Last Updated on September 21, 2026 by Sierra Richard

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I bought both of these pillows so you do not have to

I am a side sleeper by nature. So when I got pregnant, I figured the “you need to sleep on your side now” part would be the easy part for me.

Then I hit the second trimester and started getting real discomfort and back pain just sitting on the couch watching TV. Not just sleeping. Sitting.

That is when I realized the pregnancy pillow question is not actually one question. There are a lot of pregnancy pillows out there and they are not all trying to solve the same problem. So I bought two of them with my own money.

One is the MomCozy U-shaped pillow, which is enormous and lives in my bed. The other is the Cat Paw pillow, which is small, adjustable, and comes with me to the couch. I am 15.5 weeks in these videos, showing a little but not a whole lot, so I am going to be honest about what each one is and is not doing for me yet at the 19 week mark.

MomCozy or Cat Paw? The short answer

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These two pillows are for totally different reasons, so the right one depends on where your discomfort actually shows up. The MomCozy is for the person who wants to be side sleeping, or needs to be side sleeping, later on in pregnancy and wants full support. The Cat Paw is for everywhere else in your day.

If your problem is sleeping, buy the U-shaped one. If your problem is sitting, buy the paw-shaped one. If you have both problems, and, like me, you may genuinely want both.

MomCozy vs. Cat Paw at a glance

Feature	MomCozy U-Shaped Pillow	Cat Paw Pillow
Shape	Full U, wraps front and back	Paw shape, two pieces joined by Velcro
Best for	Side sleeping in bed	Couch, desk chair
Knee support	Yes, built in	No, you need a second pillow
Head support	Yes, doubles as your main pillow	No
Adjustable	No	Yes, silent Velcro sets the width
Size	Permanent bedroom fixture	Small, separates into two pieces
Cover	Removable, machine wash permanent press, hang dry	Removable, machine wash cold, air dry, no bleach
Out of the box	Vacuum sealed, fluff 2 to 3 times	Rolled, let it expand 24 to 72 hours

Best pregnancy pillow for side sleeping

The MomCozy gives you back support, head support, belly space, and a spot between your knees, all in one pillow. You are not adjusting multiple pillows at once, which was the biggest selling point for me.

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When I lay on my side there is the option to have the pillow between your knees and support all the way through. It is not as thick as I thought it was going to be, so my arm easily wraps around it. There are support locations all the way through the lower back, and I can use the top of the pillow under my head.

My belly at 15.5 weeks is not big enough to get on this pillow yet, but I know it is coming. There is clearly a space in the front where my belly will go once my little baby bump is a bigger baby bump.

The craziest thing was that the hip pain I was experiencing improved drastically after using this. I know that won’t be everyone’s experience, but it was mine!

What the MomCozy is like out of the box

The MomCozy arrives vacuum sealed in a bag, and you have to remove every layer of plastic before it will expand to full size. I was a little concerned because I did not know exactly how it was going to show up on my porch. It showed up compressed into a bag much smaller than the pillow itself.

I cut open the bag to release the air and release the pressure. There was an area on the back side where it was twisted together, and you can actually hear it slowly releasing. Then, pop goes the weasel. (Well, I guess pop goes the pillow in this case.)

You have to remove all of the secondary plastic wrap layering underneath, or it will not expand all the way. It comes out pretty darn wrinkly. MomCozy recommends stretching and fluffing it 2 or 3 times to get all of that stuffing moved around, and it takes shape pretty quickly after that.

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Is a U-shaped pregnancy pillow too big for your bed?

It is huge, but it is not as thick and overwhelming as I expected. I was concerned it was going to be even larger and take up way too much space in my bed. We have a king size bed, if that gives you some perspective.

It’s not easy to move around and take with you as you move about the house. It is a permanent fixture of your bedroom until baby arrives. That is not a knock on it. That is just what you are signing up for with a full U-shaped pillow.

The stuffing is really comfortable and the cover has a nice cozy feel. It is a soft, almost velvety fuzz, but is not very thick. When I first fluffed it there were areas where I could feel there was not as much stuffing as others, so give it real time to air out.

Best pregnancy pillow for back pain while sitting

At 15.5 weeks the Cat Paw was not doing much for me lying down, but it is already useful sitting up. My belly is not quite hitting it yet when I lay on my side. I do get a little bit of back support because it wraps on both sides.

At 19 weeks, this pillow is required for lounging in the evening. Sitting is where I get discomfort and back pain right now, and having this behind me while I watch TV helps. I might even take it to my desk chair, because it gives support on the sides and really hugs you.

The foam squish is very good. This is super comfortable foam, and I think that once it is actually supporting my belly it is going to be great.

What the Cat Paw is like out of the box

The Cat Paw arrives rolled up in two pieces and needs 24 to 72 hours to fully fluff. So many pregnancy pillows are huge, and the packaging alone proved this one is not.

It comes with instructions for what to do when you pull it out of the box. There is a lot of plastic on it and it is on there very tight, plus some more saran wrap underneath. Then it separates into two pieces.

Because of that 24 to 72 hour window, I could not tell you the final quality of the fluff on day one. I could tell it was expanding rather quickly, and it fluffed up quite a bit in a short amount of time. Leaving it for a couple of days to get the full effect is definitely important.

The cover is very soft and smooth, and it has an actual cat paw shape. You can see the little paw prints and the little “toe beans” pressed up through the pillow, even before it fully expands.

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Does silent Velcro actually stay silent?

Yes, and this was the feature I was most skeptical about. The Cat Paw uses silent Velcro to join its two pieces, which lets you set exactly how wide or narrow the pillow sits.

It goes on smooth and holds. Ripping it back off makes very minimal noise. It is super quiet. If I was doing that in the bedroom at night with my husband sleeping right next to me, he would not hear anything. It is about as loud as moving your blankets around at night.

That adjustability is the real advantage over the MomCozy. You can set the two halves wider if that fits your needs, or closer together. Right now I have mine on the two closest settings. In my opinion that makes it much more adjustable than the big bulky MomCozy.

What about traveling with a pregnancy pillow?

Portability is exactly why I bought the Cat Paw, but I have not taken it on a trip yet, so I am not going to pretend I know how it holds up. What I can tell you is that it separates into two pieces, it is small, and a U-shaped pillow this size is not realistically going anywhere with you.

The one thing I already know I would have to solve is knee support. I typically like to sleep with something between my knees, and the Cat Paw does not do that. If we are traveling it is pretty easy to get access to an extra pillow at a hotel, so I am not worried about it.

I will update this post once I have actually traveled with it.

Can you wash a pregnancy pillow cover?

Both covers come off and go in the machine, but the settings are different, so check before you wash. The MomCozy cover unzips and slides off, washes on the permanent press setting in 30 degree water, and needs to hang dry. Do not throw that one in your dryer.

The Cat Paw cover comes off easily and goes back on easily, which matters more than it sounds like it does. Nobody wants to fight a pillow every time the cover needs cleaning. It washes on cold, air dry, and do not bleach it.

Getting the MomCozy cover back on took a couple of minutes but was not difficult. The short end went back through easily. I expected the longer end to be a fight and it honestly went on pretty well.

When I first got the MomCozy pillow, I didn’t plan to get a separate pillow case since the original cover washes fine, I was just going to stick with what came on it. I have since changed my mind and picked up this pillow case for the U-shaped pillow, so I can strip one cover and still have the pillow made up while the other is in the wash.

What the Cat Paw does not do…

The Cat Paw does not give you anything between your knees and it does not replace your head pillow. If you are side sleeping and you want knee support, you are going to have to get a different pillow. This one is not going to cover both things.

The MomCozy does cover all three at once: back support, a main pillow for your head, and your legs. That is the tradeoff. The Cat Paw is a support piece. The MomCozy is a whole sleep setup.

Neither of these is a flaw so much as a thing to know before you spend the money.

So which pregnancy pillow should you buy?

Buy the MomCozy if your problem is sleeping. Buy the Cat Paw if your problem is sitting. Overall I think they are both really good pillows. It just depends on what you are wanting.

Get the MomCozy U-shaped pillow if you are a side sleeper, you want one pillow instead of a pile of them, you have the bed space, and you are fine with it living in your bedroom until baby arrives.

Get the Cat Paw pillow if your discomfort shows up on the couch or at a desk, if you want to adjust the width, or if you want something that is not going to swallow your bed. Just plan on a regular pillow for between your knees.

And maybe you do want both. Totally up to you, but there are a lot of options here and either one of these can provide support during your pregnancy.

FAQs about Pregnancy Pillows

Where to find both pregnancy pillows

Both of these are pillows I bought myself, on Amazon so feel free to check them out below!

• MomCozy U-shaped pregnancy pillow
• Cat Paw pregnancy pillow
• Pillow case for the U-shaped pillow

I test things I actually use, and I say when something does not work. If that is the kind of review you want more of, my YouTube channel is where the video versions live.