My Brest Friend (Or, the Most Horribly Named Product Ever)

Let's just get it out of the way right upfront: "My Brest Friend" is perhaps the corniest, most unappealing, stupidest product name of all time. Don't even get me started about the intentional misspelling. This product's name is also misleading, probably to its own sales-revenue detriment, because you'd think that whatever this mystery item is must have to do with breastfeeding and nothing else. I seriously would LOVE to know who came up with its name. I want to meet that person (why do I think it's a dude?) and congratulate them on their audaciousness. They seriously have to be leaving so much money on the table. 

Now that I've vented about how much I hate this feeding-pillow-thing's name, let me say that you KNOW a product has to rock if it can have a devoted following (and celebrity endorsements!) in spite of such a horrible and embarrassing-to-say brand. So do yourself a favor and put aside your judgments and hear me out:

1) I registered for My Brest Friend ("MBF" from here on out) because I knew people who had used both the Boppy and MBF and said the latter was far superior. I trust these people.

2) As far as I'm concerned, my friends were right-on. I never used the Boppy so I can't really compare against it, but I can say that MBF was indispensable to me AND my husband for at least 5 months.

3) While the pillow is marketed as a breastfeeding-support tool, it works just as well to help you hold your baby when feeding him a bottle, reading to him, or just chillin' with him. For someone like me who ended up with a ton of hand/wrist/arm/shoulder issues after my little guy was born, I literally could not have held Baba G without MBF. His booty and legs would rest on the platform and then I would still be cradling his upper body and head in the crook of my arm so that he was in a reclined position while drinking his bottle or listening to a story or whatever. As mentioned above, my husband used it, too, as did one of BG's grandmas during a few visits.

It That Shall Not Be Named

The part that goes behind your back was exactly the right thickness and felt really good. But what I liked most was that the two ends of the pillow hooked together (the white buckle on the left) so that it was secure around your waist. I don't believe the Boppy has that feature. I actually walked around my condo looking a fool with this thing on, but I didn't care, because after I got all of BG's stuff AND my stuff ready for his feeding, I could just plop him on MBF and get him situated as I was easing in to the glider. MBF—or any of these sorts of pillows, I would imagine—are not the kinds of things you can mess with once you've got a hungry baby in your arms. You just need to have it stay in place and provide a secure (and large enough) platform for your baby to rest on. Because of the buckle, which could be tightened as needed thanks to the velcro strip attached to one end, I knew that MBF wasn't going to fall off when I stood up (yes, I would walk short distances with BG on it, too—taking him to and from the changing table and whatnot). Yes, I still had to support BG's weight underneath and all that when I was standing up, but when he was a newborn MBF was definitely sturdy enough to feel like it helped take a little of the burden off of my arms.

And as inconsequential as this may seem, I LOVED the little pocket thing in front. It was in just the right spot. I would keep my "lip stuff" (I'm addicted to chapstick), my glasses, ear plugs (more on that some other day) and sometimes my phone in that pocket. In the wee hours especially, it was nice to know where I could find all of those things at a moment's notice.

As I promised to reveal in my last post, THIS is the secret use for MBF: tummy time. It took us a few weeks to figure out (by accident, really) that Baba G would not cry his eyes out when he laid on MBF (versus everywhere else in those early days).

This thing is called WHAT?

The bottom line: I couldn't recommend this ridiculously named product more highly. Most designs are $40, some seem to be a little cheaper (but only like $5 cheaper... I had the "deluxe" version but I'm not sure what made it "deluxe"), and there are also versions for twins as well.