I'm in the same boat as your friend.... kind of tall (5'8), heavyset (ummm, not telling
) and a large frame.
I had a beautiful rosebud BOPPI pillow sent to me by my MiL. I never ever used it for the intended purpose. It never fit comfortably or gave enough support for breastfeeding. DD played and posed on it. I ended up using regular standard pillows that were old and solid. 2 were very comfortable when dd was a small preemie to keep my elbow supporting her and off my c-section healing belly. When she made it to about 12lbs, a single pillow was quite comfortable. Lumpy and solid were the best types. I could shape them to whatever position I needed to have supported. In public, I used folded blankets under my arm/shoulder area whenever we were out for the extra support.
As for a sling or carrier, the best one that worked out for us when dd was an infant - baby was the New Native sling + the optional pillow from
http://www.newnativebaby.com/. They have it in different sizes. DH wore an XL and I had a Large. Fit well even though I'm very short waisted. During the winter, she was under my coat and we had a lot of fun with the locals when they discovered there was a baby and not a pregnant tummy underneath.
It was comfortable to carry until dd hit about 18lbs. That's when my shoulder had enough, but I have back problems and needed a balanced way to carry her. Ergo baby carrier then became my favorite.
www.ergobabycarrier.com has videos.
If I were to do the baby thing all over again, I would forgo the fancy nursing pillows to find a couple of comfortable small ones.
I would also just use the sling until child was big enough for the Ergo. There's a internal sling option for the Ergo, but I think it could be more of a hassle than it's worth with the waist belt and accoutrements for a tiny infant.
Oh, btw, if she's full breasted, don't waste money on nursing shirts with slots on the side. It's much easier just lifting the bottom of the shirt, sweater, top and tucking it around the baby's face. No skin is ever shown and it's quicker to do it that way than rumagging around in the shirt. It's something I found out after some effort was spent. The larger breasted one is, the harder it is to use those blasted slots. I've located that advice several places online after I discovered this. The best nursing bra I found was the Medela seamless. It's available at JC Penney online. Gave support without all those itchy seams. Looked less obtrusive than other styles too.
hth and wish her all the best for me.