The Wizard of Mom: Pay Attention to the Peanut Shell Nursing Cover

By Maura Keating

If you’re breastfeeding, you may start to wonder why you bother to wear a shirt at all. Most of your day is spent with your shirt pulled up around your armpits. While your partner might appreciate this new fashion trend, visitors might find it awkward. As you and your Miracle venture out into a broader world of friends’ houses, malls, and parks, your decision to bare it all might give you pause. When I entered this phase, I began using scarves, blankets, and large burp cloths as a quick cover up. My son did not approve. He objected to anything touching his face. When he was younger, he wouldn’t nurse. As he got older, he would bat the cloth away–exposing us at precisely the wrong moment. I couldn’t see him to make sure that he was latched correctly and he couldn’t see me, removing some of the magic of the experience.

The Peanut Shell Nursing Cover is the perfect fix for nursing in mixed company. The Nursing Cover is a large piece of cloth, shaped perfectly to cover you from top to bottom and from side to side. The fabric is 100% cotton so it’s breathable and light. A soft jersey pocket is sewn into both sides of the Peanut Shell, perfect for storing for a gentle, quick wipe or for stashing the included matching burp cloth. The burping cloth is great for small drips but is too small to handle larger messes. The nursing cover is machine washable and still looks great after frequent use and repeated washes. In case you needed another reason to leave your scarves at home, the Peanut Shell Nursing Covers are as beautiful as they are practical and come in a wide variety of prints and patterns.

The genius of the nursing cover is a piece of flexible boning at the top. The boning creates a stiff edge at the top that sticks out just enough to create a gap that enables you to see Baby, but doesn’t allow others to see you. The boning’s flexibility allows you to adjust the gap as needed, but is sturdy enough so that it stays put. The boning also lifts the fabric of the cover away from Baby’s face so that the cloth does not cling to Baby like a blanket or other covers might. You feel covered and Baby doesn’t feel smothered–everybody’s happy.

The cover is easy to put on and comes in a ‘one size fits all’ that seems to live up to its claim. The Peanut Shell has an adjustable strap that goes around your neck and a clip so that you don’t have to readjust each time. Easy on and easy off is important whether you’re dealing with an impatient baby or a restless toddler. While the nursing cover folds compactly for easy storage in your bag, I wish that the Peanut Shell came with its own carrying bag to protect it from other items that might come into contact with it. I was able to store the nursing cover in a separate pocket in my bag, but depending on your bag, you might not have that extra free pocket.

The nursing cover has the added benefit of providing a degree of shade, eliminating distraction, and encouraging Baby to focus on the task at hand. The nursing cover also coordinates with other Peanut Shell products–we plan to review the Peanut Shell Baby Sling in an upcoming review. When you are nursing, there is enough to worry about. Full exposure shouldn’t be one of them. With Peanut Shell, you’ve got it covered.

The Details: Peanut Shell Nursing Cover, $29.00 at www.goo-ga.com or at a store near you! Visit the “Store Finder” link.

KIDOINFO DEAL: Peanut Shell is offering a 25% off discount for retail customers. Use code PEANUTKIDO (case sensitive) at checkout to get the discount. All sales using code are final.

Do you have a product that you would us to review? Send ideas, questions, and comments to me at maura (at) kidoinfo (dot) com