Breastfeeding is awesome and awkward and miraculous and painful and basically all of the things. It’s also a great excuse to buy an adorable nursing cover that is just as functional as it is a great accessory to add to the baby stash/diaper bag.
Front Coverage Nursing Cover
The Boppy Hoho Nursing Cover is the cover I chose to represent non-360-degree nursing covers because I had one of these with my first, and I really liked it. There is a sturdy wire at the top of the fabric, making it easy to shape it in the perfect location so you can see and assist your baby but others can’t see in. This feature is really handy because you don’t need to lift the fabric up and away from your body to be able to peak in! Another part I really love about this style of nursing cover is the adjustable straps that go around the neck. And once initially adjusted, it’s likely that you won’t have to fiddle with it from there on out.
The last feature on this particular nursing cover, and some others similar to it, is a sideline ring. What this little ring does is slide back and forth across the top rim of the nursing cover to indicate which side you last fed your baby on. I’ll be honest, I didn’t use this feature a whole ton because I didn’t use the nursing cover every single time I breastfed my babe, so I found the inconsistency of use dampened the cleverness of the sideline ring.
You’ll see later on that I don’t prefer this style of nursing cover, for reasons I’ll soon mention. However, there is a definite plus to using one of these covers compared to the 360-degree coverage ones. And that is the amount of quite literal breathing room for babe. Being more covered up means your baby is definitely more covered. It can get hot for both mom and babe, especially in the summer months. I imagine it’s quite stuffy, warm, and occasionally too tight for a lot of babes. So I do prefer the airiness provided with nursing covers like the Boppy Boho Nursing Cover.
360-Degree Coverage Nursing Cover
Copper Pearl Multi-Use Cover - Midway
Now that I’ve covered some of the negatives of this style of nursing cover, here are some great things:
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- Full coverage. When you pull your shirt up in the front, it’s pretty darn proven that a portion of it comes up on the sides and back as well. With these nursing covers, you’re perfectly covered all the way around your body!
- More privacy. As every nursing mom knows, babies don’t always just lay perfectly still while breastfeeding. They like to wiggle and kick and pull Mom’s hair, or take little breaks here and there. These covers help, in these situations, to ensure that you both stay covered up and modest!
- Soft and easy to use. These things are stretchy, soft on baby, and only take a few seconds to maneuver and get situated.
- Multi-purpose. You name it – these nursing covers can do it. Okay, maybe not quite, but they sure do serve many purposes!
- Nursing cover
- Car seat cover
- Shopping cart cover
- High chair cover
- Scarf
With my second baby I mostly just used mine for a nursing cover and car seat cover, but it’s nice to have it for other purposes too! T
wo very popular brands of these multi-use nursing covers are Covered Goods and Copper Pearl. Both have fun prints, a good stretch, and are made of rayon blend.
Covered Goods Multi-Use Nursing Cover - Classic Black Stripe
Some moms don’t feel comfortable using these covers because it definitely has a defining fit around both mom and baby. These brands both claim to be “one size fits most”. Copper Pearl is not quite as tight as Covered Goods, which could be a good thing or a bad thing depending on preference! I used Covered Goods for several months and I would choose it again in a heartbeat. Yes, it had its hot moments, but the 360-degree coverage really is hard to beat. The pros certainly outweigh the cons in my opinion.