P&C Show Stock: Only a Few Items

I've had a few visitors this week, who knew that I would be going to the P&C show this weekend in Auckland. They thought I would be taking my whole range of products to display to the show visitors ... Alas, no. I have way too many things and only a small stand. And even that was expensive $$$

Actually I've just checked my stock database, and there are 569 items listed. The large number is because of all the different sizes and colour combinations of things, but still heaps.

At the show, I will just be selling Hot Milk PJs and Hotmilk Nighties at a heavily heavily heavily reduced price. (SUCH A BARGAIN<>) And hemp breast pads will be on sale too.

Everything else is available online at Breastmates or you can come over for a visit at my little "shop"

Hot Milk Maternity in UK

In one of my earlier blog posts I mentioned what had happened with the media, when a customer complained about the Hot Milk images we were using in our email newsletters back in 2007: http://breastmates-nz.blogspot.com/2008/08/sexy-pregnancy-lingerie-spark-media.html

Well, I see on the metro news UK that another shop selling hotmilk lingerie for pregnant women has been forced to withdraw a mannequin – complete with baby bump – from its window after sparking complaints.

The shop owner Amanda Bere says " I was trying to advertise that maternity wear has got a bit sexier but some women of 50-plus thought it wasn't appropriate for the town and told me to my face". This was at a shop in North Yorkshire.

Its great that Hot Milk gets publicity like this, but again I am surprised by people's attitudes surrounding the gorgeous images. Nothing different to what you see in a normal junk mail catalogue.

I wonder how my city will cope when I get my car signwritten, as I was thinking of using a Hotmilk image!!


Photo courtesy of Metro

Nursing Covers: New Fabric Choices

I have some new Nursing Covers available in stock now. These are limited edition fabric designs which are just so stylish and yummy!! They are something a little bit different, and make a change to all the black breastfeeding clothing that I usually stock!

Nursing covers like this give you an alternative option to purchasing special breastfeeding clothes or nursing tops. But I do also sell breastfeeding tops online if that is what you wanted to purchase.







You can check out these nursing covers on our website and read more about their great design and uses. http://www.breastmates.co.nz/hideaway_nursing_covers.html

Auckland Parent and Child Show

Breastmates will be showcasing the newest range of HOTmilk Maternity Lingerie at their stand M2. These include four new styles of nursing bra and matching knickers. With full figure nursing cup sizes up to 20G, and small figure nursing bra sizes down to 8A. They will also have the new styles of breastfeeding sleepwear by Hot Milk on display during the show.

During the show, Breastmates will be offering bra fitting advice, and would like to let visitors know they have a new home-based studio store in Royal Oak where you are welcome to have a private bra fitting or view all their breastfeeding products after the show.

Plus SHOW SPECIALS for the weekend only at the show.

PLUS enter our prize pack for a $750 Bumper Prize! Blog readers can also enter this prize pack by signing up online here: http://www.breastmates.co.nz/join_newsletter.html

Visit Stand M2.

Auckland Parent and Child Show

Greenlane Showgrounds

Friday 31 October, Saturday 1 November, Sunday 2 November 2008

10am to 5pm.

Breastmates will be at stand M2

Hot Milk Lingerie - Summary of Hotmilk Styles

A summary of Hotmilk Lingerie styles online that we have been selling at our online breastfeeding store. These are sexy maternity lingerie styles and the marketing includes sexy pregnancy photos.

Season 1 2007 (Discontinued)
Hotmilk Silver Sass Kitten
Hot milk Baby Doll Delicious
HOTmilk Sinfully Sweet Seductress
HOT milk Cherry Bomb Chic

Season 2 - 1 - 2008 Phasing Out
Hotmilk Lingerie Love in the Mist
Hot milk Lingerie Whisper Sweet Wickedness
HOTmilk Lingerie Ablaze with Azure
HOT Milk Lingerie Delicate and Dangerous
Hotmilk Sleepwear Ruffle My Feathers Camisole Set
Hot Milk Sleepwear Slip into Seduction Nightie
HOTmilk Sleepwear Sugar Coated Comfort PJs

Season 2 - 2 - 2008 Current New Range
Hotmilk Maternity Lingerie Age of Allure
Hot milk Maternity Lingerie Confidence is Radiance
HOTmilk Maternity Lingerie Silhouette of a Secret
HOT milk Maternity Lingerie Midnight Mystique
Hotmilk Breastfeeding Nightwear - Indulge in a Moment PJs
Hot milk Breastfeeding Nighties - Portrait of Desire
HOTmilk Underwear - Sweet Reminisce Camisole Set

Buy HOTmilk online and we can send worldwide.

View our website if you would like to see our current styles available here: http://www.breastmates.co.nz/lingerie.htm

Hot Milk Lingerie Favourite

I am currently breastfeeding my son, while also running my breastfeeding business (quite handy because I get to trial all the products that I used, including Hotmilk Lingerie!)

My favourite Hot milk bra (for this week anyway), out of the entire Hot milk lingerie range, is the purple and black nursing bra. The style name is Midnight Mystique.

This Hot Milk bra is a moulded cup maternity bra, with drop down clips for breastfeeding. The moulded cup gives a nice shape and lift. It is a deep purple colour, with black lace. I love it!

The Hot Milk Photo that is used in the marketing campaign, doesnt fully do this bra justice.

So you can view our webstore for better images and to order your Hot Milk Lingerie online. YES we do send worldwide. YES it is cheap for customers outside of NZ to purchase using today's exchange rate.

View Hotmilk here: http://www.breastmates.co.nz/hot_milk_lingerie_midnight_mystique.html

ILYB

This is a post for my husband. He is going through a tough time at the moment, and is under a lot of pressure.

He has a wife that loves him to pieces. And he is the Best Friend of both his children that just adore him and want to be like him when they grow up. Their faces light up when he comes into the room.

(He is my best friend too)

Relaxing Bath Salts for After Labour

A very popular product that we have at our maternity products online store is the Mother Well "Sitzzz Bath". This is a jar of bath salts which are so relaxing and calming to use, and the smell is just divine with the essential oils. They have been designed with naturopath features (salts and herbs) that naturally assist the recovery of the perineum and v-jay-jay after child birth. These salts also help soothe rectal and haemorrhoid soreness. (ouchies).

A jar of these bath salts would make a great baby shower gift for a new mom.

For use, I would recommend that you feed baby and put to bed (or get Dad to look after bubs). Run yourself a deep warm bath, add the salts, and a magazine and something yummy to eat and Relax.........

Personally, unfortunately I had two emergency c-sections with my children so I didnt use these salts for their healing benefits. But I did use them for their relaxing benefits in our recently renovated bathroom (with a deep deep bath) and I can vouch for them. Great to use and then go to bed all relaxed and warm.

You can order a jar of these salts from our web store

Making Your Own Baby Food

Making my own baby food makes me feel like a good mother. Its a very "homely" feeling.

In these photos, I have cooked up some pumpkin, mashed it, and poured into those Silicone baking trays. Freeze over night. The baking tray are so easy to use and get the frozen cubes out, just bend them out. No mess. Then I just store the little pumpkin blocks in the freezer.

Baby Lochie is 6 months old already. He has taken well to starting solids, I think it was what he needed. He is still on booby juice for all his fluid feeds :-)

For some more tips on Starting Solids view our website article here: http://www.breastmates.co.nz/art_starting_solids.html

PS taking inspiration from Sarah Bean and taking photos of normal daily stuff http://thebeanbag.wordpress.com/

Have Employed a New Photographer

The other day I mentioned in a blog post that my son likes taking photos: http://breastmates-nz.blogspot.com/2008/10/check-out-this-great-photo-that-my-4.html

Well, he did get a camera for his birthday. At first I thought it was too "flash" of a present to give to a 4 year old (excuse the bad pun), but he has had so much fun with it. It was only a cheapie camera so it doesnt have an LCD screen to preview the shots, but it does take digital photos that I can download onto my computer.

This was a funny one, he liked it when we took photos of each other!

Ben 10 Cake

So Angus is a huge fan of the cartoon Ben10. Aunty La brought him a cool Ben10 watch for his birthday which makes all the noises of all the aliens etc. It doesnt actually tell you the time, but it does allow you to turn into ten different aliens!! (http://www.ben10.com/)

He asked me to make him a Ben10 cake. So I just made one that was the same pattern as the Ben10 Omnitrix Watch. If I was a better mum, I would have made on like one of the aliens or something.

I spent aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaages at the supermarket trying to find a bottle of Green food colouring for the icing. Then I realised that you have to buy Blue and Yellow food colouring and mix them yourself to make green. Duh! That is a good way for the food company to double their sales volumes!

But, strangely, it is possible to purchase Black food colouring.

I think this will be the first and last cake that I make that has black icing - or maybe this is the norm for mothers of boys.

Anyway, it was a nice chocolate cake underneath all that icing and we had a great birthday celebration with his Cousin's Sarah and Esther my sister Kath's kids. And a party at Nana's house with Aunty La, Paul and Poppa.

Birthday Boy

So my first son Angus had his birthday yesterday. And I am very pleased and relieved to report that his beloved Aunty La (My sister in law) did NOT die yesterday. I had been so worried that he would share his birthdate with her death date, but luckily that did not happen.

Actually, my MIL put on a lovely little party for the children at her house. That way we could still see Aunty La on Angus' birthday, and she got to see the cake and sing happy birthday. She was not well enough to come to our house, or the picnic-party that I had originally thought of.

Love you Aunty La

Website Award

Got an email today saying that Breastmates won another web traffic award.

Yay thats a lot of visitors viewing our website for breastfeeding products, breastfeeding clothes, breast pumps, feeding pillows, and Hotmilk lingerie.

We have received this for Jan-March, April -June, and now July-Sept!

To view our website click here: http://www.breastmates.co.nz/

Shop Photos - Bras

Check out this great photo that my 4 year old took. I like the angle and random-ness of it. I like taking photos but I have trouble taking ones at random angles that show the beauty of things. All my photos are perfectly centred and orderly.

My son loves taking photos, he is getting a kids camera for his birthday on Sunday. I just have to leave the house and buy it.

I don't know why he took photos of these Hot Milk Lingerie bras - these are the Ablaze with Azure nursing style bras. On sale at the moment for $50 click here to see: http://www.breastmates.co.nz/hot_milk_lingerie_blue_satin.html

My two sons are going to know a lot about bras!

Smart Baby is Rejecting Bottle

So I have the Auckland Parent and Child show fast approaching next week, and I have been a busy beaver getting myself organised. This will be my busiest weekend of the year. I will take some photos to show you my great ideas for the display (but only after it is over).

One of the tasks to organise is childcare for Mr 4 and baby 6 months. Hubby wont be able to do it, as he will be with me at the show doing pamphlets and running around etc. No he wont be directly selling lingerie and breast pumps hahah i don't think people would want to buy them from big bad Bruce!)

So anyway, my darling parents are coming up from down country to look after my children for four days. My Dad was recently diagnosed with Prostate Cancer but we wont know any more news until 4 November. So they are still coming up , and we will just pretend that we don't know anything about this cancer and that everything is fine. They will really enjoy spending this time with the kids it will distract their minds a little. Angus will be fine, he will help and he knows what to do and when. But I am a bit worried about baby.

I have been expressing breast milk for a while now and have a huge stack of breast milk stored in freezer. One of the perks about having a breastfeeding business is the products I get to use (albeit only while I have a baby in the baby age).

But this is a smart baby, he is not having the bottle. I'm trying to give him the bottle at lunch time, but you should see his sad face and he wont swallow it. I think I will need hubby to give him the bottle for me. He had a few bottles when he was a baby, but then I got lazy and just breast fed him. Its so much easier just getting out the boob - less work. Remember I am a lazy mum. With boob there is no heating, checking temperature, mixing, washing, storing, cleaning etc!!

At least I have a few different type of baby bottles to choose from, I have high hopes for the Adiri bottle as it has been designed for fussy babies.

..... but if it all goes wrong.... then at the Parent and Child show..... would it be okay to have a "breastfeeding demonstration with real baby"... perhaps I could market it like that....it could be a real feature.... only when baby is so distressed and hungry that someone will have to drive him to me at the show.... (only 5 minutes down the road).... It could work I suppose...... but its not something i really want to do.....oh deary me.

Olympics

We have enrolled my 4 year old at our local athletics club. We have been for 3 nights now. The children in this age group just do 50m and 100m races, it is very cute. They all have a number on their singlet and their placings are recorded (!) Its good fun, nice families, a nice thing for children to do and for us to be involved in the local community.

My son calls it the Olympics. (this word sounds very similar to athletics which is where the confusion started, plus he was a big olympics watcher when it was in Beijing earlier in the year).

I'm not correcting his pro-nouce-i-ation. I like that he calls it Olympics. Does this fit with the laws of positive attraction and optimistic thinking. Yes.

A Happy Customer

I received an email today from a happy customer. It really made my day, the fact that she took some time to write me a message to say thanks. It was like receiving a big warm fluffy and has made me happy today.

You see I wrap, pack and send so many orders and never hear back from people. I assume they are happy.

This is what "Mary P" wrote:

QUOTE

Good morning Frances Just to let you know that I did receive my package last Saturday, thank you very much. And not a moment too soon as I think I am in the early stages of labour this morning. The <Hotmilk> bras are great, very comfortable. And the packaging was lovely along with the magazine - a special treat that I was not expecting. What a great magazine, so thank you very much for that too.I have already passed your website onto a friend and expect to do so again. Have a great day Mary P - a very satisfied customer"

END QUOTE

Yay! Go Me!!

This lady had purchased a Hotmilk Maternity Bra in size 14FF - a size that is hard to find for fuller figure maternity bras

To everyone else that I have sent orders to this week: your silence must mean that you are happy too :-) Thanks for your orders and supporting Breastmates

Beanie Blog

A cyber friend of mine writes a terrific blog and it has become part of my daily routine (mmm I hope I'm not a stalker?)

First Ten Minutes of my Day: Check emails. Check forums. Check Sarah Beans blog. Then carry on with rest of normal work.

Sarah Beans blog is the greatest, this lady has such a way with words and a real talent for her writing and humour. I dont know if she knows that her blog posts are humourous, but she has a talent. You see, I really lack the words to describe. If this was her blog she would have done something witty and charming, and then taken a creative photo too.

Not only is she my blog hero, but her business is an inspiration. I think she has been running a business about the same time as me too. Her's is http://www.greenbeans.co.nz/

Today I found out that my blog hero is going through something similar with her family at the moment. I feel kind of a strength in this.

Breast Feeding Cushions

I have a new style of breastfeeding cushion in stock at my breastfeeding store.

This is quite a large nursing cushion, it has a soft comfortable polar fleece cover (very quick to wash and dry if you have lot of milk squirts or baby spills). The inner of the pillow is thick firm pillow. Oh this is so comfortable!

A lot of mothers find that they get a sore back and neck, and arm, from supporting baby while they are breastfeeding.

If this is happening to you, you really should try a breast feeding pillow to prevent long term damage to your body.

You can attach baby and latch for breast-feeding, the nursing cushion rests on your legs and this is what baby lays on and supports their weight. Then you just need a hand there to "back up" but your hand does not old any weight.

These new styles of breast feeding cushions have a nice cover too.

You can collect these from our shop for breastfeeding pillows in Auckland, or we can send nationwide if you want to buy nursing pillow online.


http://www.breastmates.co.nz/breastfeeding_nursing_pillow.html

Family History

This week our family history will be rewritten.

It was supposed to be like this:

Son #1 gets married (to me), buys house, gets a good job, has two children Angus and Lochie.

Daughter (my SIL) returns to NZ after doing her OE. Settles down, gets a good job, buys a house, finds a man, gets married, has children. Who would be cousins to the two children mentioned above.

We now know that this is not going to happen.

I HATE CANCER

Dear Mr Google

Dear Mr Google (the male browser of our website)

The following information is written for male viewers of our blog and website. We often get enquiries from men wanting to purchase something special for their wife, to celebrate their new pregnancy. Congratulations by the way!

I think it is so nice of a guy to want to buy something nice for his partner, to celebrate this pregnancy.

The popular products that guy's purchase are our Hot Milk Lingerie - the Hot Milk sleepwear styles. These are easier for guys to get the size right - as they are sold in Small, Medium, Large and Extra Large. (we have the size specifications on the product pages). So if you don't know your partners bra size, then the Hot Milk Sleepwear is easier to get in the right size.

The Hot Milk sleepwear all have inner shelf support bra - so is less restricting in size than actual bras, as this one is a shelf bra. Plus the garments have pleats on the front to allow for growing bellies!

These Hot Milk Sleepwear are great to wear throughout her pregnancy, and also for breast feeding as they all have clips for access during breastfeeding.

And Mr Google - I am happy to gift wrap, write a card for you, and send directly to your partner as a surprise.

Or if you are not sure - you could always get a gift voucher.

View our webstore for more details. Feel free to contact me if you want some gift advice! http://www.breastmates.co.nz

Milk Squirts

I remember when my second son was first born, I seemed to have a huge milk supply of breast milk. I felt like I had gone from a pre-pregnancy breast size 12B up to a 12E (thats what it felt like, but my Hotmilk Lingerie maternity bra was actually size 12C - I just had the Pamela Anderson feeling of engorgement).

Everything was fine when baby was latched onto my breast, but if he took his mouth off my milk would SQUIRT. It would spray out from all these tiny nozzles on my nipple, in all directions. It seems to go a long way! We have a leather couch and I would find all these white milk squirts on the cushions. If I pushed my breast while it was squirting, I get get a longer distance - at least 2 metres! That was not relevant to anything, its just something that I could do if I ever needed to!!?!!!!?

But then after about 3 or 4 weeks I think, this stopped happened. My breast milk supply was just becoming regulated.

I stopped squirting milk.

Now after 6 months of breast feeding, my breasts dont even leak breast milk anymore in between feeds. My breast just have the Supply and Demand of my baby's requirements sorted. I dont produce extra that leaks out, baby just drinks what he needs.

Very happy.

Starting a Bottle

If you are expressing breast milk with a breast pump, either to relieve breast engorgement, to get baby used to taking a bottle, to share feeding with dad, or if you are going back to work, or just prefer to feed baby with a bottle, then here are my starting tips.

To get baby to drink from a bottle, let baby play with the bottle first. (When it is empty or with cold boiled water). Then they might put it in their mouth, suck a little maybe, and must be familiar with it.

If you are expressing breast milk with a breast pump, store this in the freezer. You can store it in special breast milk storage bags or you could freeze it in the icecube tray and then put the frozen cubes into a snap lock bag in the freezer.

Just defrost a small amount of milk first, like 20mLs or so. Otherwise if your baby rejects the bottle on your first attempt all that milk is not wasted. I know how much work goes into getting breast milk!!

Try it at a lunch time feed. Try your baby on the bottle before baby is really really hungry, before they start crying and wind up too much. You want to try this when baby is in a calm and happy mood.

Just nudge their lip with the bottle teat, and if they open place the teat inside. baby should then suck like on the breast. Tilt the bottle upright. You should see bubbles coming through the milk.

Yay if it works.

If baby keeps mouth shut and does not drink, try a few more times. If no luck, try again tomorrow with a small amount of milk. ALWAYS DISCARD the milk after trying. Don't reheat it.

View our breast milk storage guidelines here http://www.breastmates.co.nz/storage_guidelines.html

After baby has learned to drink from a bottle, sometimes they get lazy and will reject the bottle as they prefer to drink from mom's breast. There are some special bottles available that help to minimise "nipple confusion" and the bottle teat works the same way as a breast. If baby is rejecting all bottles, you could try a special Adiri bottle. It can also help if you get Dad to feed the baby, as if baby smells that you are around they can get very picky!

Christmas Songs Started Already

On Saturday Angus found a random CD on the bookcase and wanted to listen to it. It was Christmas Music that our old neighbours the VDM's had made for us 3 years ago. A melody of classic Christmas tunes.

So although the date is on 20th October, we already have Christmas tunes playing. Angus loves them and was really boogying. I am not sure how long he will enjoy listen to this, hopefully the novelty will wear off soon.

But this son of mine tends to have an obsessive characteristics, I think the CD will be in the player for at least another 4 months. I'm sure the neighbours are going to enjoy it too!!

Exchange Rate

With the way that our exchange rate has dropped, anyone purchasing from outside New Zealand is getting a good deal.

As at today's exchange rate for 17 October 2008:

1 NZD = 0.617130 USD

1 USD = 1.62041 NZD

So something that costs $50 on our shopping cart equates to around $30 USD!

Our shipping charge to the United States is $16 NZ ( $9.87 US)

This is great news for any American customers that want to order any of our products. The Hotmilk Lingerie is very popular!! We send orders of Hotmilk Lingerie to the States on a daily basis. So you could expect to receive your items in about 10 days after ordering and paying.

To work out the current exchange rate go to http://www.xe.com it is a currency converter based on daily rates.

Home Business

This Breastmates Business is a website accessible to everyone in the world. But did you know that behind the scenes it is just ME! I manage the website, manage the marketing, manage the stock, and wrap and pack orders.

So if there is a mistake with your order - it will be my fault. Can we put it down to nappy brain.

I have had a few enquiries this week, and from the gist of the message it seems like customers think we have a whole team of people here, available to take calls 24 hours per day and answer emails in minutes. But no, its just me working at this home based business. This is your personal service and help

My children and husband are around me, but I'm doing the work for you.

I hope you like my service, I always try and treat customers just the way I like to be treated myself. :-)

Thanks for shopping here!

HOTmilk Lingerie Price Dropped

Greetings my blog readers, and hello to Mr Google.

Just to let you know that we have put four styles of HOT milk Lingerie on sale. Hot milk Lingerie bra prices have dropped to $50, and knickers have dropped in price too. Some sizes are limited.

You may need to allow 5 days for delivery if we have to order something in from the warehouse for you in which case we will tell you there will be a delay and when you can expect it.

For all my international followers, because of the state of the US Dollar it is very cheap for you to purchase Hot milk Lingerie USA from our New Zealand store. You can convert the currency when you get to our shopping cart.

So do check out our website for the Sale prices of Hot milk Lingerie and grab a bargain quickly!

I have put some pictures below which are quick links to take you to the product page.

Great Daddies

Last night my 4 year old son Angus was playing while I was preparing dinner. He got out his toy kitchen, a toy doll and buggy. He put on an apron and prepared some food for his baby doll, fed the baby, gave the baby a bottle (expressed breast milk or formula I'm not sure which he was using).

He said to me "see I'm a good Daddy"

I love the fact that he is comfortable to play like this. He has learnt this from his own father - who is such a great Dad and will come home from work and fix food for all our hungry mouths.

I like that this is out of the norm for his gender specific play!

I dont see why this sort of play is marketed towards girls. Do you know how hard it was to find a toy kitchen that was not pink or purple. Not to mention finding a toy baby doll that didnt have pink permentantely attached. The only buggy I could find is pink, so we have had to embrace that.

Aunty

Since my baby was born in April, he has grown stronger and put on weight and is starting to enjoy his new life.

During this time, his beloved Aunty Laah has been accepting her fate with cancer. And has grown weaker, lost a lot of weight, suffered a lot of pain, and is coming to the end of her life.

I cannot put into words suitable for a blog post how much we love her and are going to miss her. And how much my baby would have loved her if he had the chance - just as much as his big brother plus a little more.

Breastfeeding Tops and Feeding Tanks

Just thought I would share this feedback I received from a customer about our Glamourmom Feeding Singlets.

Quote "Just thought I'd drop you a quick note. I've just weaned my second baby and wanted to pass on some feedback about the two breast feeding tops I brought through your web site. One was a black Muu breastfeeding t-shirt and the other a black Glamourmum breast feeding tank. Well they are now almost thread bare!! I purchased these two items and although they weren't cheap, when they arrived in the post I literally just wore and wore them everyday through summer. The feeding tank top was particularly useful, I would wash it and literally watch it dry before I could go out again...really high quality, cool and soooooo damn comfortable and practical. I really would recommend the outlay to any summertime breast feeding mums. Thank you for providing such high quality stylish gear to breast feeding mums - so much nicer than those very practical but oh so drab maternity bras out there! " /endquote

Cool huh!

Hotmilk in Hollywood

Yes - one of Tinsletown’s own has ravished their loved one in our maternity lingerie!

Kevin Costner’s wife Christine is wearing Hot Milk lingerie for her first baby with the charming actor.

In Christine’s words: “thank you so much for creating such beautiful lingerie. Our anniversary is tomorrow - perfect timing!”

BUT WAIT there’s more... samples have been sent to the Oprah show and PR companies are working with other celebrities who are expecting... so stay tuned.

YOU can feel like a star yourself when you slip on a HOT Milk lingerie set.

View our full lingerie collection here: http://www.breastmates.co.nz/lingerie.htm

YES we send this hot milk lingerie worldwide. So if you are in USA or anywhere just order online and we can send the hot milk lingerie to you :-)

S.M.I.T.H syndrome

Do any other women suffer from SMITH Syndrome? Oh boy, we had a bad case of it our house yesterday.

SMITH syndrome stands for Sick Man In The House. You know how when a man is sick, the world is ending, he is in extreme pain and agony, he cant move, all he can do is sleep and watch tv? And wipe his little dribbley nose?

My husband came home from work yesterday sick. I think it was one of the first times he sees how much work I have to do in a day with Breastmates and looking after the kids. This doesnt include housework because I didnt do any yesterday. Or for quite a while in fact.

Soccer with Spiderman

Played soccer last night after tea with Angus. I love daylight savings and being able to play outside after dinner.

Just eat, and run outside. Leave the tidy up for when it is dark.

Angus was wearing his full spider man costume including the mask. He kicks the ball straighter than me! And he gets annoyed when I dont kick the ball directly to him - but that is an honest mistake on my part, I can never kick straight.

How much does baby drink?

When you are a breastfeeding mom, it is nearly impossible to tell how much milk baby is drinking from you. Baby will be latching and drinking, and you dont even see the milk.

This can make it really hard when you start expressing breast milk - to know how much milk baby will need for a feed, and how much milk to feed baby (and you don't want to waste any milk after you have gone to all that effort pumping it!!)

Based on a information specified on a baby formula tin, this is the volume of milk and number of feeds per day that they recommend. This will be the same for breastmilk, so I think it is fair to use this guide so you know how much expressed breast milk to give your baby.

Baby age:
1 week: 50mL feed for 6-7 times per day.
up to 2 weeks old: 100mL feed for 5-6 times per day.
up to 1 month old: 100mL feed for 6 times per day.
up to 2 months old: 150mL feed for 5 times per day.
up to 4 months old: 200mL feed for 5 times per day.
up to 6 months old: 200mL feed for 4-5 times per day
over 6 months: 200mL feed for 3-4 times per day.

This is a guide. your baby may need more or less than this.

I would also like to suggest that you view our website, we have other articles online which give you guidance on expressing, and storing breast milk. Go here: http://www.breastmates.co.nz/Articles_Breastfeeding_Nursing.html

Win a Prize pack worth $750!!!

Everyone who joins our newsletter will go in the draw to win an amazing breastfeeding gift pack valued at over $750.

We have this HUGE $750 prize, because this is the prize that we are offering for the Auckland Parent and Child Show (held during 31 October to 2 November).

People can enter this draw during the show, but we are also opening up the prize for people to enter online. Subscribing to our newsletter will enable you an entry for the draw.

This competition is also open to our existing email subscribers who are already receiving our
newsletters (you do not have to rejoin).

For more information on our prize, and to enter the competition go to : http://www.breastmates.co.nz/join_newsletter.html

Person Stalking Me

Hi to the person stalking and copying me, and my ideas, and my copyrighted text.

I'm waving!!

Hope you are well. I've got some new products in the pipeline, would you like me to tell you about them so that you can get them in too for your business?

Auckland Parent and Child Show

The Auckland Parent and Child show is being held during the last weekend of October 2008. 31st October to 2 November at the Auckland show grounds.

Breastmates will be having a stand there again this year. It really is a fantastic way to meet real customers in person, chat, and great exposure for our webstore.

I have two great friends that are going to help me. And my husband - though he has taken a bit of convincing. I really need his help though, its going to be the busiest weekend of my year. Thanks to Kelly and Anna!

My mum and dad are coming to stay aswell, they will be looking after my two children. So a lot of people to organize!

I have so much to do, the time is coming up fast. Posters, pamphlets, banners, eftpos, stall setup. The hardest thing is deciding stock numbers to take. I will get to this really soon Lisa!!

From my HUGE product range, I will just be taking the Hotmilk Pjs, Hotmilk Nighties and our Hemp breast pads to the show. Great specials for show only. Though if you mention you read this blog post I will give you the same price during October/November. I will also be taking sampels of everything else.

Plus I have a great prize hamper worth over $700. You can enter this prize at the show. OR you can also join up to our newsletter online and that will also enable you to enter. Join newsletter here http://www.breastmates.co.nz/join_newsletter.html

Come and see me during the show!

Or come and see me on my website http://www.breastmates.co.nz/

Ordering Online and Delivery Times

People often wonder how quickly their order will be processed when they order online at our breastfeeding supplies and maternity supplies store.

If we have the item in stock, if we receive your order and credit card payment before 2pm, then the order will be sent that day. The courier will deliver to your house overnight.

if the item is not in stock, we will email you to confirm your payment has been received, and also advise you on the expected delivery date.

If your order is received after 2pm, then it will be sent out the following day.

Within New Zealand delivery is overnight. If we are sending your order to an address outside of New Zealand we use Airmail delivery, and most orders would be received by the customer within 10 days depending on the country destination.

We will always email you back to confirm your order and that it has been sent.

Angelina Jolie Breastfeeding Picture

In the November issue of W magazine, photos taken by Brad Pitt show Angelina Jolie breastfeeding one of her newborn twins. You can hardly tell that Angelina is breast-feeding, apart from a tiny hand poking up. Angelina Jolie looks so calm and happy (and not at all tired!) this is the nicest photo I have seen of her. Its great that this is on the cover of W magazine and that the celebrity is promoting breastfeeding. Apparently its not quite so common in USA.

I wonder if she does tandem feeding for the twins? I wonder if they have an au pair to do the night feeds!

Breastfeeding Banned by Plunket

New Zealand Businesswoman Frances McInnes has been declined from displaying her breastfeeding posters at Plunket Family centres around New Zealand.

The poster that Mrs McInnes was hoping to display was that of a mother breastfeeding her newborn baby, and cradling him in her arms. The posters did have text promoting Mrs McInnes business known as “Breastmates” which is an online store specializing in breastfeeding products. The web address is http://www.breastmates.co.nz/

Frances was initially approached by a Plunket staff member who asked her to submit samples of promotional material which if accepted could then be distributed to nationwide centres. A Plunket Business Manager then wrote a letter declining Frances’ request to display her Breastmates company posters, stating that “our current policy is not to allow display of any materials related to breastfeeding.”

When asked how she felt about this decision, Mrs McInnes replied “At first I thought it was because they didn’t like the photo. Sure it might not be to everyone’s taste and most mothers I know don’t feed their baby when they are both naked -but it does clearly depict a breastfeeding mother and child in a gentle moment.”

Frances said that she could understand Plunket not wanting to promote any material related to bottle feeding and formula, as the World Health Organization code has very stringent conditions for marketing of infant formula products. However the Breastmates business that Frances operates does not sell any infant formula, the product range is entirely made up of products related to breastfeeding and breast milk such as breast pumps, breastfeeding clothing, maternity lingerie and breast pads.

Mrs McInnes admits that displaying her posters throughout Plunket would have been very good advertising for her website breastmates.co.nz, however suggests that the products and service she offers can help mothers to enjoy breastfeeding, and often breastfeed their baby for longer.

After making some enquiries, it turns out that the Plunket Business Manager does not want to display any marketing material related to any retail breastfeeding products, it is not solely due to Breastmates or the breastfeeding image used by Breastmates.

This week is Plunket’s annual fundraising appeal – but don’t expect your Plunket nurse to give you any advice when you need some special breastfeeding products or service.

Relactation

With the melamine contaminated infant baby formula from China last month, a lot of mothers are now choosing to breastfeed longer rather than weaning their baby onto formula. I have also heard that some mothers are researching into relactation or relactating to induce breastfeeding again.

Breastfeeding is the safest way to feed your baby.

Go the Boobie!!

View our full range of breastfeeding products at our webstore http://www.breastmates.co.nz

Cracked Nipples Sux

Getting cracked nipples is probably going to be the most painful thing you will have to endure when you start breastfeeding. (if you get them). Not all mothers get cracked nipples, but it is a very common occurence when you are first getting breast feeding established. The first few times that you breastfeed baby after your amazing birthing experience, are going to be crucial. The very first time you feed baby in the recovery ward - you will likely have no idea what to do, and you may not be able to feel much anyway depending on what pain relief you had during labour.

Try and only put baby on your breast when they have a full open mouth. The midwife will probably be 'shoving' your baby's head right up to your breast.

If it is not comfortable, break baby's mouth seal with your finger and try again.

Cracked nipples, crazed nipples, or sore nipples are so common.

I suggest you use Purelan nipple cream after every feed, so pack this in your hospital bag.

I know it sounds rude, but try and let the air circulate your nipples as that can help.

And work on your latching. Get a midwife to help you every time you latch baby to your breast when in the hospital.

If it still hurts 1 or 2 days when you get home, speak to your midwife or doctor.

Occassionally a baby may have trouble latching due to tongue tie - they cant lift up their tongue and get the sucking motion working as well. This can be cut by doctor.

If you still have very painful nipples (like with blood) you may want to look at getting some silicone nipple protectors. They go over your nipple while baby is sucking. Made from very thin silicone, and baby can still get the skin-to-skin contact with you. Though some midwives will not recommend these because they don't like anything that inhibits or restricts the amount of skin contact. But if these can reduce your pain and still help you to breastfeed then they are something that i would personally recommend!

Read more of our breastfeeding articles here: http://www.breastmates.co.nz/Articles_Breastfeeding_Nursing.html And visit our webstore here: http://www.breastmates.co.nz/

Winter Breastfeeding Tops available now

If you are in the Northern Hemisphere and going into the winter months, you may like to check out our winter styles of breastfeeding tops. These are made from a wonderfully soft bamboo fabric (I know it sounds crazy but this is the latest in new fabric technology!).

They are soft and warm, breathable, and feel like cashmere. Discrete openings for breastfeeding and super stylish too.

View more information about these breastfeeding tops and breastfeeding clothes online, and zoom in pictures etc. This is the page you need to visit:

http://www.breastmates.co.nz/Breastfeeding_Clothing_Winter.html

Or to view our full range of products at our web store go to : http://www.breastmates.co.nz/