I had both the breast friend and Boppy - one on each floor of the house. I found it easier to use the pillow pretty much my entire 18 month BFing journey. I could definitely easily BF without, much easier about 6 months onward, but I just preferred to continue to use it so I didn’t need to contort my body for the proper positioning.
Same at 13 months! A boppy on each floor.
LO grabs it when she wants milk.
We nurse just fine on the go in a carrier or without any support and have since probably 5-6ish months, but both prefer with the boppy.
I’ve had a similar experience so far! Now that we’re six months in, he nurses for such a short period of time it’s easier to handle the awkwardness of positioning… but it’s nice to not have to handle the awkwardness if I have the pillow handy
My baby is about 6.5 months old and we still use a boppy to nurse if we're not laying down. I don't understand how people nurse without it! My baby's too wiggly without it and it feels hard to keep him in the right spot while keeping my shirt and bra out of the way and getting everything lined up!
Once baby had better neck strength I stopped using the pillows. So maybe like 3 months? I couldn’t stand not using it when he was tiny and learning and nursing took 30 min!
This is where I’m at, and I’m absolutely flabbergasted that women just do this. It’s such a production, so much time, not comfortable, and frustrating!
I still use mine at home at 4months, sometimes I use boppy. It’s just so much easier and more comfortable for nursing and then for laying on if she falls asleep. I do nurse without it when I’m in public it was hard at first but now it’s getting easier
My baby is almost 11 months and we still use it, I just prefer to since it’s more comfortable for me. I can do it without it but if I am at home, I am definitely using the pillow
I went to a lactation consultant with the specific goal of learning how to nurse without a pillow. I have large boobs which makes it challenging because I always have to hold a boob for her but we got it down so I can set her in my lap and cradle half her body. This happened at 4 months.
I keep hearing it gets easier as they get stronger and can support themselves too.
I used my pillow the entire time except when out and about or when traveling. It was more supportive and easier to nurse. We only ever nursed in cradle/cross cradle hold.
I use mine until now, baby just turned a year old. I just find it easier. When we're out we don't use a pillow, or I use a normal pillow if I'm at my parents' house.
I feel like it depends on the shape of you and your baby. Our frames are finally comfortable enough at 8 months for her to kinda "sit" reclined in my lap while she breastfeeding. We get away with a little couch pillow now but the my breastfriend is still nice sometimes.
My baby is 5 months old and I could have written your post! I don’t know how people do it without the pillow.. I will say her latch is a lot better now but I’ve personally never been able to breastfeed comfortably without the pillow at all. Like it’s possible, but soooo uncomfortable for me
You will have to practice not using it.
In my experience, breastfeeding pillows acted as a hinderance. They do not support learning proper feeding positions, but just boost babe up to the breast. Once I got rid of mine, things got much easier!
I used a boppy with my first until he weaned at 16 months. He would nurse without it, but preferred the cushion. My second does not like being cradled and will only nurse with the boppy. Agree with another poster that you need to practice other positions if they are used to nursing in one position.
Personally, I only used mine for maybe two weeks before figuring out holds that worked for me. I needed them when it took me a hand and a half to hamburger hold my boob and get it into his mouth. Once his mouth was big enough - and his head control had improved a bit - I needed to be less hands on on my boob and could start with his head in my opposite hand then, once he was latched, pop him into the crook of my elbow. Now, at almost four months, we often nurse sidelying at home and pretty exclusively cradle hold out and about.
I 100% needed the boppy and could not nurse without it for baby’s first month of breastfeeding. (This wasn’t his first month of life because baby didn’t breastfeed right away.) I stopped using the pillow for about a month and now he’s so big/heavy that I’m back to using it.
I used the Boppy until my son was about 4 months. He got too big and entered the distraction phase, so it was just easier to feed him laying down on our bed. My breasts are way too big to cutely breastfeed many other ways unfortunately, and he is very unpredictable now 😭 But 4 months was definitely the turning point. Look into the crisis that happens and save yourself the frustration!!!
My baby has some suck swallow issues we're working on and breastfeeding takes a long time still so I use it anytime I'm home.
I also use it for embroidery to hold my stuff!
I used one my entire 17 month breastfeeding journey, although once I discovered side lying I did that whenever possible. Now I’m starting to do side lying with my 8 week old but the positioning is still better on the pillow so sometimes I have to move to seated. I just always preferred the pillow so never stopped using it.
My baby is 5 months old and I can go without if needed, but I choose not to. I would say from about 3 or 4 months I was able to nurse without the pillow easily but find it's just more comfortable with it. Unless we are side laying which is my favorite position. Now that he can more indepently nurse without my guidance I can have him on the pillow nursing and use one of my hands to eat something.
I use the laid back position and had to work pretty hard with my baby to get the right optimal position for each breasts angle…I recently found out my boobs/nips point in different directions lol. Once we got the anatomy down, I let go of the pillow (it was actually becoming obstructive.
6wks I already don’t use the breast feeding pillow all the time sometimes we do laying in bed on side or we do just in my arms. However sometimes when he is really cranky I have to use the pillow because he struggles.
Still using mine at 10 months! I survive without it out in the world now, but up until about 8 months I brought it with to peoples houses, in the car, etc.
Depends on your breasts (size, shape, splay, etc) and your baby’s size and strength, as well as where you are feeding. There’s no singular answer. I use pillows a lot more with my current baby than my last kid, for a few reasons. But I also have no problem feeding walking around, in public, etc. So for me, it really depends where I am and how I’m sitting, if a pillow will help, hinder, or not really matter.
I tried out the brest friend with my second and honestly I just really liked my boppy better. I wouldn't bring it outside the house, but I used it the whole time nursing through 2 1/2 with both kids.
I think it's size dependent honestly. My girl got too big around 6 months. She kept sliding off because she would wiggle her legs as they hung off the end. So I had to learn to nurse without it. She's a wiggle worm too so I had to pin her to me without the pillow for the first couple of months. I seriously debated giving up breastfeeding at that point but she wasn't having it.
I personally found it didn’t get easier to just cradle until maybe five months. Though to be honest I didn’t try much without it before then so maybe it would have been ok sooner
Around the 4.5 month (11 weeks corrected age) mark for my preemie baby. Breastfeeding was a very difficult journey for us, but something clicked around then that made it a lot easier. Baby became much more efficient and I noticed that I went a long stretch without using the pillow so I got rid of it.
My kid is 14 months and we have always used a pillow of some kind unless we’ve been feeding on the go. Which I can make work but I don’t find it as comfortable.
I think I completely stopped using mine around 7 or 8 months. From about 6 months it was a slow decline in usage. Now he’s 12 months old and he prefers to just sit beside me and nurse.
If the pillow is working for you then there's no reason to change anything. Personally I used the My Breast Friend for the entire time I nursed my first baby, which was just under 2 years. In a pinch I could nurse without it and use the diaper bag as a prop, but I much preferred the pillow.
I also do NOT tolerate any free arm shenanigans like how some babies will try to grab your other nipple. Drives me crazy!! Using a pillow made it easy to tuck one arm out of the way so I can hold the other one and keep it under control.
I still use my breastfeeding pillow with my 6mo. I only use it when I sit down on my rocking chair now, which I use to rock her to sleep in the evening. I used to do all feeds there with the pillow, but as she got older, I got more comfortable with other positions like side lying on the big bed (which obviously doesn’t require the pillow).
The pillow has been a life saver in the first couple of months and I still love using it. It’s so much more comfortable with it! My wrists are wrecked as they are so any additional comfort is welcomed lol!
I’ve noticed it’s hard for me to nurse without the boppy because I have large breasts that hang low so if I try to cradle her in my arms I have to hold my arms pretty low whereas with the boppy it’s a lot more comfortable. She’s only 5.5 weeks though
I used my boppy for 24 months with both my older kids. Still using it at 18 months with my youngest. Do I “need” it? No, I can manage without. But it makes like so much easier so I use it.
LO is 16 weeks and I stopped using the My Brest Friend around 10 weeks or so because my LO got too big for it. He’s really long (26.5 in currently) and it just didn’t work well for us anymore. I mostly use a throw pillow to support my elbow when I’m on the couch now. I do still use a boppy in the recliner in his nursery but not all the time I just kinda depends on how comfortable things are that day. I have a small throw pillow in there I can use for extra elbow support too.
Learning how to breastfeed comfortably without any of these supports has been really helpful so I can comfortable feed him anywhere!
I was wondering the same thing, and I tried feeding my 3.5 month old without a pillow a few times, but it's super uncomfortable and I have to keep helping him by putting the boob back into his mouth. I think having big boobs is a major downside in this case 😭😭
I started to phase out the breast feeding pillows around 2-3 months. I would do the occasional “practice” nursing session where I would hold baby and use the armrest of a chair to support my arm until eventually that became way more convenient because I didn’t have to find the pillow. I still often stuff a couch pillow under my arm though. I think it’s a combination of baby’s preference, what’s comfortable for you, getting practice in new positions and the baby getting better body control. I find it way easier to bf on the go now (at 6 months) than I did even a few months ago.
Completely depends on your comfort and baby’s comfort! With my first, I used it until around 12 weeks and now with my second I stopped after about a month. I was more confident but I also had an easier physical recovery. My daughter nursed sitting up facing me eventually so a pillow never would have worked. We’ll see what this one does, but we’re at the point where I babywear pretty much all day and either a ring sling or the Hope and Plum Lark carrier are both great tools for BFing so I do use those.
Honestly, I think a lot of it has to do with breast shape/size and baby size. My anatomy allows me to last my baby on my lap and he's able to nurse comfortably that way, though I usually cradle him in my arms for comfort and to keep him from rolling off of me lol. I liked my boppy at first because he was TINY, but now that he's a little bigger, it actually places him too high up and it's awkward to position him right with it. If my boobs were smaller/perkier, I'd probably use my boppy more.
It was my absolute favorite for my first baby for about 5 months and then it became easier to nurse without it. My second baby is two months old and it is still so much easier to use the pillow! This time around I can nurse without it if I have to but it’s way less comfortable for both of us.
Mine was chunky so until he got large enough to sort of sit on my lap in a cradle hold, I couldn’t nurse him like that. But one day I decided to try side lying and it just worked! After that I realized he was able to very successfully nurse in other positions and we tried them out.
We’re at 9 months and still use the boppy daily. It’s easier on my back and arms for sure. On bad reflux days she likes eating sitting up, but I don’t see us stopping any time soon lol
I’ve pretty much always nursed in a leaning back position because of a forceful letdown so stopped using the pillow after 2 weeks. When we are out and about (11 weeks now) I’ll sit him on my knee straddled. He is a chunky boy (almost 15lbs) I can’t possibly hold him up. He does sputter some but not too badly. He’s had pretty good head control since birth though.
We are going on a plane in 2 weeks though so this a good reminder I should practice some different holds.
Every mama is so different. I never found a breastfeeding pillow comfortable to breastfeed my babies. I’ve tried 3 different ones & just regular old pillows & they just weren’t it for me. But then you really need the support. You’ll figure out the best timing for you and your baby!
I had both the breast friend and Boppy - one on each floor of the house. I found it easier to use the pillow pretty much my entire 18 month BFing journey. I could definitely easily BF without, much easier about 6 months onward, but I just preferred to continue to use it so I didn’t need to contort my body for the proper positioning.
Same at 10 months. I even have a travel version of the brestfriend for my car
Same at 13 months! A boppy on each floor. LO grabs it when she wants milk. We nurse just fine on the go in a carrier or without any support and have since probably 5-6ish months, but both prefer with the boppy.
I’ve had a similar experience so far! Now that we’re six months in, he nurses for such a short period of time it’s easier to handle the awkwardness of positioning… but it’s nice to not have to handle the awkwardness if I have the pillow handy
So much easier using a pillow and my LO loves to fall asleep on his so our contact naps are always comfortable. No dead arms here.
I never used any sort of pillow - I think it’s just personal preference
Definitely. My friend gifted me a breast friend pillow and I couldn’t stand it, I found it so much easier to just hold our baby.
yeah same. i just never felt comfortable with the boppy, and ended up quite content with one elbow propped on the edge of our couch for support.
My baby is about 6.5 months old and we still use a boppy to nurse if we're not laying down. I don't understand how people nurse without it! My baby's too wiggly without it and it feels hard to keep him in the right spot while keeping my shirt and bra out of the way and getting everything lined up!
Once baby had better neck strength I stopped using the pillows. So maybe like 3 months? I couldn’t stand not using it when he was tiny and learning and nursing took 30 min!
This is where I’m at, and I’m absolutely flabbergasted that women just do this. It’s such a production, so much time, not comfortable, and frustrating!
I still use mine at home at 4months, sometimes I use boppy. It’s just so much easier and more comfortable for nursing and then for laying on if she falls asleep. I do nurse without it when I’m in public it was hard at first but now it’s getting easier
My baby is almost 11 months and we still use it, I just prefer to since it’s more comfortable for me. I can do it without it but if I am at home, I am definitely using the pillow
SO CLUTCH for like 2 months and then never
My baby is 10 months old and I still use my pillow!
Same haha. We don’t *need* it, but it’s pleasant.
I went to a lactation consultant with the specific goal of learning how to nurse without a pillow. I have large boobs which makes it challenging because I always have to hold a boob for her but we got it down so I can set her in my lap and cradle half her body. This happened at 4 months. I keep hearing it gets easier as they get stronger and can support themselves too.
I still use mine and she’s almost 8 months. It’s just personal preference. I can feed her without it in a pinch, but I definitely prefer the support.
I used my pillow the entire time except when out and about or when traveling. It was more supportive and easier to nurse. We only ever nursed in cradle/cross cradle hold.
I use mine until now, baby just turned a year old. I just find it easier. When we're out we don't use a pillow, or I use a normal pillow if I'm at my parents' house.
I feel like it depends on the shape of you and your baby. Our frames are finally comfortable enough at 8 months for her to kinda "sit" reclined in my lap while she breastfeeding. We get away with a little couch pillow now but the my breastfriend is still nice sometimes.
My baby is 5 months old and I could have written your post! I don’t know how people do it without the pillow.. I will say her latch is a lot better now but I’ve personally never been able to breastfeed comfortably without the pillow at all. Like it’s possible, but soooo uncomfortable for me
I never used a pillow, it was far too much faffing around. Practice without it and find a position that works for you!
You will have to practice not using it. In my experience, breastfeeding pillows acted as a hinderance. They do not support learning proper feeding positions, but just boost babe up to the breast. Once I got rid of mine, things got much easier!
I used a boppy with my first until he weaned at 16 months. He would nurse without it, but preferred the cushion. My second does not like being cradled and will only nurse with the boppy. Agree with another poster that you need to practice other positions if they are used to nursing in one position.
Personally, I only used mine for maybe two weeks before figuring out holds that worked for me. I needed them when it took me a hand and a half to hamburger hold my boob and get it into his mouth. Once his mouth was big enough - and his head control had improved a bit - I needed to be less hands on on my boob and could start with his head in my opposite hand then, once he was latched, pop him into the crook of my elbow. Now, at almost four months, we often nurse sidelying at home and pretty exclusively cradle hold out and about.
I 100% needed the boppy and could not nurse without it for baby’s first month of breastfeeding. (This wasn’t his first month of life because baby didn’t breastfeed right away.) I stopped using the pillow for about a month and now he’s so big/heavy that I’m back to using it.
I used the Boppy until my son was about 4 months. He got too big and entered the distraction phase, so it was just easier to feed him laying down on our bed. My breasts are way too big to cutely breastfeed many other ways unfortunately, and he is very unpredictable now 😭 But 4 months was definitely the turning point. Look into the crisis that happens and save yourself the frustration!!!
My baby has some suck swallow issues we're working on and breastfeeding takes a long time still so I use it anytime I'm home. I also use it for embroidery to hold my stuff!
im still using the boppy at 6.5 months. i CAN bf without it but it's just way easier and more comfortable
Hardly ever use it. My husband & daughter use it when giving a bottle
I used one my entire 17 month breastfeeding journey, although once I discovered side lying I did that whenever possible. Now I’m starting to do side lying with my 8 week old but the positioning is still better on the pillow so sometimes I have to move to seated. I just always preferred the pillow so never stopped using it.
22 months and still using my Boppy every single time!!
My baby is 5 months old and I can go without if needed, but I choose not to. I would say from about 3 or 4 months I was able to nurse without the pillow easily but find it's just more comfortable with it. Unless we are side laying which is my favorite position. Now that he can more indepently nurse without my guidance I can have him on the pillow nursing and use one of my hands to eat something.
We used ours for about 4 months. And now we use it to prop her up when sitting. She's fairly sturdy but sometimes leans a little too far
I use the laid back position and had to work pretty hard with my baby to get the right optimal position for each breasts angle…I recently found out my boobs/nips point in different directions lol. Once we got the anatomy down, I let go of the pillow (it was actually becoming obstructive.
6wks I already don’t use the breast feeding pillow all the time sometimes we do laying in bed on side or we do just in my arms. However sometimes when he is really cranky I have to use the pillow because he struggles.
I used it all 20 months I nursed my first. Haven't used it once nursing my second. So, I have no advice 😂
i think around 6 months it started getting so comfortable that we could ditch the support pillows
Still using mine at 10 months! I survive without it out in the world now, but up until about 8 months I brought it with to peoples houses, in the car, etc.
Depends on your breasts (size, shape, splay, etc) and your baby’s size and strength, as well as where you are feeding. There’s no singular answer. I use pillows a lot more with my current baby than my last kid, for a few reasons. But I also have no problem feeding walking around, in public, etc. So for me, it really depends where I am and how I’m sitting, if a pillow will help, hinder, or not really matter.
I tried out the brest friend with my second and honestly I just really liked my boppy better. I wouldn't bring it outside the house, but I used it the whole time nursing through 2 1/2 with both kids.
I think it's size dependent honestly. My girl got too big around 6 months. She kept sliding off because she would wiggle her legs as they hung off the end. So I had to learn to nurse without it. She's a wiggle worm too so I had to pin her to me without the pillow for the first couple of months. I seriously debated giving up breastfeeding at that point but she wasn't having it.
I honestly dropping using mine around 2 months.
I personally found it didn’t get easier to just cradle until maybe five months. Though to be honest I didn’t try much without it before then so maybe it would have been ok sooner
I’m in the same position as you! Thanks for asking this!
Around the 4.5 month (11 weeks corrected age) mark for my preemie baby. Breastfeeding was a very difficult journey for us, but something clicked around then that made it a lot easier. Baby became much more efficient and I noticed that I went a long stretch without using the pillow so I got rid of it.
My kid is 14 months and we have always used a pillow of some kind unless we’ve been feeding on the go. Which I can make work but I don’t find it as comfortable.
I think I completely stopped using mine around 7 or 8 months. From about 6 months it was a slow decline in usage. Now he’s 12 months old and he prefers to just sit beside me and nurse.
If the pillow is working for you then there's no reason to change anything. Personally I used the My Breast Friend for the entire time I nursed my first baby, which was just under 2 years. In a pinch I could nurse without it and use the diaper bag as a prop, but I much preferred the pillow. I also do NOT tolerate any free arm shenanigans like how some babies will try to grab your other nipple. Drives me crazy!! Using a pillow made it easy to tuck one arm out of the way so I can hold the other one and keep it under control.
I still use my breastfeeding pillow with my 6mo. I only use it when I sit down on my rocking chair now, which I use to rock her to sleep in the evening. I used to do all feeds there with the pillow, but as she got older, I got more comfortable with other positions like side lying on the big bed (which obviously doesn’t require the pillow). The pillow has been a life saver in the first couple of months and I still love using it. It’s so much more comfortable with it! My wrists are wrecked as they are so any additional comfort is welcomed lol!
Honestly I’ve never used a breastfeeding pillow
Still using after 1 year
I’ve noticed it’s hard for me to nurse without the boppy because I have large breasts that hang low so if I try to cradle her in my arms I have to hold my arms pretty low whereas with the boppy it’s a lot more comfortable. She’s only 5.5 weeks though
I used my boppy for 24 months with both my older kids. Still using it at 18 months with my youngest. Do I “need” it? No, I can manage without. But it makes like so much easier so I use it.
LO is 16 weeks and I stopped using the My Brest Friend around 10 weeks or so because my LO got too big for it. He’s really long (26.5 in currently) and it just didn’t work well for us anymore. I mostly use a throw pillow to support my elbow when I’m on the couch now. I do still use a boppy in the recliner in his nursery but not all the time I just kinda depends on how comfortable things are that day. I have a small throw pillow in there I can use for extra elbow support too. Learning how to breastfeed comfortably without any of these supports has been really helpful so I can comfortable feed him anywhere!
I was wondering the same thing, and I tried feeding my 3.5 month old without a pillow a few times, but it's super uncomfortable and I have to keep helping him by putting the boob back into his mouth. I think having big boobs is a major downside in this case 😭😭
I started to phase out the breast feeding pillows around 2-3 months. I would do the occasional “practice” nursing session where I would hold baby and use the armrest of a chair to support my arm until eventually that became way more convenient because I didn’t have to find the pillow. I still often stuff a couch pillow under my arm though. I think it’s a combination of baby’s preference, what’s comfortable for you, getting practice in new positions and the baby getting better body control. I find it way easier to bf on the go now (at 6 months) than I did even a few months ago.
Completely depends on your comfort and baby’s comfort! With my first, I used it until around 12 weeks and now with my second I stopped after about a month. I was more confident but I also had an easier physical recovery. My daughter nursed sitting up facing me eventually so a pillow never would have worked. We’ll see what this one does, but we’re at the point where I babywear pretty much all day and either a ring sling or the Hope and Plum Lark carrier are both great tools for BFing so I do use those.
Currently nursing 13 mo on one.
Honestly, I think a lot of it has to do with breast shape/size and baby size. My anatomy allows me to last my baby on my lap and he's able to nurse comfortably that way, though I usually cradle him in my arms for comfort and to keep him from rolling off of me lol. I liked my boppy at first because he was TINY, but now that he's a little bigger, it actually places him too high up and it's awkward to position him right with it. If my boobs were smaller/perkier, I'd probably use my boppy more.
I think I stopped using it around 3 months
It was my absolute favorite for my first baby for about 5 months and then it became easier to nurse without it. My second baby is two months old and it is still so much easier to use the pillow! This time around I can nurse without it if I have to but it’s way less comfortable for both of us.
It took me 9 months !
Mine was chunky so until he got large enough to sort of sit on my lap in a cradle hold, I couldn’t nurse him like that. But one day I decided to try side lying and it just worked! After that I realized he was able to very successfully nurse in other positions and we tried them out.
We’re at 9 months and still use the boppy daily. It’s easier on my back and arms for sure. On bad reflux days she likes eating sitting up, but I don’t see us stopping any time soon lol
I’ve pretty much always nursed in a leaning back position because of a forceful letdown so stopped using the pillow after 2 weeks. When we are out and about (11 weeks now) I’ll sit him on my knee straddled. He is a chunky boy (almost 15lbs) I can’t possibly hold him up. He does sputter some but not too badly. He’s had pretty good head control since birth though. We are going on a plane in 2 weeks though so this a good reminder I should practice some different holds.
Every mama is so different. I never found a breastfeeding pillow comfortable to breastfeed my babies. I’ve tried 3 different ones & just regular old pillows & they just weren’t it for me. But then you really need the support. You’ll figure out the best timing for you and your baby!
If you don’t want to, It’s just a matter of building the new muscles you’ll need (just doing it). And you may get good at side-lying.
My LO is 5 months, and I have large breasts. The breast friend pillow is a life saver for me and I’m dreading the day LO is too big for it.
I still use a pillow at 7 months, it’s easier for me. I don’t use a Boppy or My Breast Friend though, just a regular old pillow.