Snooglarize me, baby

February 10, 2018 6:19 AM

How do I know which is the right pregnancy pillow for me?

I am pregnant* and am at the point where I'm starting to wonder if I need a pillow support type system. While I barely have a belly at this point, I notice when I wake up in the morning that the side of my belly that's "facing up," so to speak, feels a bit strained. I am also noticing that more and more I wake up somewhere in between my side and stomach -- like I'm listing frontward, which I suspect is not advisable given the construction project underway in my abdomen. I don't yet have other complaints, but I am sure that sooner rather than later I will also appreciate having a pillow between my legs.

But looking at the world of pregnancy pillows is very daunting! There are so many! It is overwhelming and comical, all at once. Even if I just narrow it down to the Leachco "family" of pillows, there are still so many different ones -- snoogles and mini snoogles and preggles and clouds....and on and on forever.

For those who've been through this...how do I know which is the pillow that will work for me? Especially when I'm not fully sure of what problems I may be facing down the road?

Some background on my current pillow life, if that helps:
- dedicated side sleeper
- unrepentant burrower (I need to have a pillow over my head)
- quite squirmy in the night, much to Mr Rattery's chagrin

*at flippin' last

posted by Mrs. Rattery to Health & Fitness (15 answers total)

You won’t know. It will all be trial and error. My first pregnancy I had 3 different pregnancy pillows and they didn’t help (I was on bed rest). The second I just used a regular body pillow. That was OK. This last one I used 4 different bed pillows - some standard and some king sized, 1 foam, 1 down alternative and 2 down. This was really the best solution as I could arrange everything just so.

I suspect from your current complaint that a small wedge would be helpful for you. Boppy makes one and it’s fairly inexpensive. I had one for my first pregnancy and it helped during that stage. (It’s not really a pillow, just a wedge of foam.)

Congrats on the new human!
posted by PorcineWithMe at 6:52 AM on February 10, 2018

I’m due next week and I got a snoogle because they were highly recommended. However, it has many issues that made it not work for me - it’s gigantic, heavy, unwieldy and the part where your head goes is not comfortable for me. Lots of people like it, but it’s expensive. Up until third trimester I just supplemented my normal pillow regime with one extra one that I would position under the bump and between my legs. Now that I’m at the end, I have one squishy pillow under the bump, one under my feet and one under my head. The snoogle definitely wouldn’t work now because I wake up and switch sides I’m laying on every hour or so because I’m so gigantic, and I wouldn’t physically be able to drag it to the other side. I remain in sleepless agony.

It’s good that you’re already a side sleeper because that was a difficult adjustment for me (stomach sleeper.) It’s recommended that you sleep on your left side but I don’t think it matters too much. Also, I asked my OB early on how long I could continue sleeping on my stomach and she said it was fine and eventually I wouldn’t be able to anyway. She was right, so don’t worry if you wake up sorta on your stomach.
posted by tatiana wishbone at 7:00 AM on February 10, 2018

Congrats! I don't have a personal recommendation, but Wirecutter has a review of several different pregnancy pillows, and their criteria include pillows good for multiple sleeping positions which might be helpful for you.
posted by sizeable beetle at 8:09 AM on February 10, 2018

I'm currently pregnant too, and also a stomach sleeper. I needed additional support before people even noticed I was pregnant. I think height and weight matter when you're considering these because they are not just different sizes, but different densities too. For reference, I'm 5'0 tall and current pregnancy weight at 20 weeks is about 120 lbs. I need a lot of support in my hips when I'm not pregnant, and the relaxin has exacerbated this. I also carry most of my weight in my thighs and hips so I needed something dense. I bought a normal body pillow, but it smashed down too easily and I could tell it wouldn't be enough support so I returned it, unopened.

I took a chance on the Wirecutter's recommendation and bought a Snuggle-Pedic. The Snuggle-Pedic is *really* dense with a lot of fill, which I love, but you may not. It is working for me so far, but I may take some of the fill out because it's so high that I end up rolling away from it in the middle of the night.

It's $70 which isn't cheap, but they do have a 60-day warranty so if you don't like it, you can return it to the company.
posted by onecircleaday at 8:24 AM on February 10, 2018

Here's a link to the Snuggle-Pedic.
posted by onecircleaday at 8:28 AM on February 10, 2018

Save the $ and stuff the leg of a pair of mens track pants/PJs with rolled up duvet/blanket/comforter/regular pillows/other stuff, adjusting for your preference.
posted by bimbam at 9:03 AM on February 10, 2018

I hated all the pregnancy pillows. What worked for me was going to Ikea and getting a selection of their cheap pillows, and then shoving then around me all night. My needs changed week to week, and I like to flip back and forth, and one big pillow was just useless.
posted by brainmouse at 9:09 AM on February 10, 2018

for me a standard big body pillow was plenty. It's important that it be light. And since it's all trial and error, best to start with something cheap, and iterate from there.
posted by fingersandtoes at 9:34 AM on February 10, 2018

Last pregnancy and this one, I've used just a standard long rectangular body pillow. I would just say - try not to get one that's heavy. Mine is a bit, and it's a pain when you're trying to switch sides in the middle of the night and you have to sit up and use two hands to heave it over to your other side.
posted by kitcat at 10:03 AM on February 10, 2018

I bought a Snoogle very early on because everyone raved about it, but I just kept throwing it to the floor in the middle of the night. I found it bulky and unwieldy and rather hot (baby was born late August). See if you can borrow a pregnancy pillow or two and try them out. If you have a local Facebook mom's group they're commonly traded items. It's really hard to say what you'll like until you try it. If you're the kind of person who likes a lot of space when they sleep like I am you might be happier with a couple regular pillows.
posted by peacheater at 12:31 PM on February 10, 2018

I'm also pregnant and using primarily a body pillow, but also a little wedge one for in between my knees which seems to help with lower back pain. When I get a little bigger (cur rently 25 weeks) I might shove the wedge under my belly, but that isn't that helpful so far.
posted by ceramicblue at 1:05 PM on February 10, 2018

Congratulations to all! Both of my offspring were late fall / early winter arrivals, so dealing with summer blahs was... a thing. They are little furnaces, yessir.

Have you tried sleeping on the couch? Really, head against a padded side arm with one (or more) regular pillows, back nestled into a well-stuffed couch back, no problem rolling backward and no need to curl into a ball. The upper arm is not ** directly on the belly ** and that is major bliss in the later weeks.
And the couch height when trying to get a larger-than-normal body up for a bathroom run in the middle of the night is amazing.
Also, regular and king-size pillowcases can be stuffed with anything: pillows, blankets, towels, stuffed toys. Some cases come with zippers to keep the contents inside.
posted by TrishaU at 8:44 PM on February 10, 2018

If you do get a snoogle (which I did find useful but ymmv), see if they sell one with a zippered cover. Otherwise it is so hard to put back on.
posted by leslievictoria at 8:53 PM on February 10, 2018

I used a pregnancy pillow the first time and it didn't really work for me. This time I just bought a bunch of pillows of different firmness - that's worked out great. Would recommend you go that route. That way you can position the pillows as needed - and as your symptoms and body change through your pregnancy you can change up what you use.
posted by Toddles at 10:16 PM on February 10, 2018

I used a Preggle. It's like a J shape so it's not so big and bulky. My youngest is 2.5 and I still sleep with it. Having something to keep my legs apart is and was more comfortable, and I could put the long part behind my back and lean back or have it in front to lean forward or support my belly. I'm also a side sleeper.

You might also want to get a firm foam wedge to prop your belly up when you get bigger.
posted by apricot at 2:32 PM on February 27, 2018