REASONS TO BUY
Easy to get on and off
Soft
Fits multiple shapes and sizes
Maintains shape
REASONS TO AVOID
Hard to use
Time consuming to put back together again after washing
The Dr. Brown's Gia has been discontinued.
Dr. Brown's Gia Review
This pillow offers an affordable option for plus sized parents
Dr. Brown's Gia
Credit: Amazon
Our Verdict
The Dr. Brown's Gia has a unique curved crescent moon shape which makes it a good and economic choice for plus sized parents. From the looks of this pillow, your arms and baby rest on the cushion during feeding time providing support for you and your little one to increase nursing comfort. Both the cover and batting are 100% cotton which is both comfortable and practical. Unfortunately, the unique shape makes this product harder to use, and there can be a longer learning curve than a more traditional nursing pillow. However, for parents who want something more appropriate for parents of various sizes, the Gia can be a good choice.
Our Analysis and Test Results
Dr. Brown's is probably most known for their line of baby bottles. In business for over 20 years, they have expanded beyond bottles to include maternity and nursing pillows, solid feeding supplies and more. The company continues to work with doctors when developing new products and places a high value on research to ensure parents can rely on their products.
Performance Comparison
This budget-friendly pillow is a unique shape that makes it fit well for plus sized parents.
Dr Brown's Gia is a crescent shaped pillow is comfortable but not the easiest to use.
Credit: Micah James
Nursing Comfort
The major downside to this pillow is also what makes it unique, its design. The pillow is wider on one end and thinner on the other (like a comma) which provides more cushioning where baby's head is while making a narrower shape on the end of baby's feet and mom's arm. While some moms love the natural shape on the feeding side, in our opinion, this leads to a lack of support for mom on the other side. The tail end lacks support for mom to rest her elbow. The Gia is also difficult to position correctly. The tapered design, which is meant to give options to mom depending on her and baby's size, will take adjusting to find what is right for you and your baby. Also, because the baby support is only on one side, it means you'll need to flip the pillow when you switch nursing sides, this is a pain to do while holding a little one.
Dr. Brown's nursing pillow has a rounded edge for baby's head and a narrow side for an easy arm rest. However, it can be difficult to get a close fit depending on body type or nursing location.
Credit: BabyGearLab Staff
Ease of Use
The comma shape of the pillow made it almost the easiest pillow to put on and take off, even with a baby who fell asleep nursing. If mom plans to feed the baby on both sides, it requires mom to flip the pillow mid-feeding while repositioning a hungry baby. A new breastfeeding mom has enough to worry about when it comes to nursing, so in our opinion, having a pillow that gives her one more thing to do while nursing is too much. A pillow should make nursing infinitely easier, not increase the tasks. The shape also didn't fit as closely on smaller mothers because the curve was wider than their hip width, making it more difficult to get a close fit for both baby and arm support. It does, however, work better with a variety of size parents than some of the other pillows we tested, like the Boppy Bare Naked.
You can use the Gia without the cover, but it could result in a stained pillow that is not machine washable.
Credit: Micah James
Materials
The 100% cotton material used for the pillow (batting) and cover helps it have a wonderful plush feel for both baby and mom while still providing adequate support for even a two-month-old. The quilted cotton cover is soft, has no zippers and is machine wash and dryer safe. The pillow itself is also phthalate, latex, lead, and BPA-free. Bonus! In our opinion, this pillow has one of the best balances of being both plush and supportive for baby.
A quilted 100% cotton cover helps to keep this pillow looking and feeling nice. However, putting the pillow back into the cover is more laborious for the Dr. Brown's Gia due to it's small slat at the top of the pillow.
Credit: Megan Benedik
Ease of Cleaning
We like how easy this pillow is to clean. The cover is removable, and both the cover and pillow are machine washable and dryer safe. One downside is the cover doesn't repel liquid as well as other pillows.
—
Juliet Spurrier, MD and Lindsay Selig
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