Dr. Brown's Gia Review
Our Verdict
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.