Troubleshooting Your Bub's Maternity Pillow™

Is your back pain old, or has it started happening after using the pillow?

For old back pain

Are you waking up stiff and sore or with pain radiating along your back – especially your lower back?

If you’ve had ongoing back problems, there’s no easy fix. The pillow is going to be part of your ongoing pain management strategy – along with ice, massage, nutrition – whatever has been working for you, to manage this kind of pain so you don’t wake up feeling even worse.

In these cases, do still follow the suggestions below to get the best out of your pillow. Often, you’ll want to use it consistently for a good, long stretch of time – at least a month – so you can do a proper and unbiased reassessment of your pain levels.

For new back pain

If you've tried Bub's Pillow for a few nights and notice that you're waking up with back pain, there are a few reasons why this could be:

What might be happening: The pillows haven’t been adjusted properly and there’s not enough room for your back or bump.

What that does: This creates too much wedge on your back, so your back cannot properly “nestle” into the curve and rest.

Solution: Adjust the length of your pillows. There may be a bit of trial and error involved, but you should feel the difference immediately, and can tweak from there!

What might be happening: There isn’t enough “boost” behind you to push you comfortably to the side.

What that does: As your tummy grows and gets heavier, not having enough of a boost means your bump isn’t resting all the way into the mattress, and your back ends up supporting that weight. While this isn’t initially noticeable, after a few hours, you’ll really feel it!  

Solution: Use the auxiliary (extra) pillow that comes with your Bub’s. Slide it in where it feels best, and let us know if that helps!

What might be happening: The pillow behind you when you side-sleep is too firm.

What that does: This will largely be a personal preference thing, as some people just prefer firmer surfaces, whereas others are used to softer support. However, if you’re not someone who generally sleeps on a firmer mattress, you may find the “hardness” of the back pillow, a bit too solid for your liking.

Solution: Remove some stuffing so your back pillow has a bit more “give.”

What might be happening: Weight shifts as your bump grows means how you normally position yourself and your pillow may not be optimal anymore.

What that does: If your bump sits low – this is especially true as you get to later term pregnancy – you’ll need most of the support on the lowest part of your back. 

Solution: Test different placements. You should feel the difference within a few nights, if not within the first one or two. 

If you've been using the Bub's Pillow but you still can't seem to get rid of hip and/or pelvic pain, this could be due to a number reasons beyond the pillow.

The Bub's Pillow helps reduce hip & pelvic pain from sleeping in uncomfortable positions - however, not all hip pain in pregnancy comes from sleeping (in fact, most of it doesn't!)

Some moms will find that the Bub's Pillow is enough, others will need extra support.

What might be happening: When sleeping on your side, the weight of your upper leg will force your pelvis into an uncomfortable and unnecessary flexion over your body

What that does: Your pelvis is loosening up its joints and ligaments to prepare for birth (thanks, hormones!). With everything dragging downwards, you’ll start feeling that ache in your hips and pelvis.

Solution: Add enough cushioning between your legs so that your top leg is in a straight angle with your body. In other words, make sure both your legs are parallel with each other and your knees are pointing forwards, instead of into each other.

What might be happening: The extra pillow isn’t thick enough for you.

What that means: While the extra Pillow that comes with your Bub's Pillow provides some support, you may find more relief by using a thicker pillow that keeps your legs further apart.

Solution: Use a regular pillow and see if that helps. If a regular pillow feels too hot or itchy, then use the Bub’s Full Body Attachment which is specifically designed to work with your Bub’s pillow to give further support to your legs, back, and front. 

If you feel like the Bub's Pillow is adding too much pressure to your bump and/or back, or digging into you somewhere – there could be a number of reasons with easy solutions:

What might be happening: The pillows are too close, squeezing your bump or back.

What that does: While you don’t feel it initially, after a few hours of sleeping with something pressing up against your bump or back, the pressure can start to hurt. Think of it like a blister that you feel only after wearing new shoes a while!

Solution: Adjust the length of your pillows to properly accommodate your back and bump, so the edges of the front and back pillows aren’t pressing or digging into you.

What might be happening: One or both of the pillows might be too firm for your bump or back. 

What that does: While this is largely a personal preference i.e. some people just prefer sleeping on harder mattresses or with harder pillows, your loosening joints and ever expanding skin and tummy are going to feel tender – some days more so than others. The last thing you need is something firm poking at your bump and back which are not just ever-changing right now, but also supporting more and more weight throughout the day.

Solution: Remove pillow stuffing until you’re comfortable.

What might be happening: The Bub’s pillow is designed to mould to your bump and back. One of the pillows might not be in the right place.

What that means: This precision in design means that there is always a “sweet spot” for your pillows to be, for your back and bump to be “nestled” by them.

Solution: Test different heights until you find your sweet spot. 

For all the solutions above, we recommend you make small adjustments each time so you can find your perfect spot, which will be unique to you. This may take a bit of fiddling but don't worry, it will all be worth it and super comfortable when you get it right!

If you feel like the pillows aren't providing enough support to either your bump or back, here are some solutions to try:

What might be happening: The pillows are pulled out too far.

What that does: When the pillows aren’t close enough, they can't wedge under your back or bump, which means they can’t help keep you in a side-sleeping position or relieve pressure from gravity dragging your bump down.

Solution: Adjust the length of your pillows until they feel right. This might take a bit of trying, but you’ll feel the difference in just a few nights, if not the first one or two!

What might be happening: You prefer or need a firmer pillow.

What that means: This could be a personal preference, where you’re just one of those people that prefer firmer mattresses and pillows, or you’re not getting enough of a wedge under your bump or back.

Solution: Use the extra pillow to give yourself a bit more of a wedge, and support.

What might be happening: Your pillow isn’t positioned correctly.

What that does:  If you’ve been reading the rest of this troubleshooting guide, you’ll now know that pillow height is massively important because of how the pillow is designed for precision. 

Solution: Test different heights. 

It’s worth repeating, that for all the solutions above, we recommend you make small adjustments each time so you can find your perfect spot, which will be unique to you. This may take a bit of fiddling but don't worry, it will all be worth it and super comfortable when you get it right!

If you have already tried adjusting the length of the pillow, but you still feel like it is too firm and uncomfortable on your back or bump, you may benefit from adjusting the firmness of the pillow.