How to select a nursing cushion.

It is nice when you get a popular nursing cushion at your baby shower, or as a gift. However, no matter how nice it may be, the wrong nursing cushion can leave you in excruciating pain! Once a mom starts using a cushion, several less obvious details come to light.

Consider these factors when selecting a nursing cushion:
1. Functionality;
2. Simplicity of care;
3. Utility and cost;
4. Safety and chemical contaminants;
5. Securing mechanism; and
6. Portability.

Functionality: There are two basic popular types of nursing cushions. The most common type is designed to essentially have mom support the baby, with her arm, up to the breast, and the cushion supports her arm. This is how the Boppy, My Brest Friend, and Anna Cushion are commonly used. These cushions are typically cut from a piece of firm sponge rubber foam, and covered with a fabric cover such as cotton. These cushions are usually firm if not hard, are designed with a non-adjustable thickness, and a relatively flat top surface. They are intended to have mom support the nursing child with her arm, with the cushion supporting mom's arm. They are NOT intended to have the baby lay directly on them. There are several problems with this type of cushion. First, a mother holding her infant, especially a new mom, will never relax her arm with an infant in it. Second, except for the Anna cushion, these cushions are not adjustable in thickness to adjust the amount of support or lift that they offer. The thickness of these cushions are designed to work with "average size moms and babies."

Not all mothers and babies are the same. Some mothers are taller and some shorter, some thinner and some a little bigger, some have larger breasts and some smaller. Some mothers have neurological or muscle problems that make supporting a nursing infant more difficult. All of these factors affect the ease of which you nursing your baby. Knowing how to nurse your baby and how to use your nursing cushion correctly will have a MAJOR influence on how easy you nurse. Unfortunately, most mothers, especially new mothers, do not realize many of the less obvious problems they will encounter until they become real for them personally.

Unless you and your infant are the perfect "average size", the level of support or lift from the fixed thickness cushions is never quite right. The result is that mom's arm starts to get tired and sore, and starts to fall. The infant then starts nursing more on the nipple, getting less of the areola, causing mom's breast to get sore. This causes mom to start leaning forward so the baby can get a larger portion of the areola. This starts causing back and neck strain. Ultimately, this becomes a cycle ending in mom giving up nursing.

The second type of nursing cushion is the adjustable type. The Kozy Kushion, the Anna cushion, and the Boston Billow are adjustable type nursing cushions. The Anna cushion adjusts by adding or removing layers of foam from inside the outer covering. This is done prior to use and is not very convenient to adjust with the infant on it. The Boston Billow cushion is filled with tiny pellets. The filling can be piled or molded into various locations within the cushion shell to effectively change the shape or thickness of it. However, while somewhat adjustable, it is designed to support mom's arm, while mom supports the infant. The problem is that it must be readjusted for each use, and the pellets easily fall down or move out from where you put them with movement of mom's arm, causing many of the drawbacks of the other nursing cushions.

The Kozy Kushion is constructed to be fully adjustable to fit mom and infant. The Kozy Kushion is made using a polyester fleece outer cover with 5 chambers, each filled with shredded polyester stuffing. The two large side chambers adjust to various heights on each side of the center chamber. The Kozy Kushion is the only cushion designed to allow the nursing infant to lay on his/her side directly on the cushion (and support his/her head higher than the shoulders to keep the spine aligned), not on mom's arm. The additional end pads tuck under and raise the Kozy Kushion significantly higher. The Kozy Kushion brings the infant up to mom's breast, not the breast down to the infant! This means that the Kozy Kushion transfers 100% of the baby's weight to mom's thighs, not her wrists, arms, neck or back. Mom can easily sit up straight, and nurse in complete comfort.

Simplicity of care: Often, a nursing baby will "leak" out the side of their mouth or spill when the baby becomes detached or burps, not to mention leaky diapers. Keeping the nursing cushion clean is imperative. Most nursing cushions are machine washable. However, all of the foam core cushions including Boppy, My Brest Friend, and The Anna pillow all require air drying (according to the manufactures) requiring up to 3 or 4 hours before you can start using it again. Except for the optional removable cover (not generally available), the Boppy outer covering is not removable, while the cover for My Brest Friend and the Anna Pillow are removable (replacement can be difficult) for washing. The Kozy Kushion, along with the easily interchangeable covers are completely machine washable and dryable (without "clumping" in the dryer).

Utility and cost: The price of a nursing cushion is only half of the picture. The usefulness of the cushion is the other half. Boppy and My Brest Friend cushions are available in discount stores, and are usually the lowest priced. This does not mean they are the best values. The Boppy can also be used as a "sit up ring" or play center (if you purchase the correct model) adding some utility. My Brest Friend and the Anna Pillow are basically just nursing cushions. Typically, most nursing cushions are used for 4 to 6 months. At 7 to 9 months, most infants are sitting up in a shopping cart while mom shops, although they may not have the patience to sit quietly. The Kozy Kushion is also designed to be a shopping cart cushion. It protects young children from teething on the dirty shopping cart, hitting their head on the bars, and even prevents them from throwing their toys or pacifier on the dirty floor. With the Kozy Kushion, your child can fall asleep in the shopping cart while you shop. This dual use easily gives you over 4 years of use! The Kozy Kushion is also great for burping, and rocking your baby, or for cuddling in mom or dad's lap. Cost should be measured by usefulness, not just the price! It is time to start measuring the useful life of a nursing cushion in years, not months!

Securing mechanism: How the cushion secures the cushion to mom is an important factor. During a pregnancy, mom's abdomen expands greatly, and it does not return to its' original size immediately. For larger moms, some cushions do not fit very well, or even tend to fall off. Some moms try to use these cushions without the strap. This can ultimately be very painful. The cushion must be held snugly, but not tight, against mom's abdomen to prevent the nursing infant from sliding down between the cushion and mom. If the infant slides down, they can push or kick against mom's abdomen, or incision. This can become very painful for mom. Even in a vaginal birth, mom's abdomen can be very tender the first few weeks after birth. Additionally, when the infant slides down, the cushion can not do its job. Mom has to provide more arm/back support. There is no restraining strap on the Boppy at all. The rigid foam core attempts to "clamp" the cushion around mom's waist. If mom is VERY thin, this works ok. Otherwise, this cushion tends to wonder excessively and for most moms, the Boppy does not hold well. If mom stands, the cushion often falls to the ground. My Brest Friend has a very secure strap with an easy to use Velcro adjustment and a patented lumber support built directly into the strap. However, like the Boppy, this strap is designed for relatively small waisted moms. If you happen to be a little on the larger size, the lumbar support tends to move ineffectively to the left side. A major complaint of the My Brest Friend strap is that it holds the nursing cushion so well, the cushion sticks straight out in front of mom like a shelf, making it difficult to put the baby down in a crib. However, when removing or undoing the strap, the Velcro makes a very loud ripping sound that inevitably wakes your sleeping infant. The Kozy Kushion has a patent pending design that holds the cushion securely in place, is silent, and adjusts from a 15" waist to a 60" waist! It also has a unique feature that holds the Kozy Kushion comfortably in place, allows the cushion to automatically fold down out of your way when you stand, and automatically goes right back into position when you sit back down. Nothing to readjust!

Portability: Practically speaking, cushions are relatively large. My Brest Friend, Boppy, the Boston Billows, and other foam core cushions do not "squeeze" or pack down very well. The Kozy Kushion is stuffed like a pillow. If can be "squeezed" or "squished" to almost half size for travel without harm to the cushion. With a little experience and planning, most moms overcome packing issues with any preferred cushion. Having a cushion that makes nursing your child 8 to 10 times a day becomes more important than the minor issues of transportation.

Safety and chemical contaminants: All nursing cushions should be made of safety approved materials. Examine the tags on any nursing cushion. In CA (and most states), there are a number of approvals required. There should be a tag indicating TB117 approval, and another with a registry number indicating the materials are state approved. Virtually all cotton covered cushions require fire retardant treatment to meet standards. This treatment generally causes the covering to feel stiff and rough, and significantly less comfortable. This chemical treatment also tends to wash out, or rub off on you and your baby! The safety and toxicity of these chemicals is currently being debated. The Kozy Kushion is made with materials that meet all of these safety requirements with no chemical treatment or fire retardant at all!