FOR MEDIA RELEASE
Bizarre Bra busts into Wearable Art Awards….. A nursing bra made from formula scoops. Full story is here – you are welcome to share this on your blog etc
Like this bra? Show your support by voting for us in the People's Choice Awards and you could win a huge prize from The Dominion Post & WOW.
Text WOW with a space and then Mamadonna Nursing Bra to 3100. Each text costs 20 cents
Here is an article we just wrote about baby’s cord stump. With the help of a customer who sent us some rather gross (but normal) photos. Not the greatest photo to look at, full screen, first thing in the morning!!. But I hope preggie mums find it a little bit useful.
You can read it and see the photos here: Baby Cord Stump
We’ve loaded a new article thanks to the wonderful community on our Facebook Page. Heaps of mothers shared their experiences and difficulties weaning their toddlers.
You can read all the tips here
Just shared a post about getting your 13 Week Baby Scan, and a precious photo. This was when my baby was 13 weeks old and a tiny peanut. But he was smiling then too.
You can read about it here 13 Week Scan
The other day I ran a poll on Facebook, asking people how long it took for their milk to come in, and for them to state whether they had a vaginal birth or c/s.
I’ve been a geek and graphed the results to show you. 132 replies. Nothing statistical or technical, just a graphical indication of results.
You can view it here: Days for Milk to Come In
We asked a group of mothers on our Facebook Page for their tips on getting their child started on a bottle. The discussion below is a group of mothers sharing some tips for starting a baby on a bottle.
Some babies can be a bit fussy, clever, and stubborn which makes this whole process very stressful for parents. If the situation does get stressful and baby is crying and mum distressed, just stop and try another day.
The top tips that we gathered from this discussion were:
You can read everyone’s comments and insights here: Mums Share Tips for Starting Bottles
For the record: . Of course, here at Breastmates we encourage breastfeeding at all times and support the WHO and MoH guidelines that recommend babies are exclusively breastfeed for 6 months, and then continue with breastmilk until 2. Sometimes parents may want to introduce a bottle for their child, depending on their own situation, and sometimes they will need help and support for this. We don’t judge.
We asked a simple question on Facebook on Friday night: most annoying things people said to you when you were pregnant.
The most common responses were:
You can read the humorous responses from a large group of women here
Baby Led Weaning – some articles we’ve collated based on information shared on our Facebook page today
Baby Led Weaning
Mums doing Baby Led Weaning
The Department of Labour have released the code of employment practice, for breastfeeding / expressing in the work place.
I like that it specifically states that “Toilets are not considered an appropriate place to breastfeed or express breast milk.”
You can access the documentation via our page link here: Breastfeeding in the Work Place
Got an email from a lady I was corresponding with 14 months ago, we were originally corresponding as she was enquiring about inducing lactation for her surrogate baby.
Today she wrote:
“ Gosh a whole year and a half have passed since then! Time flys as a mum.
Just to let you know that I was able to successfully breastfeed baby until she was 14 months old. It was such an amazing thing to be able to do for our special surrogate baby. The induced lactation meant I was able to supply just over half her milk with breastmilk and I used the medela supplementer to top her up – so she was still able to be at the breast.
It feels like such an achievement now that I look back!”
That is an AMAZING achievement. Well done!!!
A customer wrote me an email asking which breast pump would best suit her needs, for returning to work 3 to 4 days per week.
We can evaluate your needs to, we are here to help you.
Read our response to this customer here
Over a hundred normal real women share with us how much weight they gained during pregnancy.
You can read about it here
My girlfriend was in the maternity unit with her new baby, and sent me a text saying “no one told me breastfeeding was going to hurt this much”
= FAIL FROM ME as her friend.
= FAIL FROM ME as Breastmates
So I’ve written an article here
Latching a Baby for a Breastfeed, you can see three of our new videos here
In one of the videos, were baby was distracted from his feeding, I’m sure mum was getting a bit frustrated that he wouldn’t stay latched on and nursing. But I just love the way that he looks up at his mother adoringly. It’s a real loving baby gaze.
Even when I catch up with friends for a coffee, its always work related. And I have very very kind friends!!
One mum shares a story with us, about how she is exclusively expressing breast milk to feed her baby. She says “just because it comes out of bottle doesn’t make it any less magic!”
You can read her full story here Expressing for all Baby’s Feeds
I just added an article to the website about baby colic. What causes baby colic, and how you can cope with it.
You can read the full article here: Baby Colic
Written by our guest author and Child Birth Educator,
A customer emailed me today asking for some tips on weaning. It’s the “end of the road” with my business and store, but is certainly a relevant topic that I can help with.
Customer writes to me today
“I just wanted to let you know how useful the information on your website about the personal fit breast shields was for me. After being unsuccessful at breastfeeding but not comfortable with putting my baby on formula I have been expressing milk for each of his feeds for the last 3 months. Unfortunately I continually ended up with significant trauma to one nipple, to the point where I could no longer use the expressor on this breast. I consequently resorted to hand expressing, which is not very efficient (although I did get quite good at this!). After reading the info on your website I realised I needed a different size breast shield for this breast, and since this arrived I have been happily expressing 1200-1300 mls/day pain free.”
Read our helpful articles , these are separate to our Maternity Store.
I get a lot of emails from people with questions on how to get their babies started on a bottle and overcoming problems. So I put a few tips on my website here: Starting a Bottle
Today I got this reply back:
Hi again
At first, when my husband tried it was just hopeless! He tried on numerous occasions with me out of the room, wearing my clothes, and all sorts and it kept ending in tears and our daughter being too upset
to even realise a teat was in her mouth. We decided I would try so I started breastfeeding her, then after about 3 minutes I detached her and quickly put the bottle in and she took it!
The next morning I did it again and she drank from the bottle a lot easier and smoother. The third time my husband did it straight from the bottle. It took a long time and a few more tears but finally she got the hang of it!
The idea of not trying when it was her meal time was invaluable. She was always too hungry when we had tried before which got us nowhere. We were going on the theory that she would be really hungry so would take anything. Definitely not an accurate one! So thank you once more again for your help! We all (me, husband and daughter) all really appreciate it :)
I’ve made some short videos so that you can see how breast pumps work. The key information is so that you can HEAR the noise that they make, compared to my voice.
Probably not something a normal shop-keeper would tell you about some of these, and you’d never know just by looking at a box
You can get to the demo page here
We have a new article on our website about washing, sterilizing and storing baby bottles & teats etc.
Some tips and suggestions for introducing a bottle for your baby
Actually this is a very common question that I get asked from mothers that are trying to introduce expressed breast milk in a bottle for their bub
Just loaded a new article about Baby Crying – and why some babies just don’t settle in the evenings
You can read the full article here: Baby Crying
We are growing a collection of shared breastfeeding and bottle feeding experiences from mothers.
If you have something that you’d like to share, plus just drop me an email!
| We have quite a selection of larger size bras available at our website, with the HOTmilk brand. How do you prefer this term being called? Full figure, Plus Size, larger size? Whatever you call it, it means all the cup and band sizes above the standard. Alot of people don't realize that the full figure sizes are catered for in gorgeous maternity bras. All bras above a D cup have wider shoulder straps, wider back bands, and reinforcement in the cup. Plus they still look gorgeous too! Most other brands of lingerie only cater for sizes up to 16F - so the following list shows you the additional plus sizes that HOTmilk manufacture. You can use these links to quickly find the size that you are looking for, and the items that are in stock, such as: |
View the entire HOTmilk lingerie range on our website, and use the Find Bra Size feature at the Store
Continue reading this article here: Plus Size Maternity Bras
| Each baby is different too in how they feed. Some baby’s will take a really long time to feed, some will be quick, some will feed every 2 hours, some every four, whatever the scenario, it’s about what’s ‘normal’ for your baby. Weight gain is something that gives us all an idea that baby’s are growing and thriving, however there are other factors to consider, like enough wet nappies, fat rolls appearing on the inner thighs, the belly looking rounded and in general ‘bright eyed and busy tailed’! To continue reading this breastfeeding tip, click here. |
| There is so much information out there regarding baby’s sleep, so much of a focus on how much and when a baby should be sleeping, as parents it’s no wonder we become obsessed by the ‘shoulds’ and ‘shouldn’ts. We all understand that baby’s need sleep, just like adults, and on paper, theoretically, it makes complete sense. However managing your baby’s sleep at your place on a day to day basis is often something quite different. Baby’s will have times, days, even weeks of difficulty going to and staying asleep, that is just the nature of babys. Sometimes there is something you can do to encourage more sleep, sometimes there isn’t. You can continue reading this article on baby sleep here |
Getting baby’s into a ‘sleepy’ state (more than drowsy) is sometimes the key to them successfully being able to nod off. So when you see those tired signs you are so well accustomed to, wrap your baby, (if your baby likes being wrapped), and help your tired wee baby slip over into a sleepy state by:
You can read the full article and baby sleeping tips here
| Maternal Journey is an education, information and support service working with families through pregnancy, birth and into the first year of life as parents. I have met For more information, check out Maternal Journey They are based in Hamilton New More info: Antenatal Classes |
Breastfeeding story shared with Breastmates Maternity Store from a customer. She breastfed for 21 months with a combination of breast & expressing milk into a bottle. I am really glad that she shared the bit about doing bottle top ups, you don’t hear people speak about that much. You can read her full breastfeeding story and tips here.
Customer asked me: The Medela Harmony Pump I have is no longer working...I think there's a tear in the diaphragm (underneath the handle). Would you know if the Pump covered under a warranty or if this part is replaceable.
These parts are not covered by warranty, as it is general wear and tear, but yes replacement parts are available.
I’m not sure which part you need, so have included a few options here.
The little thin white membrane is actually a really really important piece of the equipment, this must have no tears rips or cracks, and no milk residue.
The parts that are under the handle are also available separately, though I would need to order them for you which takes about 4 days. Photo attached.
Handle
Diaphragm with Stem and O-ring
O-ring sold by itself (this is the rubbery part). The stem is the yellow part.
View all our spare parts here
We now have the new range of Avent BPA free breast pumps. Manual or Uno Electric versions. BPA free has the ‘honey tint’ colour.
Do you have any products that can help with blocked ducks and /or trying to afford Mastitis?
I would recommend the Lactagogue Massage Oil and the heat packs
Also lots and lots of vitamin C every day can really help.
A lady recently sent me this lovely email:
“Hi
Just wanted to drop a note to say thank you for your site, I have just come across it for the first time. My kids are now 5 and nearly 3, but I still have plenty of friends having their ‘firsts’ and see the stress and guilt they go through, and it reminds me of my first time round.
I had a breast reduction when I was 15, and while my understanding is that the procedure is much better now, when I had mine done (ahem, nearly 25yrs ago) the technology wasn’t so flash, and lots of my internal boob bits were just taken out. I was warned at the time that I probably wouldn’t be able to breast feed in the future, but as you can imagine, meaningless advice to a 15yr old!
Subsequently, both my children have been fully bottle fed. In both cases, I gave the boobs a damn good try, but my milk never came in either time. I am a strong, educated Mum who had kids in her 30s, and still I was made to feel incredibly guilty when I couldn’t breastfeed the first time round (by the second time round I was a bit wiser and more bolshy!). And there was no information available – when my husband asked the
So well done to you for your website. I can see from a quick browse that it is more focused on breastfeeding, and that’s as it should be. But I love the practical information that is on there about bottle feeding, and the fact that it is non-judgmental.
Cheers
T
Mum to two robust, healthy, cheeky little monkeys!
This is a very common question that I get asked, lots of mums melt their breast pump parts.
It does get confusing working out which part is which for the pumps, this lady took the initiative and emailed a photo.
She has the Medela Manual breast Pump, and just needed a new cylinder. We can organize that for her no problem.
More information on Medela Spare Parts
