My son really likes it, every time we come to grandma’s, he brings it and crawls with it, on it and under it. It’s no secret that mothers of twins have big bellies, they write that it’s comfortable to sleep on in the last stages. I think you can feed one on it, if you want. The width can be made smaller (70 centimeters), but our son was walking along the 7th growth corridor and at six months he would not have fit on such a one, perhaps twins will not be such a rush. From the remaining material you can make a pillow for your back, which is what I plan to do! They also make fasteners at the back. If you are a superstitious mommy but are fired up by an idea, sew it with the thought - just like that, for yourself, for your tummy. Then there will definitely be no time!) And if you doubt your breastfeeding capabilities, I’ll tell you - it’s all in your head and in rest. The first month of breastfeeding my son was terrible for me - it hurt, there was little milk, the baby was crying! But thanks to the desire and support of loved ones, everything worked out, I won as much milk from my breast as we needed, in the end full breastfeeding for up to 6 months and just breastfeeding for the sake of pleasure, privacy and peace for both of us - up to 1 year 5 months. Everything will be as you dreamed, and even better!!! A big hello to all future mothers of twins!

Product care!

Cleaning and washing everything that an infant comes into contact with in one way or another is a mandatory condition for hygiene in the first year of life. It’s not enough to choose a nursing pillow; you need to constantly keep it clean. To make the process easier, use our instructions:

If you feed your baby without diapers or simply do not have the opportunity to spend time on additional washing, it is best to cover the pillow with a small disposable diaper. Its absorbent surface is soft and pleasant to the touch; moreover, it does not rustle and does not distract from eating. Using oilcloth is possible, but it will attract the baby’s attention, preventing him from concentrating on food.
Light dirt from the surface of the cover can be removed with a mild solution of baby powder or detergent. Simply apply the solution to the surface and wipe it vigorously, leave the solution for a few minutes, and then gently go over with a clean, damp cloth. Dry the pillow, avoiding direct sunlight, which can damage the artificial filling.
If the contamination is more serious, the pillow must be carefully washed in the washing machine without using bleach or pre-soaking. It is best to wash on a delicate cycle and properly straighten the product after spinning.
Synthetic swan down and holofiber tolerate any number of washes well. With pillows filled with polystyrene balls, special care is required; you must act carefully so that the dense material is not damaged during washing and the filler does not get into the machine drum.

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Comments

Tatyana 08/31/2016, 19:59
I looked closely at the nursing pillow for a long time, looked at a bunch of options, and re-read a lot of reviews. I thought that I could manage without her. After the first week, I started jumping for this pillow. I enjoyed using it. I got nervous during the first week with the baby, I ate slowly, my back just fell off. If you don't have a pillow like this yet, buy it. She is worth the money and undoubtedly helps the young mother, and even the father, in the feeding process.