Support La Leche League Canada

On December 6th and 7th, milkface will be donating 15% of all profits to La Leche League Canada. Plan your purchases now and come back to support my favourite organization!

Breasts on a Plane

More on the nursing on a plane story - Read this great article (possibly best title ever!)

Celebrity moms in Bravado...

Since Us Weekly is my guilty pleasure, I was tickled to see this piece on one of my favourite manufacturers Bravado Designs in Celebrity Baby Blog. I knew about Britney Spears being a fan of the Original Nursing Bra (dubious distinction?! hard to say these days as she reinvents herself!) since the woman practically wears the bra *outside* of her clothing but I hadn't heard the SJP was a fan. Angelina Jolie is reportedly a wearer of the Essential Nursing Bra Tank (in black, natch) while Jennifer Garner prefers the Lifestyle Bra (wonder if she has the Hot Pink?). Just a few random celeb tidbits for the weekend...

Milkface Mom of the Month

Here's our lastest blog feature - each month we're talking to one mom out there to find out a little bit more about her :)

FYI, Stephanie is wearing 2 great Boob tops in these pictures - the Boob Warmer above and the Boob Nursing Tunic on the left.

Name – Stephanie

City – Toronto

Kids – One son who is, as he says, “pushing two”.

Job – I’m a SAHM, but I dabble in writing when the opportunity arises.

Best baby/kid product and why – A carrier, of course! And not just one… we use wraps, mei tais, ring slings and more with our little guy. As he goes through different stages, we discover new uses for all of them.

Favourite thing purchased from milkface and why – That’s a tie between all the awesome Boob tops I’ve got and our well-loved Ergo. The tops because I’ve got a VERY frequent nurser (yes, still!) and I love the fact that I don’t have to hike up a bulky top. Instead, Boob offers gorgeous, stylish tops that keep me covered and don’t get in the way while my son nurses. And the Ergo because, well, we’ve used it almost every day since my son was about six months old and I just can’t imagine what we’d do without it!

Favourite quick dinner – A trip around the block to my parents’ house!

Links you love –
http://www.thebabywearer.com/
http://www.craigslist.org/
http://www.celebrity-babies.com/ (my guilty pleasure!)

Best mom tip – Never underestimate a child's intelligence, understanding, and importance. Read to a newborn. Converse with a six month old. Brainstorm with a one year old. Defer to a toddler. If there's one thing I've learned in my brief time as a mom, it's that my son often knows a heck of a lot more than I do. (Some days, though, it's just a little harder to remember!)

Favourite way to relax – Curled up on the couch reading… to myself or to my little bibliophile boy.

Favourite game to play with the kids – It changes constantly because my son is at the stage where he’s always inventing something new. Right now I love our tea parties (with lots of pretend salt and pepper shaken into the tea, of course) and when my son breaks into a spontaneous verse of the Hokey Pokey.

Favourite thing to do on a rainy day with kids – A visit to the local train store is a great way to pass some time – there’s the fun of the splashy puddles on the way and the added bonus of train tables when we get there!

Trust Mothering...

I shouldn't be surprised to see that Mothering magazine (and it's online site - www.mothering.com) has ongoing coverage including this interview with the mom in question. It's interesting to read about the crew's response to the incident which includes an apology but not a reversal of the flight attendant's decision.

Baby Show and more on flight attendant

Well, spent the better part of the day at the Wee Welcome Mini Baby Show at Dovercourt. Unfortunately, mini was not only indicitive of the number of vendors - there was a seriously "mini" amount of attendees as well! It was very disappointing in that respect. I did enjoy spending time with the other vendors and meeting some that have brand new businesses related to babies/pregnancy/postpartum. I got in some serious hanging out time with my friend Cheryl (and her husband and their kids!) of Tickled Pink Designs. I carry her great nursing necklaces but she's branching out into more grown up looking stuff, including this amazing red necklace I got from her today. I felt very pulled together with my fancy red necklace - nothing like jewelery to make me feel not so momish!

Today I also met the very cool Dale from Wit Knits. Her t-shirts feature brainbuilding designs for your baby - seriously, check them out. I think I may need one even though my kids are past the baby stage! Another brand new business is LivALittle - t-shirts for kids with serious food allergies. Susan has t-shirts with slogans to ensure that kids who can't always speak for themselves get their food allergies acknowledged - very clever! Finally I chatted with Lisa of Stork Baby Boutique who lives around the corner from me and who has great giftable baby items - perfect for when you want to be the original one at a baby shower.

There's been some follow up in the media on the story we discussed a few days ago (see How much does this suck?!). Apparently the flight attendant in question has been disciplined. What this means nobody really knows - though this release from a company spokesman is quite promising - especially the part about this incident being used to ensure proper training with all frontline employees.

How much does this suck?!

Woman kicked off plane for breast-feeding baby
Files complaint saying she was being discreet, airline disagrees

BURLINGTON, Vt. - A woman who claims she was kicked off an airplane because she was breast-feeding her baby has filed a complaint against two airlines, her attorney said.

Full story here.

The airline spokesperson graciously notes that women have the right to breastfeed in public "providing she is feeding the child in a discreet way." Ummm, the law doesn't work that way. Though admittedly the laws protecting breastfeeding in the States are not as consistent as those in Canada (yay Canada!) I guarantee you that not one of them mentions that a blanket is necessary! I'm sure the mom was trying to be discreet but really, that's not the point. The word discreet does not even belong in a discussion on breastfeeding in public - who comes up with the definition of discreet? What is discreet to me is not to you. What is discreet to a mom nursing twins (yes, I've been there!) is not to a mom of a singleton who likes to cover up with a blanket. The right to breastfeed is just that - a right to breastfeed, there are no "only if" or "as long as" that accompany that right. If we get into that, we get on a slippery slope where others (and if we're talking lawmakers, we're usually talking older white men) define our breastfeeding relationship with our children and the where and the when and the how. And that should be a problem for all women, not just lactating ones.

Jennifer Garner is awesome!

I have long loved Jennifer Garner as an actress (Alias is one of my all time favourite shows!) and she's always seemed so nice and normal. This little blurb about her post-baby weight loss attitude proves me right!

Garner Is a Healthy Mom
Former "Alias" actress Jennifer Garner says she slimmed down after childbirth by breastfeeding, not crash-dieting.
Garner, who is married to Hollywood heartthrob Ben Affleck, gave birth to Violet in December last year.
The 34-year-old says, "(I lost weight) breastfeeding! That and a moderate exercise and eating plan with the help of my personal trainer.
"I wasn't about to jump on the celebrity mom bandwagon of getting super-skinny, super-quickly.
"I am more concerned about keeping healthy and spending time with Violet than anything else."

From the San Francisco Chronicle

International Breastfeeding Icon Launched

How great is this?! Mothering magazine recently had a contest to choose an icon to be used internationally to indicate breastfeeding. This awesome graphic, designed by the dad of a breastfed baby was chosen as the winner and is available for use (copyright-free!) in the public domain.

From the press release:

The purpose of an international symbol for breastfeeding is to increase public awareness of breastfeeding, to provide an alternative to the use of a baby bottle image to designate baby friendly areas in public, and to mark breastfeeding friendly facilities.
Of course, breastfeeding does not require a special place and is appropriate—as the Canadian government's slogan says—"anytime, anywhere." The purpose of the symbol is not to segregate breastfeeding, but to help integrate it into society by better accommodating it in public.

Read more here. Thanks to Mothering for spearheading this international venture. Here's to having the Breastfeeding icon become a common site!