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Two moms trying to raise their families a little greener, a little healthier, and with a whole lot of love. All this while trying to save a little green along the way. Product reviews, green ideas, money-saving tips, and more!

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

The infamous boppy


OK, ok... I know it's on the top registry item list at Babies R Us and pretty much everyone has them.... But I just have to sing the praises of the Boppy nursing pillow. I am utterly lost without mine. I know plenty of women for centuries have nursed without the assistance of a Boppy pillow, but I just can't imagine they were as comfortable as I am when I am nursing! When I first began nursing my son at the hospital, I was swallowed up by a dozen (worthless) pillows propping us up on my hospital bed in an effort to make those first nursing sessions as comfortable as possible. Why didn't I bring that darn Boppy to the hospital?? Lord knows I packed EVERYTHING else imagineable (my husband will tell you stories about the bottles of SmartWater that I made him lug in to the hospital because I thought I wouldn't like the hospital water... he then lugged the bottles out when we were discharged. Ooops!) I digress. Upon my arrival to the comforts of my abode, I busted out that Boppy for my first nursing session at home and I felt the tension release from my back, shoulders, and arms for the first time in, well, two days. ;)

I love how the Boppy positions my son, E, for nursing so I can be hands-free, if needed. I work full-time from home and with E propped on the Boppy nursing, I can easily work on my laptop with both hands! It also has worked through the months (he is 12.5 months now), at many baby sizes (in my experience: from 6ish lbs at birth to now almost 18lbs), and through many stages (from the limp newborn to the wriggly toddler). It explicitly states to NOT do this on the tag, but it also cuddled little E while he slept propped up in it next to me on the floor. The Boppy can also be used as a tummy time pillow. Although it is a lot bigger than the tummy-time specific mats/pillows, it works just as well and if baby really hates tummy time (as E did), they might enjoy it a little more on the bigger boppy because they'll be assisted a little more and cuddled all the while. That's E pictured above using the Boppy for some tummy time at two months old.

E and I are not the only ones to use the Boppy, though. My husband and mom used it a lot in the early days when holding E because it kind of is like an arm rest. It allows you to hold baby for hours without wearing out those biceps! And we've all been known to use it as a regular old pillow - even our cat, Lola, has curled up inside it.

But of course, the workhorse of the Boppy is for nursing in this household. After less than a week of nursing, I decided I wanted an extra- to keep in the car for on-the-go nursing while I was still figuring things out. (I do nurse out of the house without my boppy now... I just don't like it! I figure dragging a Boppy into a restaurant or stuffing it in the stroller basket is a BIT ridiculous.) When traveling for any length of time, if we're going by car, the Boppy is coming with, but when we travel via air, I sadly have to leave it at home. I really, really, really think Boppy should come out with an inflatable version to travel with. I would pick that up in a heartbeat! Nowadays, the extra Boppy has been moved into the house, so I have one upstairs in my bedroom and another in our family room.

Boppy has lots of options to customize your pillow with fun patterned and textured covers and even an organic cover. I have 4 covers for my Boppies; my favorite two are the Organic Sweet Pea (super soft and attractive) and the Soft Boa Blue Green (Like a velour fabric- really soft and cozy). I think the only thing that could make Boppy better is if they offered an organic Bare Naked pillow.

To put it simply, I think the Boppy RULES. It is my favorite nursing accessory... and I feel lost without it! My Boppies have logged many, many hours of usage and I look forward to using it for many more hours!

7 comments:

  1. I'm still figuring out the nursing thing (my son is 3 weeks old), but I have to agree that the Boppy is an absolute necessity. I had a lot of trouble with positioning at first, which just made my son angry and more wiggly and led to a failed feeding session, and once an LC showed me how to use the Boppy to my advantage, things turned around so quickly. I like your idea to get a second one for on-the-go!

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  2. Alison, congrats on your little man!

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  3. Congrats, Alison- we want to see pics of our first Gaga Greenie Baby fan! I am soooo happy you consulted with an LC after having a little difficulty- so many people just give up and don't ask for help. YAY!

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  4. you know what, i LOVE our boppy too. I wish I'd had the foresight to bring it with to the hospital to make the beginning of this whole nursing thing a little easier on both of us.
    Sometimes I even use it by putting it behind me to help support my back while i'm holding him in bed. It's so versatile, I totally heart it.

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  5. ok for the first few plane trips with haley i didn't leave home without the boppy. i used my yoga mat strap (it was perfect with the shoulder strap and two velcro straps that fit around the boppy) so that i could throw it over my shoulder or on the stroller. haley slept on the boppy easily and we were all happy. and yes i'm sure i looked a little silly and i did think about how i'd look, but then realized my child's happiness and our comfort was well worth looking silly and i would do it again. jake has just not been that into his boppy like haley. jackie - they should definitely come up with an inflatable boppy.

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  6. Thanks! There are tons of pictures of my little guy on my blog: http://fernerfamily.blogspot.com

    I am still working on my building up my milk supply, and I'm nursing with a nipple shield right now to help Ian learn how to latch and suck better, and we're making progress every day. He's still not exclusively on breastmilk, but I feel good that I am able to provide him as much of it as I can.

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  7. Alison - OMGosh, he is so stinkin' adorable! I absolutely LOVE his name. Congrats again!

    One thing I found that really helped build my supply (and possibly contributed to my over supply) was that I nursed every two hours. I would seriously set a timer, stop what I was doing, and nurse. My little guy was also a great sleeper at night so I had to set an alarm to get up and feed him. Once T was a little older and would go 3 hours between feedings I would pump in the morning an hour after his first feeding. Once T started sleeping through the night (around 8 weeks - he really was always a great sleeper) I would also nurse before I went to bed. That helped me maintain my supply as well as stock up in the freezer.

    Congrats on making breastfeeding work for you so far!

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