Celebrating Breastfeeding Christmas Extravaganza GIVEAWAY!

As Christmas approaches we want to help you celebrate reaching your own amazing breastfeeding goals with a fabulous festive giveaway!

Our brilliant bloggers and super sponsors are back with prizes worth over £300 in total!

The Sponsors and Prizes

A copy of Mummy Makes Milk, the new picture book by Helen McGonigal and Hilda Kripp-Partridge which explains breastfeeding through enchanting text and beautiful illustrations.

A nursing dress of your choice from More4Mums who specialise in fabulous, affordable nursing wear for pregnancy and beyond!

An ARDO Calypso Double Plus breastpump, the quietest breast pump on the market and winner of the Mumsnet Best Award for the last 3 years.

A Loveyush Snood infinity scarf. This versatile scarf can also be used as a breastfeeding cover and even as a cardigan!

A set of three gorgeous dribble bibs from Milk and Mummy, an online boutique selling maternity and nursing wear as well as other mummy must-haves!

A beautiful, portable breastfeeding pillow from Thrupenny Bits. When your breastfeeding journey comes to an end these fab pillows convert into a gorgeous bag!

A duo top set from breastvest which turn any top into a breastfeeding top so you don't need to worry about exposing your tummy while feeding and can keep wearing your favourite clothes!

A box of 14 lactation cookies from Mothers Love Cookies, a fabulous home bakery selling delicious cookies, brownies and flapjacks for nursing mothers.

The Bloggers and Blogs

Quite Frankly She Said

Life With Baby Kicks

Three Sons Later

Hi Baby Blog

Family Fever

My Mummy's World

Another Bun

Mum In A Nutshell

Adventures Of A Novice Mum

Live Oxfordshire

A Working Mum's Blog

Milk and Mummy

My Thoughts On Things

Mummies Waiting

Our Seaside Baby

My Little L

Can I Breastfeed In It?
Thrupenny Bits
Musings From A Northern Village
Mum Without Wheels

How to Enter

Complete one or more of the entries on the Rafflecopter widget below.

Our bloggers have written special Christmas-themed breastfeeding-related blog posts and at the end of each post is a CODE WORD which you simply enter in the Rafflecopter widget below. The more you find, the more chances you'll have to win one of these fantastic prizes!

You can also gain entries by visiting the Facebook pages of the bloggers and sponsors and following them on Twitter and by tweeting a message! The more entries you complete, the more chances you'll have of winning!

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This giveaway is open to UK residents aged 18 or over. The giveaway is being hosted over several blogs as listed above. The prizes available are listed above. There will be multiple winners winning one prize each. The giveaway is open from 01/12/2015-14/12/2015. The winners will be contacted by email within 10 days of the giveaway ending and will have 28 days to claim their prize. Your details will not be used for any purpose other than to arrange for delivery of the prize if you win. The prizes will be shipped directly by the sponsors.

How You Know You're A Breastfeeder

Breastfeeding.  Do you ever wonder if the woman you pass in the street is a breastfeeder?  I mean of course she should be waving a large sign above her head and be walking round getting her boobs out at every opportunity.  Do you ever wonder if people can tell you are a breastfeeder (when you've put your sign away)?  

Here's a handy little guide that might help...

1.  Constant fidgeting with your bra

Be it that she forget to clip up her nursing bra and its flapping in the wind or that her breast pads need adjusting yet again you can be rest assured that there will be fidgeting of some description.

2.  Unidentifiable stained clothes

Ahhh those early (and not so early days in some cases) days of feeding when if the baby cried, you leaked, if the baby didn't cry, you leaked, pretty much whatever happened you leaked.

3.  Wearing a standard uniform of lycra, or buttons or zips, anything for easy access really

Because when the baby wants feeding he wants feeding now, the quicker your access the better.  And despite what some people may think most breastfeeders don't want to get naked in public.

4. Snacks, snacks, snacks....

Constantly munching because of the breastfeeding munchies.  And lots of cake.  Cake makes sleepless nights seem much better.  Besides breastfeeding burns an extra 500 calories  (*not sure where it's being burnt as my jeans still don't fit?  Maybe it's time to put down the cake....) 

5.  Ginormous cotton bras

Gone are the pretty lacy affairs that used to reside in my underwear drawer (much to my husbands delight) lacy, underwired, pale pastel, racy red, black numbers.  Wisps of lace that my breastfeeding boobs LAUGH at the sight of.  That my breastfeeding boobs have no hope in fitting in after my milk has come in.  And are also no good for easy access for the baby.  So bye bye lace things of beauty and hello giant cotton bras with wide straps and clips.

Don't worry lace, it won't be forever

6.  Your boobs change

Now OK, unless you are particularly close to someone you aren't going to be able to tell this just from walking down the street and looking at someone.  But your boobs change.  From mass "pammy" boobs when your milk comes in - and note this is no good for anyone because the second someone comes near you you are likely to spray them in the eye with milk - and your nipples become ginormous.  Not sure why.  Maybe the constant sucking??

What are your top signs?

World Breastfeeding Week - End of Breastfeeding

Thanks for hopping over from A Baby On Board and welcome to our post for the Keep Britain Breastfeeding Scavenger Hunt Day 5 Extended Breastfeeding we have over £700 worth of breastfeeding and baby goodies up for grabs including prizes from More4Mums providing a set of 'Hot Milk' Lingerie, a signed hardback limited edition copy of Milky Moments and a £30 voucher from Milk Chic.  Full details of the Grand Prize can be found here and all entries to be completed via the Rafflecopter at the bottom of this post. 

As a collaborative blog, with over a decade of experience, we are all at and have been at different stages, so we thought we would take a leaf from our very own Georgina over at Kohl Mama and put it into words that rhyme. 

A Breastfeeding Journey

4 weeks it's all still new
It's amazing what mummy's milk can do
Watching as you drift to sleep
Cluster feeding as you approach a leap
I still feel we're on a cloud
As mummy's milk is doing me proud

Cluster feeding was the worst
I felt my boobs were fit to burst
But you started to wake once in the night
At the end of the tunnel there was definite light

Three months is when the fun began,
3 months old you found your hands,
Now you look, you smile and giggle,
You grab to feed, then squirm and wriggle

6 months comes, a hand briefly round my finger
At my breast you no longer linger
Lots of things for you to see around,
Peace and quiet is no longer found
A cheeky smile, a flash of teeth
I run my finger along your cheek

At 10 months old you need me less
You eat so much food, and make such a mess
So I cherish these sweet milky moments in time
When it's just you and me, just me and mine

They say milk past one is just for fun
You have all you need but you still want mum
In the night just you and me
Always my baby, my VIP

Look at you growing fast
Those infant days are in the past
Now you request milk with words
It really doesn't seem so absurd
To feed you until the day does come
When your final drink from mum is done

Now it's over, I'm a little bit sad
But its etched in our hearts the time we had 


For more on how the journey ended please hop on over Princess Poet Blog where you can gain further entries into the grand prize draw. Full terms and conditions can be found on the Keeping Britain Breastfeeding website. UK residents only. 

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World Breastfeeding Week - Breastfeeding Support

Thanks for hopping over from Lycrawidow and welcome to my post for the Keep Britain Breastfeeding Scavenger Hunt Day 6 The People Behind The Breastfeeder; sponsors today include ARDO Breastpumps who are giving away a Calypso Single Breastpump, Breastvest who are offering an essential breastvest duo (1x black and 1x white) in your size and Mother Loves Cookies who are providing a box of delicious lactation cookies for our Grand Prize winner. Over £700 worth of goodies are up for grabs entries via the Rafflecopter at the bottom of this post. 

A Novice Mum's Biggest Supporter - her husband

"As an close observer of my wife's breastfeeding journey, it is incredible to see how far she has come from the painful and tearful early weeks. She now breastfeeds with a confidence I would have found hard to believe if someone had told me in the first few months of our son's life. I remember telling her to give up trying, and to feed him formula because I found it difficult to watch her try again and again to get the "latch", and other such things right. She confidently feeds today, and seeks to encourage breastfeeding mothers, no mean feat."

Sadies Biggest Supporter - her husband

"I asked my husband for a quote and he said, never eat yellow snow, after kicking him he said;I was really pleased that my wife was able to breastfeed. I was always told that "breast was best", and I want the best for my kids. There was also the added bonus that I hardly ever had to get up in the early hours to feed them, as we rarely had formula and bottles in the house." 

Laura's Biggest Supporter - her husband

"I am of the opinion that the child will end up the same regardless of breast or formula fed but I am supportive on that what you think is best for our children is what's right for us as a family and I will support you 110% on this. And I don't like night feeds so thats a bonus. Hashtag-plus-its-cheaper"

Georgina - The peer supporter who saved our breastfeeding journey!

My daughter was 4 days old when we trundled into the nearest baby café desperate for some kind of support, anything really, you know what it's like with the day 4 hormones sending you into a whirlpool of emotions. Nipples were throbbing, breasts were swollen and engorged and my daughter kept slipping off once latched. I remember crying as everything was so over whelming and everyone was so kind! The lady, who I'll refer to as A was running the support group and came over to speak to me, listened as I cried, showed me different positions to feed and gently suggested I attend the next La Leche League meeting as she thought E might have had a tongue tie (she did have a posterior tongue tie in the end). If I hadn't gone to that group on that morning and encountered that peer supporter I honestly think I wouldn't have continued breastfeeding. A was one of the main reasons I trained as a peer supporter myself. So I could help change the path of someone else's breastfeeding journey.

Another Bun - training as a peer supporter

After what was a difficult start, I enjoyed every moment of nursing my first baby. It was seeing the lack of support available and knowing the difference that good support can make to a breastfeeding journey that inspired me to train as a peer supporter. Being unable to commit to weekend training through my local NHS trust, I decided to train with the Association of Breastfeeding Mothers through their distance learning course. It was a real learning curve, and I was delighted to learn I had passed late last year. Even with my training, helping at a breastfeeding group, and having fed my first baby till 18 months, I still needed to call upon the support of a breastfeeding counsellor when my second baby arrived. Her reassurance was just what I needed, and made me realised I want to be able to broaden my expertise. Hopefully I will soon be starting on the breastfeeding counsellor course myself - it's a long slog (2 years) but it will be worth it!

Sian - Becoming a Peer Supporter 

I really struggled to breastfeed my first baby and if I hadn't have had support from the Infant Feeding Coordinators while I was in hospital I probably wouldn't have breastfed at all. I realised how crucial this support is, yet how hard it is for some mothers to access the help they need, so I trained as a breastfeeding peer supporter. I now get to pay forward the support I received by helping other mothers to breastfeed their babies too. 

For more on the people behind the breastfeeder please hop on over Life with Baby Kicks "My Husband is My Biggest Fan" where you can also gain further entries into the grand prize draw. Full terms and conditions can be found on the Keeping Britain Breastfeeding website. UK residents only. 

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World Breastfeeding Week - Extended Breastfeeding 5 Things Not to Say to a Natural-Term Feeding Mama

Thanks for hopping over from My Little L and welcome to my post for the Keep Britain Breastfeeding Scavenger Hunt Day 5 Extended Breastfeeding we have over £700 worth of breastfeeding and baby goodies up for grabs including prizes from More4Mums providing a set of 'Hot Milk' Lingerie, a signed hardback limited edition copy of Milky Moments and a £30 voucher from Milk Chic.  Full details of the Grand Prize can be found here and all entries to be completed via the Rafflecopter at the bottom of this post. 

5 Things Not to Say to a Full-term Feeding Mama

1. "That baby will be breastfeeding 'til 5!"

If we had a £1 for each time we heard this one we wouldn't need to enter the lottery every Saturday. What we really want to reply with is: "And?" by allowing our children to self-wean it might just mean that they are breastfeeding until 5, which is quite the norm outside of western society.

2. "Don't the teeth hurt?"

Really? Do you think we'd still be doing it if baby didn't know how to suck without biting? The last time you drank out of a straw did you bite it in half? Exactly. Rant over.

Teeth - ouch?  Nope!

3. "Shouldn't your baby be, like, eating now?"

Oh - I did wonder! Maybe that's why she keeps stealing food off my plate. *Face palm*

Melon and milk

4. "If you stop feeding, baby will start to sleep through the night"

Possibly our favourite. Now, is it the 2am or 3am feed we love the most - no wait, it's the 4am! If only it was as simple as just saying "no" to a hungry baby in the small hours.

5. "Once they can ask for it - you need to stop"

New born babies will root around, suck their fingers, lick their lips - asking for milk. What's the difference between verbal and non-verbal communication in dependents, again?

For more extended breastfeeding experiences please hop on over to our very own Kohl Mama where you can gain further entries into the grand prize draw. Full terms and conditions can be found on the Keeping Britain Breastfeeding website. UK residents only. 

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World Breastfeeding Week - Working and Feeding

Thanks for hopping over from Milk and Mummy and welcome to our post for the Keep Britain Breastfeeding Scavenger Hunt Day 4 Working and Breastfeeding sponsors today include Feed Me Mummy with a black and white vest combo, Thrupenny Bits who are offering a cute cord in blue breastfeeding cushion and Kids Bee Happy who are offering your choice of sand art picture for our Grand Prize winner. Over £700 worth of goodies are up for grabs entries via the Rafflecopter at the bottom of this post.

Returning to work outside of the home after maternity leave is a very emotional time. How will the baby you've nurtured so closely ; nursed to sleep and kept next to your heart for the past weeks, months or perhaps years, survive without you?

Will you need to express? Will work provide a clean, private environment in which to do so? If you don't express will your milk supply dwindle? Hear some of our breastfeeding bloggers who have been through a returning to work and breastfeeding process talk about their experiences.

Georgina

"When I returned to work when my son was 13 months old I didn't have to worry about the breastfeeding side of things at an already very difficult time. So when it came to thinking about a return to work with my daughter I was naturally really anxious about how she was going to cope as I very much practice mothering through breastfeeding. I was reassured by parents with similar parenting values to my own that my daughter would find new ways to cope without me, she would find a different way to fall asleep for nap times and she would discover comfort from other sources. I had the mindset that if I needed to express, I would, and had already discussed it with my line manager. 

We chose the same nursery as her big brother, a reassurance of its own knowing there would be a family member in the same building. We were really happy knowing that she would be cuddled to sleep if necessary and not left to cry (do some nurseries even do that?!) and she could have as many hugs as she wanted. When it came to her visits, she didn't even look back at me and I remember thinking "I've been worrying about this moment since your birth and I'm standing here welling up and you're not even going to wave to me?!" and that was that. She found new ways to fall asleep, ate like a trooper,  entertained everyone with silly faces and noises. I never did need to express, but that was personal preference. She isn't just coping at nursery, she's thriving."

Jenny

"I am a bat worker and so only work nights occasionally when I get a phone call.  As it's at night my little one is asleep and I can work.  However, one of my favourite working and breastfeeding moments has to be when I attended an all day bat worker conference with my then 4 month old.  There were various talks and workshops scheduled throughout the day, I managed to go to them all, aside a short break to change an explosive nappy!!  He was great, whenever he started to fuss I popped him on my breast and he fed until he was happy or asleep.  It worked out really well and not a hinderance to my conference experience at all."

Sian

"When my eldest was 11 months old I started working part-time, at the weekends. I was worried about how my son would cope without a feed during the day, but he was absolutely fine. He rejected expressed milk and simply waited until I returned home. He would then have a really long feed, which was lovely way to reconnect after being apart the whole day. 

I only worked at the weekends and during the week my son would breastfeed as usual. My milk supply wasn't affected either way - I still made enough during the week and didn't have an oversupply on the days I worked. Clever boobies!"

aNoviceMum

I was concerned about how breastfeeding will work with my return to work after maternity leave. I had hoped, prayed, and worked with steel determination to make breastfeeding work for us, and going back to my job felt like a threat to this. Even then, I decided to go back for the start of the school term. 

I made sure I read up on my legal rights before going to negotiate my return. Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned and I returned to my maternity leave to give my baby and I more time. In the end, I found a way to make it work for my employer and I. I was able to return home to feed my toddler at lunch times and this worked with our breastfeeding relationship. 

It's challenging, because I'm not able to do certain things at work like before, but my family's wellbeing is of upmost important to me. 

It's been interesting going back to the days of feeling really full to bursting point. This however, only happens during the week when I'm at work. As some mums in my breastfeeding group told me beforehand, my body has adjusted to the changes in our feeding times. Incredible, isn't it.

For more posts on working while breastfeeding experiences please hop on over Fit for Parenting where you can gain further entries into the grand prize draw. Full terms and conditions can be found on the Keeping Britain Breastfeeding website. UK residents only. 

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World Breastfeeding Week - Dress to Impress

Thanks for hopping over from Life with Baby Kicks and welcome to my post for the Keep Britain Breastfeeding Scavenger Hunt Day 3 Dress to Impress sponsors today include Milk and Mummy with a £50 voucher, Lorna Drew Maternity who are offering a beautiful set of nursing lingerie and Mummy Makes Milk who is offering a signed copy of her beautiful book for our Grand Prize winner. Over £700 worth of goodies are up for grabs entries via the Rafflecopter at the bottom of this post. 

Dressing while breastfeeding can often seem like you aren't able to follow the latest fashion trends and that you fall into the stretchy clothes only, frumpy mum look (leggings and Ugg boots anyone?!) Here, Georgina from Kohl Mama shares some of her tips on finding outfits that work around breastfeeding that won't break the bank.

Think outside the box when it comes to breastfeeding in warmer weather. Look for maxi dresses that have a double layer on the top half. This striped Maxi cost me £18 in the Monsoon sale - a fraction of the price of breastfeeding-specific clothes!  The top layer lifts up and the under layer is stretchy enough to pull down and unclasp my bra. You can also cut holes in the bottom layer - et voila!

Just after my second was born I bought 4 H&M nursing vests (right -£19.99) and it was money well spent because eighteen months later, they're still in good nick. The fact that they cover my midriff and back mean that I can then wear whatever I want and just feed by pulling up the top layer. 

Tops with buttons are also really practical for easy access! 

If you like the look of a longer skirt but can't find a maxi dress that you can feed in, opt for a maxi skirt. I love to team mine with a denim shirt tied at the bottom. A long pendant adds a bit of  bohemian glamour and doubles as a good fiddle 'toy' while baby is feeding!

If you want more breastfeeding outfit ideas - follow me on Instagram; every outfit I wear has to be 'feedable' <3 what are you top tips for finding breastfeeding-friendly clothes?

You can find some more ideas on Breastfeeding Fashion over on Unique and Chic with another chance to gain some extra entry points to our grand prize giveaway.

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