The Right Nursing Pillow Can Make Breastfeeding Easier (2024)

Boppy is so associated with nursing pillows that it's almost become a generic term when referring to any infant feeding support. An actual Boppy-brand nursing pillow is filled with polyester so it's firm and sturdy. Its C-shape wraps partway around your waist and especially helps if you like side nursing positions such as the football hold, with your baby's legs tucked behind you. Online reviewers say it is big enough to use with twins.

Several of our Lab parents have used the Boppy with their babies; all told, we have more than five years of Boppy testing to go on. "Not only did I use this pillow for breastfeeding, but other caregivers (dad, grandma, babysitter) loved using it while bottle feeding," said Lexie Sachs, the Good Housekeeping Institute executive director of strategy and operations and a mother of two. "Especially in the early infancy days, it was helpful to have the baby raised up."

Boppy has thousands of five-star Amazon reviews, and it's frequently listed in baby registry guides. To be sure you are buying a pillow with the latest safety guidelines, we suggest buying a name-brand Boppy and not an off-brand dupe. The Boppy comes in more than a dozen colors and patterns. You can take off the cover and machine-wash it, and buy other covers if you want to swap your's out. Some online reviewers say they wish the Boppy fabric was softer, but you can find Boppy-brand luxe covers like muslin Boppy covers at Pottery Barn Kids.

If you're looking to spend less, we also like this smaller wedge positioner from Boppy to help you feed your baby anywhere. In fact, it earned a Good Housekeeping Parenting Award when it was new on the market. Parents and caregivers tie the length of fabric around their waist or even around their arm to keep the pillow secure. Then they use the wedge to prop their baby at the correct height.

The more open design can be more comfortable for those recovering from a C-section. Like the full-size Boppy, this is filled to firmness with polyester. Unlike the bigger pillow, this only comes in one color option (gray) or two pattern choices, but our testers really liked the softness of the material. They noted that this makes a great travel nursing pillow, though it may start to feel too small as a baby grows big.

Related: The Best Breast Pumps

Fans of this brand like the wide, flat and firm surface that your baby can lay on, and the added bonus of robust back support. The inside is polyurethane foam and the outside of this deluxe edition has the very soft fabric that some parents crave. Detractors say that wrapping the My Brest Friend entirely around your body and buckling it at each feeding can get old.

The pocket is a nice touch if you want to store burp clothes or pacifiers. This is a large item, so it's not as easy to travel with, but at least one online reviewer said she likes it for times when she has to nurse in her car — where there are no comfy armrests to help like you might have on your nursery glider at home.

If you're looking for a plus-size nursing pillow, Reddit users recommend the highly adjustable My Brest Friend Twin Nursing Pillow.

A brand-new mom tested this pillow for us and said, "Of all the baby products I've gotten so far, I'm finding the Snuggle Me nursing pillow most useful — it has tapered ends that fit around my waist better than other nursing pillows." Some online reviewers are not as fond of the shape, saying it causes their baby to slip down. Because the large surface is at the front, this might work best if you feed your baby in the classic cradle hold.

Like the Boppy, this feeding support is filled with polyester fiberfill, and the brand says that the fabric on the outside is organic cotton. It comes in eight solid color choices including neutral blue and blush shades.

This nursing pillow, too, won a GH Parenting Award when it first came out, and we noted it's "a breastfeeding pillow that’s not an eyesore." Nutrition Lab Director, Stefani Sassos, said she currently loves using this gorgeous wedge pillow with her newborn son. "It looks like a beautiful decorative pillow and is made of really nice material," Sassos said. "I keep it in our living room for nursing and it looks like it’s part of the existing furniture!"

The fuller edge is meant to support your baby's head while the tapered end with the tassel can fit around the side of your body. "It provides great support, and my newborn doesn't sink into the pillow. I do wish it was just a little thicker to get him at a slightly higher height," Sassos said. There's a concealed carry handle that helps you cart the pillow from room to room when you've already got an armful of baby. The William Morris Strawberry Thief pattern is based on a fabric design that's in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Our recent GH Parenting Awards included this new nursing pillow from Naturepedic. We found that "this luxury nursing pillow uses quality materials and is substantially sized, making it versatile for breastfeeding and bottle-feeding." The organic cotton outer cover is machine-washable and the fill uses PLA which is designed to keep its shape instead of flattening out. You can buy extra covers on the Naturepedic website.

Our parent testers said this pillow is firm and doesn't sink in under pressure and that it fits nicely around their body. It's a fairly large pillow, much larger than our best overall choice, but the upside of the size is that it's very body-inclusive and that it keeps fitting your baby as they grow. "It’s the largest nursing pillow I’ve used but has so much more space for my 3-month-old to comfortably lie down while nursing," a tester noted.

The Good Housekeeping Institute has had dozens of consumer testers try out nursing pillows. They've each filled out detailed surveys based on their experiences, and they've had the opportunity to share specific aspects they liked and disliked. They can also compare their tested nursing pillow to others that they've tried on their own. In addition, multiple GH staff parents have tested nursing pillows and provided feedback, adding up to more than five years of nursing pillow usage and testing.

For this list, we consulted the communications office of the US Consumer Product Safety Commission to get the latest thinking about what makes a nursing pillow safe — namely, that it is firm. We made sure that all six of our final choices were tested for firmness. Per the CPSC, we no longer recommend nursing pillows for any use other than feedings.

Even if you're not sure you'll breastfeed, a nursing pillow will make bottle feeding easier during the newborn months too. That's because it raises your baby up higher and gives your baby's weight a comfortable place to rest. With that in mind, this is what to look for:

✔️ Firmness: A soft, mushy pillow will not properly support your infant for feeding and can be a suffocation hazard if your baby sinks down into it and falls asleep. The CPSC is specifically calling out dangerous nursing pillows stuffed with small pieces like microbeads. You don't want the pillow to be so soft that it conforms to your baby.

Needing a firm wedge for safety and practicality is also why using your regular couch throw pillow or bedroom pillow will not work well. The weight of your baby will sink down into the pillow, and you won't have the desired effect of raising your baby up closer to your chest.

✔️ Wrap-around design vs. wedge: This comes down to personal preference. Plenty of users like a pillow that's firm in front and along the sides, giving them lots of options for how to hold their baby for breastfeeding. But plenty of others have one hold they like and find themselves able to easily do it with just a pillow wedge under their baby's head. Unfortunately, it's a little hard to know which you will prefer until you're in it.

✔️ Back support: Again, this will be a personal preference. The advantage of back support is obvious. But a pillow with lumber support will take finesse to wrap fully around you at every feeding. If you have a small glider that you sit in, a pillow with too much structure might even make it hard for you to fit into the chair.

✔️ All the fun stuff: Color or pattern, whether your pillow has a pocket or carry handle — that's honestly all window dressing, but might come into play as you shop around.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission has identified 154 infant fatalities and 88 nonfatal incidents from January 1, 2010 to December 31, 2022, involving nursing pillows, which is why there is now discussion of new regulations. Of the 154 fatalities, an infant was sleeping in or on the nursing pillow in 142 cases. The takeaway: You should never let your baby sleep on their nursing pillow. Soon nursing pillows may come with warnings right on them that will specify that they are never to be used for sleeping. Sharp Healthcare in San Diego offers more tips on safe sleep for infants, especially as it pertains to nursing pillows.

In the past, some nursing pillows were also touted as good support for a baby who is newly sitting up, or for tummytime. But the regulations will likely also ask brands to market nursing pillows for breastfeeding and bottle feeding only — not for any other use.

For more than a hundred years the experts at the Good Housekeeping Institute have evaluated and reviewed consumer products for safety and to be sure they live up to their claims. See our picks for the best air purifiers for allergies and, in the baby space, our best bassinets and best baby bottles.

This article was written by Contributing Writer Jessica Hartshorn who previously worked at Parents magazine and American Baby magazine. She's a mom of two who helps judge the Good Housekeeping Institute's annual Parenting Awards and Toy Awards.