My Brest friend Breast-feeding Review and Package giveaway!! Closed

Our First feature is My Brest Friend!!!

My Brest Friend

When you think nursing pillows many think of the Boppy pillow,  but if you have never heard of the My Brest Friend you will be amazed!! If you are a new or soon to be mommy you will want this prize package!! Everything you will need to breast feed at home or on the go! Also, nutritional support from the vitamins you need as well.

The Original Pillow

      I love love love this nursing pillow! It is so easy to use and when I had my son, and he was in the NICU, this was what I brought with me. When I called saw my Doctor i the hospital, I mentioned I was having trouble nursing he had a lactation consultant on staff. So he called her and she ...called me later that day! Rose Marie was awesome. She had my hubby pick the My Brest Friend pillow up from their office to borrow for as long as I needed and then had the Lactation specialist at the hospital help me till Nico was discharged. It literally saved me. My back was killing, the boppy sagged in the middle and kept slipping all over the place. If you know newborns they have no muscle control and can't help with the nursing till much later in life.

      I had a lot of trouble feeding Nico but with this product (not the pretty one I received from My Brest Friend) I found positioning him much easier. It has small bumps in the pillow for the infants head and is much firmer then most. It wraps around, and you strap yourself in. No sliding pillows anymore. It supports you back and helps your posture for breastfeeding.  I really can't say enough good things about it! If you are nursing, or will be soon get one of these or...WIN ONE HERE!!

The Pillow sells @ Babies r us for $39.99

Me feeding Nico, who is huge now! He is 10 months old now!!

From the My Brest Friend website:

My Brest Friend was developed in a laboratory of new moms, babies, and breastfeeding experts who set out to create a pillow whose sole purpose was to answer all the needs of breastfeeding moms and babies. 50 prototypes and a global patent later, the pillow is loaded with features moms love:

•Wrap around design secures to the body helping mom and baby maintain positioning and latch-on

•Back rest helps you maintain good posture during feeding and prevents sore back and neck

•Firm, flat cushion keeps baby from rolling

•Adjustable, silent-release strap fits Moms or Dads comfortably and unlatches without waking baby



•Arm and elbow rests eliminate shoulder stress

•Convenient pocket keeps water bottles, burp cloths, phone, and other items within reach



Adjustable Nursing stool
$24.99 in stores

         The stool is a great thing to have when nursing it helps position the baby and also helps with back pain. I really liked the stool and so do my twins who are 3, they use it to sit on, to wash their hands, to reach things they are not supposed, and much more. It is really easy to adjust and use. I like it with my glider at night as well!

From the website:

My Brest Friend’s nursing stool can help a breastfeeding mother minimize lower back, shoulder, neck, and wrist pain by helping her to maintain a supportive, comfortable position throughout the feed.

•Adjustable to different angles for optimum nursing support

•Provides comfortable positioning for breastfeeding

•Alleviates stress on you back, shoulders and neck

•Becomes a step stool after nursing

•To use adjust the stool to the desired angle and turn knobs securely into place.



Nursing Cover
$26.99

This is great for those of us who are not pro's or a little shy of whipping them out in public. I love mine and use it all the time. It is easy and expect for the fact that Nico likes to look when eating now it works great. I just tuck in the ends under my arm and I can walk and breastfeed if necessary as well. I also use it with my Ergo. I nurse in the Ergo and cover up with the cover! I love it and I just shove it in my Diaper bag and run. I never have to worry about the blanket falling or any of that.


The easy view design lets moms easily check on their nursing babies while staying completely covered. Other features include:




•Private easy view design

•Adjustable for all sizes

•Breathable 100% cotton

•Convenient pocket

•Great with My Brest Friend nursing pillow

.

Here are the supplements that My Brest friend is offering as well. These are brand new!! I really like them. They have some great  lactation herbs them.

Breastfeeding Essentials Contains 28 essential vitamins, minerals, and herbs to help breastfeeding mothers maintain overall good health.  Breastfeeding Essentials provides the added dietary intake of critically important, optimum nutrients and health for both the nursing mother and her baby.

• Contains the highest quality folate and chelated minerals available to ensure the greatest absorption of nutrients.
• Over 100% daily value of vitamin B6, B12, C, D3,E, riboflavin, thiamine, and pantothenic acid to help you meet the increased nutrient demands of lactation, enhance energy, maintain antioxidant defenses, and support overall well-being.

Fenugreek The most popular herbal remedy that has been used by millions of women around the world for increasing milk production.

• Research suggests that diosgenin, a natural compound found in the Fenugreek seed, may be responsible for stimulating milk production by up to 40%.
• An increase in milk supply is generally noticed with 1 to 3 days after supplementation.

Omega- 3 Lemon Fish Oil Loaded with DHA and Omega-3 fatty acids which supports heart, lung, joint, skin, brain and nerve functions.  They are especially crucial for development of proper neurological and visual functions in infants.

• Potent 50% EPA/DHA content: the concentrated amount of Omega-3 fatty acids is well above the EPA/DHA found in other brands.
• Molecular distillation and advanced filtration processes remove heavy metals such as mercury, lead, cholesterol, PCB’s, pesticides and other impurities often found in fish.

10  chocolate chip or 10  pumpkin seed oatmeal cookies, your choice of flavor!!
Sounds good to me!!

How can you win??

My Brest Friend is giving one lucky Momccupation reader the whole set to get you started!! Over $150 worth of stuff, a whole nursing set up!!!

How to enter: (Please include your email address so I can contact you when you win!) You will have 48 hours to respond to the email before I choose another winner!!

Mandatory Entry:

You must do BOTH mandatory entries before completing ANY of the Extra Entries!


-You MUST follow Momccupation via Google Friend Connect (GFC)! and
-Follow My Brest Friend on Facebook! Let them know i sent you if you like!!
-Follow  Kai's Kookie Shop on Facebook. (from 2/1 on)

Please leave ONE comment with both mandatory entries and your email address.


Extra Entries:

My Brest Friend
Go to their site and  tell me your favorite Item or print!!! 1 entry

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This giveaway is open from Jan 31st 12:01am PST- Feb 14th 11:59pm PST

Happy winning!!

***Open to US and Canada  residents only. This giveaway will end on February 14, 2011 at 11:59 PST. Random.org will be used to determine the winner who will have 48 hours to respond to my email before another winner is chosen. Good Luck!***



Making Baby food Series Part 2

So you are ready to feed some yummy veggies and fruits to you little one!

MMMMmmm... Butternut!

I started Nico with Butternut squash, he loved it. He was so happy to eat it,lol. I was so suprised. I always start with veggies and then fruit in the stage appriopriate.
So this week is stage one foods!!
What to feed when? I got a fantastic simple book from my neighbor when i started contemplating making baby food for my twins. I can't even remember the name of it now but it was very simple. So from there I started looking up info online about what foods to start when and how to cook it.


The Rules:

Introduce non-sweet foods first, such as cereals.

- Start with the veggies first!

As babies get older, the consistency of the foods thickens.

You can thicken your baby food with rice cereal because it has a little watery consistancy with some of the foods.

First foods will be very liquidy.

Before introducing subsequent new foods, wait a few days. Foods your baby tolerates well will be met with enthusiasm and will not cause elimination problems or allergic reactions.

Stage 1 Baby Food is a term that applies to baby foods that are highly pureed and strained. These foods are appropriate for babies who are just being introduced to solid foods. The foods in this range are targeted to babies who are between the ages of (4) 6 to 8 months old.

Start out slowly, preparing a tablespoon sized portion of whatever food you have chosen to begin with. Some parents begin offering their babies solid foods by using their (clean and washed) finger as a spoon. They say that this helps their babies take to solid foods because the "new" spoon and the "new" food all at once seem to confuse baby.

Stage 1 Grains:
Rice
Oatmeal
Barley
"Baby" cereal and soft cooked thinly pureed fruits and veggies should be baby's first solid food experiences. Single ingredients only and at a space of 4 days apart with introducing each new food. You may skip the cereal and begin with a fruit like avocado or begin with a veggie like butternut squash or sweet potato .

Stage 1 Veggies:

Sweet Potato
Squash- butternut or acorn
Avocado
Green Beans 
Carrots-
Peas

Stage 1 Fruits:


Pumpkin
Apples
Avocados
Apricots
Bananas
Mango Nectarines & Peaches
Papaya
Pears
Plums & Prunes

Gabriel

Now that you know what to start with how do you cook it:

I usually steam or pressure cook the veggies or fruit and then puree it in a food processor or blender. I use a bullet, which works out great. The pressure cooker is so nice because cooking butternut or acorn squash or anything. If you have cooked hard fall/winter squashes you know that it takes forever to cook in the oven. So if you don't like to overheat your house try out a pressure cooker now.

Baby Foods To Avoid - Foods More Likely To Cause An Allergic Reaction Or Digestive Problem


• Eggs (especially the whites)

• Cow's milk

• Peanuts or peanut butter

• Shellfish - lobster, prawns, crab and shrimp

• Wheat

• Chocolate

• Soy

• Pork

• Gluten - contained in wheat, oats and barley

• Fish - particularly plaice, tuna, salmon, mackerel and sardines

• Berries - especially strawberries (but blueberries are NOT considered highly allergenic)

• Cinnamon

• Citrus fruits - orange, grapefruit, lemon, lime and tangerine

• Sesame seeds/sesame oil

• Corn

• Tomatoes

• Yeast

My lilttle Man Reese

Making baby food- How to start??? Part one

First off, Why make your own baby food? 

• You know where everything is coming from!
• You know exactly what is in each item!
• You will save tons of Money!!
• Your baby food will be fresh and taste better then anything you can get in the store!!
• No added preservatives, ingredients, no weird colored things in your pantry! 
• It is really very easy!!

When to start?

Many medical professionals still advise introducing baby's first foods anywhere from 4 to 6 months.
However, this is a subject that has been hugely researched of late and the current recommendation from the World Health Organisation (WHO) is that:  no solid foods are introduced to baby for the first 6 months.

These days, most experts agree that you shouldn't be looking at introducing solids until baby is at least 6 months old. And there are good reasons for this ...

• Very young babies have poor control of their throat and tongue muscles. This makes swallowing difficult and can cause choking or gagging.
• The tongue thrust reflex is still strong and can make solid feeding difficult.
• The risk of allergies increases if baby's first foods are introduced too soon.
• Early feeding can cause obesity.

The best advice when considering starting solid foods for your baby, "Watch the Baby - Not the Calendar"

Things to remember:

ALWAYS follow the 4 day wait rule when introducing a new food to baby - offer your baby the same new food for 4 days to test for allergies to that food. This applies even when you are making homemade baby food. Never introduce more than 1 new food at a time.

ALWAYS use clean hands, clean cooking utensils, preparation surface(s), pots/pans etc when making and and preparing homemade baby food. Cleanliness and Food Safety is a MUST when making homemade baby food. I always use the sterilize selection on my dishwasher!!
 
Introduce New Foods During the Morning or Early Afternoon - Why? Just in case of allergic reaction you can call or go to your doctor!
 
Give food after you have nursed or given a bottle, so they receive all the nutrients from that first! If this makes your child not as hungry the try feeding half the normal amount or time then finish after you have fed the baby food!
 
Try and Try again later!!
Remember the rule- your child may not like the flavor or texture at first! It take up to 10- 12 tries before they may like a food item! So you can try and move on to a different item and come back to something if necessary. So don't give up!

Don't forget to read signs from your baby as well though. My son was ready to eat everything on my plate at 5 months and was holding his own head up very early on. He was clearly ready to start on solid foods. So, listen to yourself and your doctor!

Now that you haven't been scared off, lets start with the basics.

What do you need?

• Ice cube trays
• A good blender- I use a Bullet- Yes, they work awesome! It is better then my blender!
• Plastic baggies- large or quart freezer bags (you can use Tupperware if you  want but it takes up lots of room
• lots of fresh veggies and fruits 
• Some place to cook it - My favorites :A pressure cooker or steamer - OK you can microwave but i prefer not to unless desperate. My new fantastic method is the electric pressure cooker!!

Note: Don't worry about having the baby food mill or the baby food freezer trays you will do fine with what you have!

This is a pic of the pressure cooker i have!

 This first thing to start with is rice cereal and you may feed this till your baby taking it well and not spitting it out at you and eager to eat!

So get your tools together and part 2 coming soon.. What foods to start when?