My Brest Friend Deluxe Review
The Skinny
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This Product
My Brest Friend Deluxe | |||||
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Awards | |||||
Price | $50 List $46.43 at Amazon | $55 List $55.00 at Amazon | $50 List $49.99 at Amazon | $50 List $49.99 at Amazon | $35 List $34.82 at Amazon |
Overall Score | |||||
Star Rating | |||||
Pros | Easy to use latch system, wide space for baby and mom, pocket | Excellent support, quality construction, ergonomic shape | Fits close to the body, lots of support, plush, very easy to clean | Lumbar support, storage pockets, adjustable layers | Lightweight, easy to use, versatile |
Cons | Large to store, lower overall quality of materials | Less versatile, no back strap, small size range | Short sides may be a problem for taller women, smaller buckles | Slippery material, stiff buckle, single-use product | Shifts, does not fit moms of all sizes |
Bottom Line | A close fitting, supportive pillow for moms and babies of different shapes | Highly supportive pillow perfect for prioritizing good posture | A favorite nursing pillow thanks to its structure, support and comfort | Supportive foam pillow that is easy to use but not very versatile | Basic pillow that gets the job done and has earned its popularity |
Rating Categories | My Brest Friend Deluxe | Ergobaby Natural Curve | Boppy Best Latch | Frida Mom | Boppy Bare Naked |
Nursing Comfort (35%) | |||||
Ease of Use (35%) | |||||
Material (15%) | |||||
Ease of Cleaning (15%) | |||||
Specs | My Brest Friend Deluxe | Ergobaby Natural Curve | Boppy Best Latch | Frida Mom | Boppy Bare Naked |
Dimensions | 20"L x 17"W x 5.5"H | 25"L x 13"W x 8"H | 23" L x 9.5" W x 7.5" H | 22"L x 14"W x 9"H | 23.5"L x 19"W x 6"H |
Weight | 1.4 lbs | 2.3 lbs | 4 lbs | 3.9 lbs | 2.2 lbs |
Belt | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No |
Free of Flame Retardants | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Materials | Core: Polyurethane foam Cover: Polyester |
Core: Polyurethane Foam Cover: Polyester Velour and Cotton Poplin |
Core: Polyester pile, Cotton, Polyurethane Cover: Polyester with Polypropylene coating |
Core: Poyurethane Foam and Polyester Fiber Fill Cover: Polyester and Spandex |
Core: Polyester Fiberfill Case: Polyester, Cotton |
Removable Cover | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
Machine-Washable | Cover Only | Cover Only | Yes | Cover Only | Yes |
Firmness | Firm | Very Firm | Soft/Firm | Soft/Firm/Very Firm | Soft |
Our Analysis and Test Results
My Brest Friend, part of Zenoff Products, was invented by Andrew Zenoff. Andrew knew several nursing moms who complained of the discomfort and pain that nursing caused - everything from sore backs to lack of arm support. So he took their feedback and further information and created 50 prototype nursing pillows. With the help of a nursing moms' test group, Andrew was able to find his perfect pillow in the My Brest Friend.
Performance Comparison
Nursing Comfort
What helps the My Brest Friend Deluxe win an award is its high performance in nursing comfort, which we deem most important, balanced with its reasonable price tag. This pillow provides back support with its wrap-around style and pad and arm support, both of which are important for nursing mothers who regularly lean forward during nursing. The foam base provides a sturdy place for the baby while nursing and even sitting up while being burped. One design flaw is the two bumps on either end of the pillow. These do not increase support for the baby's head and can be confusing to a new mom who is worrying about where to place her newborn. We recommend you ignore them!
Ease of Use
The Deluxe is easy to use, fitting most women during most stages of their postpartum body evolution. It has an easy-to-situate close-fitting, O-shape with a dual buckle system with a quick-release Velcro strap, something unique to the Deluxe. While wrapping the pillow around your body might be annoying at first, it becomes a one-handed action quickly learned with repeated use. The Velcro alleviates the need to buckle and unbuckle the pillow as a mom can use one hand to take the pillow off.
Buckle designs, in general, allow for a close fit and eliminate the need to remove a pillow from the lap while holding a baby who is very relaxed or sleeping after a feed. Instead of the pillow falling to the ground upon standing, or trying to balance your baby with one arm and while removing the pillow, you can carry the baby to the crib safely with two hands before removing the pillow from your waist.
The Deluxe has a large storage pocket to hold nursing items, which is great because must-have items like a burp cloth and nipple salve are always present. The sanity-saving back support on the My Brest Friend is wide, which means it is more cumbersome than its competitors.
Materials
The materials used in the My Brest Friend Deluxe are just average. The pillow doesn't seem to consider eco-health with a 100% synthetic polyester cover and a polyurethane foam pillow. Thankfully, the foam doesn't use flame retardant chemicals. The quality is only mediocre with a cover that ripped after its fourth wash and reassembly, which we believe is a sign that the material is not the best.
After months of use, the pillow did not decrease in height and maintained its original shape. But you do need to be careful with the foam. While the cover is easier to put onto the base than the back support, you need to be cautious because the foam feels like it will easily break if handled the wrong way. While we did not experience this, we found several reports of the foam degrading or peeling apart while removing the cover.
Ease of Cleaning
This pillow is not the easiest to clean and is quite time-consuming as the cover requires air drying. The entire cleaning process takes a good half a day, depending on your climate. Re-assembling the pillow is quick, but it fails to make up for the slow drying process. One upside is the cover does repel liquid well, so if you catch spills or spit up quickly, you can avoid washing your cover for more extended periods.
Manufacturer Video
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