DIY Breastfeeding Pillow

When I was pregnant I wasn't sure if I wanted or needed a breastfeeding pillow. I mean, before you give birth to your first baby you really have no idea what you will actually use. There are so many things for babies and mommas, and it's like "I have no idea if this is essential or useless". Hint, a lot of it is useless.

So what I did was buy what I thought bare essentials (a bed, clothes, stroller...) and bought all the rest after we had the baby as it became apparent that we did need things (baby monitor, bottles, swaddler...)

But despite not knowing if I actually needed a breastfeeding pillow I did decide to make myself one. These things can be pretty pricey and it seemed fairly easy and cheap to make one. And with uncharacteristic foresight I thought I'd not get anything done once the baby was born. Yup.

The materials cost only about 4€ and I figured I could just take it apart if I didn't end up using it.

This is based on the popular Boppy pillow. I found the pattern for a slipcover from blog called vanilla joy. 

I used the pattern to make an insert pillow from an old sheet, stuffed it with poly-fill from an old pillow and sewed it shut.

I then made a removable (read washable) cover with a zipper from an old bed spread I found at a thrift store. The pattern had the zipper on the underside, but I put mine on the back edge.

So was it worth it? Yep! I used this a ton when Zelda was a newborn and I was just learning to breastfeed. Because my episiotomy I mostly fed her lying down for the first few weeks, but after that this was great. 

Where it really shined was when you are exhausted and hangry and the baby wants to feed. I'd just sit at the table, plop this on my lap, support the baby with one hand and proceed to eat with the other. During those first few months when it felt like the baby was feeding constantly, this allowed me to eat as well.

Totally recommended. You can also use it later on for tummy time or to help support the kid when she is sitting.

Only thing I'd do differently is to make TWO slipcovers. Things got a bit, ahem, messy at times.