Weleda Nursing Tea

Weleda Nursing Tea is a specialty tea for nursing mothers made with the finest ingredients. A nicely brewed cup of this tea should aid in your digestion and help soothe your baby’s tummy pains. The taste of the tea will be enjoyed by most, with its anise & fennel flavors.

I like that the ingredients are certified organic to give you and your baby only nature’s best ingredients. The ingredients include: fenugreek, anise, fennel, caraway and lemon verbena. Fenugreek helps to increase the milk supply. Anise seeds, fennel seeds and caraway give you and your baby good digestive functions. Lemon verbena is a popular ingredient in herbal teas to help your digestive system but it also helps you to de-stress. Together they make a fantastic blend to support your breastfeeding and give you relief with any digestion problems.

A note of caution: if you think you might be allergic to any of the above mentioned ingredients or are pregnant, it is always advisable to talk to your physician beforehand.

Overall, if you like herbal teas with a distinctive anise/fennel flavour, this tea is certainly worth its money. It tastes great and helps you and your baby feel good.

Weleda Nursing Tea is available on Amazon.com and in large natural health grocery stores.

Nursing a baby is a very rewarding and wonderful experience. Breastfeeding gives the baby the best start in life, but it also gives the baby and mother time to relax together and create a strong bond. If you are or have been a nursing mother, you also might have experienced certain breastfeeding issues, such as extremely tender and sore cracked nipples. This can be a very painful condition and can stop mothers from continuing to breastfeed their baby and instead rely on formula.

In my opinion, Heal Sore Nipples is a high quality product that is effective in healing painful nipples. It can be used safely by nursing mothers for a prolonged period of time. It is blend of essential and natural oils without any pesticides or other chemical fertilizers. You can also use it before symptoms appear as a precautionary measure to make nursing an enjoyable experience for both mother and baby.

Overall, I think this is a must-have nipple care product for nursing mothers.

Another benefit is that you have nothing to lose when buying the product as it comes with a 60 day unconditional money back guarantee.

Green to Grow baby bottles are made from PES plastic (polyethersulfone), a high-grade, BPA-free resin known for its exceptional durability.

Found to be less porous and less reactive than other materials, PES remains dimensionally stable over a wide range of temperatures, is resistant to most chemicals, and can withstand repeated sterilization.

With growing concern over polycarbonate plastic and the chemical BPA (a developmental, neurological, and reproductive toxicant), Green to Grow’s BPA-free baby bottles and gift sets are a safer feeding option, providing parents with peace of mind.

Green to Grow has generously offered to give away one of their bottles to a reader here!

Simply leave a comment, be sure to use a valid email address, and a winner will randomly be chosen on FRIDAY, AUGUST 21 at NOON Eastern time.

p.s. If you don’t win the giveaway, or if you do – and want more Green to Grow products, they are availabe on Amazon. Take a look at the Green to Grow Welcome Home Set

Review: Traditional Medicinal’s Organic Mother’s Milk

I received a box of Traditional Medicinal’s Organic Mother’s Milk when I first started to breastfeed and found that I truly enjoyed it right from the start. I prefer this over Yogi’s Nursing Mother’s tea as this one tastes lighter and smoother. Mother’s Milk is a caffeine-free, all organic blend of herbs and spices designed to promote lactation in breastfeeding mothers.

Traditional Medicinals Mother’s Milk, 16-Count Boxes

Anise is a spice that I have never enjoyed. The fact that Mother’s Milk seems to use less of it than Yogi’s nursing tea is a plus for me. What I taste when I drink Mother’s Milk is a sort of sweet, yet a little spicy blend of herbs. It tastes best with a touch of honey. It also contains the herbs of fennel, fenugreek seed and coriander, which are a nice combination for a healthy milk supply. The blend of spices smells delicious too.

The way I prefer to drink this tea is cold. I brew a pot of this overnight, chill and drink cold throughout the day. Since there is a tiny hint of spearmint in it, it can be refreshing. This way I am getting in several cups on a daily basis. During the winter months, a warm cup can be soothing for the body.

My milk production has been steady and plentiful throughout the years, perhaps due to drinking this tea. This is also one of my favorite gifts to give a pregnant mother who has planned to breastfeed or still deciding to do so. Having a low milk supply is worrisome for many women and having this tea helps reduce that worry. A box of 16 bags costs around $5.

See also: Yogi Women’s Nursing Support Tea review

Even though this is a manual pump and not an electrical one, it has been my favorite breast pump thus far. I use it for times when I’ll be away from baby for a night or during out of town trips away from baby where I’ll need to relieve the pressure and keep up my milk supply until I return. This pump costs around $25 and comes quite in handy for those who need a pump just some of the time rather than on a consistent basis.

I like how portable this pump is. There are three parts that must be assembled for each use. It is the base (with the breastshield), the handle and the bottle. The handle snaps right on top of the base and the bottle screws into the bottom to fill with milk. The breastshield is a soft, flexible plastic that fits over the breast. These can be unassembled and placed in a small travel bag which is easy for storage or for traveling.

The Medela manual pump is very easy to use and quite effective, too. I find that I can get more milk out with this than electrical brands. The handle has two methods of extracting the milk, called a 2-Phase Expression. One is to mimic the natural sucking that a baby does as soon as he latches on, which is rapid. The other has longer sucking strokes to mimic the natural rhythm of a baby as he drinks milk. The two of these are able to effectively extract the milk.

Medela Harmony Manual Breast Pump

Medela sells another manual breast pump that utilizes a long spring that attaches to the base, instead of the handle of the Harmony one. Be aware that this isn’t the same hand pump and this one actually works horribly and is not worth your money. The Harmony one, however, is the one I always recommend to other breastfeeding mothers who have tried various pumps and can’t seem to catch a break. They agree this one is easy to use and does work.

My Brest Friend

Reviewed by Esperanza

My Brest Friend is a breastfeeding support pillow that is wrapped around the mom’s waist while she nurses her baby. Additionally, it can also be used for another parent or family member to wear as they bottle feed the baby. The pillow helps support the baby against your body, at the right angle to your breast for both the football hold and the cradle hold.

It is not the same as the Boppy which is a rounder, U-shaped pillow that fits around the front of the waist. My Brest Friend does wrap around your waist, but it is flat on the top and bottom so that the baby is more stabilized and will not roll. It clips towards the back and is adjustable so the pillow will not fall off or move if you move. It also has an elbow wrist for you as the mother and a flat pillow in the back to support your back.

What drew me into the My Brest Friend pillow rather than the Boppy pillow is that it stays securely on you and has small pockets on the side for things like lanolin cream or breast pads when you need to grab one really quick. I ended up giving this away as my child grew older and would no longer fit between the pillow and my breast. I believe that My Brest Friend is not intended for larger breasted women as there is less room for baby.

My Brest Friend Nursing Support Pillow

My Brest Friend comes in a variety of colors and designs and retails for $40 in stores and online. Slipcovers are also available in many designs for $20 a piece.

Yogi’s Woman’s Nursing Support Tea

I’ve been a faithful user of Yogi’s breastfeeding tea for two years now. Although I was not having problems with producing enough milk, I used the tea to keep my supply healthy and plentiful. While the breastfeeding tea is mainly for lactation purposes, it also is helpful for easing cramps when your uterus is returning to its original size after giving birth.

Yogi Tea Healing Formula, Woman’s Nursing Support Tea Bags

When I first started taking this tea, I wasn’t fond of the taste, mainly the anise seed in it. Over time, I became customized to it with a spoonful of honey. The chamomile in the tea is similar to the taste of green tea and helps calm the body. The anise seed and other spices gives it a mild spicy taste in addition to the green tea taste. Fenugreek is an ingredient used that helps promote lactation. I especially like the fact that it is made from all organic ingredients.

While the box indicates to drink three cups of this tea a day, I tend to only drink one per day and have seen positive results. For two years now, I’ve had a healthy supply of milk for my son. It has also been helpful for keeping up milk supply when away from home and returning to breastfeeding as normal with the same amount of milk as before.

Although the Yogi brand is sold in most grocery stores in the tea section or organic foods section, the breastfeeding variety is not so easy to find. I have been able to find this tea at Whole Foods and Amazon. A box is sold for $4.99 for 16 bags. If you follow the recommended use of three cups a day you will run out of this box in a week’s time. If your milk supply is at a healthy rate, I recommend one cup a day instead.

Review submitted by Esper

Nursing pads really came in handy for me when I first started breastfeeding. I would leak milk on a consistent basis and wanted to keep my clothing dry. I found that I was going through the disposable pads at several pads per day. This became an expensive habit so I decided to switch to washable nursing pads instead. Here are the pros and cons I found with washable vs. disposable nursing pads.

Pros of Avent washable pads:

-I saved a lot of money by being able to just toss these in the wash with my son’s clothes during laundry day and reuse them afterward.

-These are very absorbent. So absorbent, in fact that I would need to change the pads out less often than I did the disposable kind.

-They keep moisture away from your skin. I remember touching the pad and wondered if I was leaking at all since the pads felt so dry. I thought maybe I had stopped leaking all together until I switched back to disposable pads temporarily and saw that I still leaked. The conclusion I came up with is that those Avent pads must be doing a great job!

-A box of these costs about the same as a box of disposable ones, however, these come with much less.

Disadvantages:

-There are only 6 pairs in a box. I found that I had to do the baby’s laundry more often just so I could have some clean pads available. If your budget allows, buy two or more boxes.

-These are smaller than disposables and found myself leaking around the pad since they didn’t cover enough area. However, this could also be due to the fact that I have a larger breast size as well.

-Although they are made of cotton, they are not nearly as soft as the disposable pads. These are a big rougher and thicker in nature. It doesn’t hurt but I did miss the softness of the disposables.

-Since the Avent ones are thicker and heavier, they did not stay in place in my bra as well as the light disposable ones.

The Conclusion:

I had to go back to disposable pads. Although I really liked the absorbency and cost-efficiency of the Avent washable brand, I just really missed the larger disposable pads from Johnson & Johnson. I had got tired of leaking around the Avent pad and needed more coverage.

Philips Avent Washable Nursing Pads 6 Count

When I came across this product recently online, I thought – wow, what a practical item for nursing moms!

It solves the problem of the “cold tummy” in the wintertime when you have to lift your shirt to nurse the baby.

It dramatically expands your wardrobe – potentially even eliminating the need for nursing shirts at all. Great for the budget!

Modest Middles is a uniquely shaped tank top that gives moms the ability to nurse discreetly and comfortably, and keep their belly, back and sides covered.

It’s a patented u-shape design (it starts under the bra), made of modal/spandex and can be worn under any shirt (tucked in or layered.)

A nice side benefit is that it offers a slimming effect – great for new moms who don’t want to wear maternity clothes but who aren’t quite back to their pre-pregnancy weight.

Modest Middles are available in black, white and nude. You can see Modest Middles in action in this picture:

Modest Middles has graciously offered a giveaway to a reader.

Just leave a comment below, and be sure to include a valid email address in the email field so I can contact you if you win.

On Tuesday, July 21st at Noon Eastern Time, one winner will randomly be chosen.

Thanks for participating!

Udder Covers (Nursing Cover-up)

Submitted by Esper

I’ve never been the type of breastfeeding mother to cover up while nursing, but since Udder Covers was having a promotion at a great price awhile back, I couldn’t pass it up. Udder Covers is a nursing cover that goes over baby as he nurses. It has a strap that loops around your neck and is adjustable. It comes in a variety of beautiful designs and colors. The promotion at the time was for either blue or pink, so I chose a simple baby blue cover.

The cover is made up of a lightweight and breathable cotton material. It is large enough to cover baby as he eats, but still not large enough to cover a moving toddler, such as my own. What I like about it is that it is not hot at all and still gives me the option of covering up, if I really needed to. However, I find it can actually attract more attention to use it as I have a moving toddler underneath, so this would work better for someone with an infant instead.

My favorite part is the boning in the neck area that allows you to see baby as you nurse. In the beginning, when I would occasionally use a blanket to cover up, it was both hot and covered baby’s face. I didn’t like that I couldn’t see him. The boning on my Udder Covers nursing cover is shaped in a V shape and stays open to view baby as he nurses. My son calls it his tent and actually enjoys nursing under it.

I would recommend this for new mothers who want a little discreetness as they nurse, but want to remain cool while doing so and have the option of still seeing their baby underneath. I also recommend looking on their homepage to find out about any promotional codes to save you some money on your purchase.

Go to Udder Cover’s website to see fabric options!