A little while ago I was tweeted by a lovely lady called Melissa, asking if I would like to test out one of her handmade breastfeeding pillows from Thrupenny Bits. Straight away I took a look at her website and soon discovered that her pillows were made with beautiful patterns and fabrics. Not your average cumbersome feeding pillow, these looked a cut above the rest, certainly in the style stakes. Okay breastfeeding isn’t considered stylish but it doesn’t mean that you have to have a dowdy or childish looking feeding pillow. These are functional yet tasteful and there is a wide range of designs to choose from.
As I have an 8 month old son, I was sent a large gorgeous pink and grey floral cushion with a blue corduroy underside from the Ultimate range. On initially opening it I absolutely loved the pattern and how pretty it was, it wouldn’t go amiss on my bed as bedding. Then more importantly I noticed how incredidbly light it was. It is filled with polysterene beads in a crescent shaped inner bag that can be removed from the outer cover – for washing or for converting to a toddler bag.
My original nursing pillow was fabulous in it’s own right and has served me well but for ease of use and quick postioning this can’t be faulted. This pillow comes with ties that you can tie around your back to keep the cushion in place, particularly handy to keep your baby in place if they are a little wriggly. It’s stuffed quite full so it positions your baby higher up, rather than them sinking into the cushion. I think this feature is particularly beneficial with new babies as it helps you to position your baby for a better latch and to keep them in place. It can also of course be used as a cushion for bottle feeding too, to keep your baby secure and comfortable.
Baby Beastie has taken to it really well and happily nods off on it. Especially so at the moment as he is going through a phase where he wants to fall asleep on me. The size is plenty big enough to accommodate him but is also compact enough to allow me to sit at the computer desk, if I need to check emails for instance, whilst he is feeding. Multi tasking all the way…
There are several really good uses that the pillow provides, besides the obvious. It can be used as a support for your baby and act as a sitting aid when your baby is learning to balance. After you have finished using it as a feeding pillow it can then be turned into a bag by removing the pillow inside, then tie the straps and you have a handbag. Finally one other really good use for it that even Melissa hadn’t tried was its use as a rest for your laptop. As I sit here typing this, I have my laptop resting on the pillow! It’s ideal in size and stays put. So you can see it has many uses and is a fantastic investment. Just because it’s a practical item doesn’t mean that it can’t look lovely too. Great for baby and great for you. My one gripe? That I wish I had had this pillow when Baby Beastie was tiny.
Here is a little bit about Melissa and the story behind Thrupenny Bits and why you should take a look…
When embarking on the incredible journey of having my first baby, it was a given that I would breastfeed and the fact that it may pose problems was something that never entered my head. The breastfeeding workshop I was sent on didn’t mention it and neither did any of the midwives I saw.
After I had my first son, whether at home or out and about I seemed to be the most ungainly breast-feeder around. If I did need to go out, I was incapable of simply whipping out a breast when necessary and either had to carry several pillows around with me or express milk in advance. When you first have your baby it’s good to get out the house as often as possible and if you dread breastfeeding in public because you can’t manage without all the props you might need, you’ll be tearing your hair out, stressing about being stuck at home, how your life will never be the same and how you can’t wait to stop breastfeeding!
What I really wanted was some sort of transportable pillow or support, that could be used discreetly anywhere I might need to feed my baby. Something that didn’t scream “this is for breastfeeding!?”
Because I had to support my breast whilst breastfeeding with one hand and support the baby with the other arm a breastfeeding support was essential for me. The only issue I had was the fact that the breast feeding pillows already available seemed far too bulky to carry around and were severely lacking on the style front. They didn’t exactly blend in with the home decor either!
This is when I had my eureka moment and how I came up with Thrupenny Bits.
Necessity being the mother of invention certainly applied here. Designed with my own needs in mind, I could see my bag/pillow helping other style conscious mothers to breastfeed comfortably anywhere, which is why I decided to set up my own company, and begin the arduous road of launching a product and getting it out there, whilst supervising a cheeky toddler and having another baby, oh yes and did I mention my free-lance TV production job! Talk about not making it easy for one-self…
Having my pillows to use as soon as I started to breastfeed my second son made all the difference and I still use my outer Thrupenny Bits bag now when out with the kids 4 years on!
The fact that the cushion converts to a bag came by chance really. I realised that if I lined the outer bag and put pockets into the lining, it could in fact become a bag for continued use, another advantage not offered by my competitors.
Having had loads of fabulous reviews and e mails from customers thanking me, being shortlisted for a Mother and Baby Award and actually winning Gold at the Loved By Parents Awards this year I know that I must doing something right!
With that in mind now that both my sons are finally at school I’m determined to really drive this forwards properly and to help other Mums discover that having a Thrupenny Bits cushion could transform their breastfeeding experience, plus working from home means I can carry on doing all of the Mum stuff that my boys (even if they don’t realise it!) get the benefit of…
Nb. I was kindly sent a beautiful pillow of my choice for the purpose of this review. All opinions and thoughts are entirely my own.
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