bottle-feeding

Teaching My Baby to Take a Bottle with 3 Simple Techniques-Giveaway

November 30, 2017 by Kathryn 17 Comments

Disclosure: I am part of the PTPA Brand Ambassador Program with Philips Avent and I received Compensation as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions on this blog are my own.

Shortly after Baby Cormac was born, my husband and I began preparing for our first night out without our little one. We have season tickets to the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra and the concert on November 18 featured Tanya Tagaq, a performance I knew that I had to see. So, I used my Philips Avent Comfort Manual Pump to stock up on milk and got my Philips Avent Natural Bottles ready for our baby.

When the big day rolled around, I saddled my sister with instructions and headed out the door feeling excited, but apprehensive. My husband had tried to get Baby Cormac to take a bottle a few weeks ago when I was running errands, and our little darling hadn’t been very enthusiastic about it. But my sister, in addition to having three girls of her own, is also a nurse. I was confident that her skills combined with our Philips Avent Natural bottles would keep our baby fed.

Imagine my surprise when I got home and learned that my baby had slept the entire three hours we were away! My sister and I were both a little disappointed that she hadn’t been able to try feeding him, but I decided that to make our next excursion easier, I would start trying to give Baby Cormac a bottle a little more often. And these are the three techniques I’ve been using to increase my chances of success! [Read more…]

Challenges and Solutions Using Bottles After Long-Term Breastfeeding #MomTrust

April 2, 2014 by Kathryn 2 Comments

When I gave birth to my oldest son, I was determined to breastfeed right from the beginning. My mom had breastfed all five of her children, sometimes for quite extended periods, and I didn’t even really consider not doing the same. I think I assumed it would be easy because it always looked so easy for her, so when I started breastfeeding and my nipples ended up cracked and bleeding, I was upset and confused. About two days after returning home from the hospital, I even considered giving up altogether. But I didn’t. I stuck it out and within about a month, breastfeeding was as natural as breathing to me.

Even so, a time came when my boys used bottles as well. At about one year of age, I would give my children whole milk in a bottle during the day or with meals as I gradually reduced their number of feedings. And I learned very quickly that finding the right bottle was HARD! Most of the bottles I owned had been designed for much younger babies, though I didn’t realize that at the time, and that meant that my boys simply weren’t getting milk quickly or easily enough. They had a tendency to chew on the nipples of the bottles to make the milk flow faster, which of course completely destroyed the nipples fairly quickly. [Read more…]

Find the Perfect Feeding System for Your Baby with the New Playtex Bottle & Nipple Gift Set and Nipple Variety Pack-Giveaway #MomTrust

March 14, 2014 by Kathryn 43 Comments

I love being a mother and it’s something I’ve embraced since I learned I was pregnant eight years ago. My emotions after having my first son were mostly of wonder, happiness and love, but in the coming weeks another emotion started to creep into my days…confusion. When it comes to taking care of a baby, parents have a plethora of choices. That’s a good thing, but it can also make life more confusing for a new mother! Bottles are the perfect example. From different bottle designs to different nipples that provide certain benefits and flow rates, how is a mother to know which bottle is best for her little one? Babies can be picky and so even after making a choice, many parents find that their little ones reject the bottle or nipple that’s been purchased and favour a different one.

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Sterilizing Is Easy with the Playtex SmartSteam 3 in 1 Microwave Sterilizer #MomTrust

February 10, 2014 by Kathryn 42 Comments

If there was one simple task as a parent that I always struggled with, it was sterilizing bottles. I remember how dedicated my mom was about the process when I was a child; she would boil a big pot of water and drop the bottles and nipples into it to ensure that they were safe. It was time-consuming and took a fair bit of work.

Since I breastfed my boys, I didn’t use bottles too often, but there were still times that my babies used a bottle every so often, and after one or two attempts at sterilizing the equipment, I ended up giving up in frustration. Our town’s hard water actually wrecked a few of the bottles by coating them with residue and the entire process was difficult and messy.

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Let Philips AVENT Soothe Your Little One With the Natural Essentials Set-Giveaway

August 26, 2013 by Brenna 69 Comments

I am always on the lookout for the best products for my baby and Philips AVENT has such a great assortment of high-quality and effective breast pumps, bottles and other feeding products that it’s always been one of my favourite brands. That’s why I was delighted to be recently chosen as a Philips AVENT Mom. I’ll be featuring a few reviews of new products from the company over the coming months and sharing my thoughts, as well as offering some great giveaways for you! The first item I received to review was the AVENT Natural Essentials set. This convenient set has everything a parent needs for feeding and sterilizing. The set contains four bottles, two newborn soothies a bottle brush and an express sterilizer!

I didn’t use a pacifier for either of my other children but when my third baby started sucking her thumb even with a full tummy, I thought it might be a good idea to try one. I had avoided them in the past for fear of interfering with my children’s tooth and gum development and because I dreaded the uproar that I imagined would come with taking it away some day in the future. Still, if she was going to suck her thumb anyways, I thought I might as well give her something that I can actually take away when the time comes. So I was very excited to try the the newborn Soothie pacifiers in the kit. These pacifiers are favoured by the medical profession and I thought “If I am going to try a soother, this is going to be the one.” [Read more…]

Breastfeed Longer With the Medela Freestyle Electric Breast Pump

May 28, 2013 by Brenna 12 Comments

I couldn’t be happier to announce that I recently completed my nursing degree and I did it while raising children too. In fact, just ten days after finishing my degree I welcomed my third beautiful baby girl into the world. Needless to say, I am almost always doing two things at once. And now that I am a nurse, eager to dive in and begin my new career, I need to balance that role with mothering my newborn. Well as a devoted breastfeeding mother, I just have to say, “Thank goodness for the new Medela Freestyle breast pump!”

Like many mothers these days, breastfeeding my children is something I cherish for the many proven benefits it provides both my child and myself. However, when work or school demands take the mother out of the home early in the baby’s life, breastfeeding can be difficult to continue. I did the best I could with my other two daughters. I tried other pumps in the past with little success and eventually resorted to some manual expression but it was a lot of work. This time around I knew that I needed a better solution; I didn’t want my new career to interfere with my ability to provide my daughter with the most optimal nutrition.

medela freestyle breast pump [Read more…]

Make Bottle-Feeding Simple with the Playtex SmartSteam 3-in-1 Microwave Sterilizer-Giveaway

May 21, 2013 by Brenna 70 Comments

Bottle-feeding my baby is not my first choice, but for a lot of women it may be their only option or a necessary compliment to breastfeeding at times. In any case, every mother wants to know that her bottles and sterilization methods are going to be safe for her baby. As a working mother I know that my newborn baby will need to be fed by bottle when I am not there and I want to have the peace of mind that my absence is not going to compromise her health. For these reasons I was pleased with the opportunity to try out a set of bottles and the new SmartSteam Microwave Sterilizer courtesy of Playtex.

I didn’t give much thought to the world of baby bottles with my past two children and generally just chose the cutest looking ones on the shelf. Then along came worries about BPA which suddenly meant I had to critically evaluate my choices from a totally different perspective. Thankfully, Playtex makes choosing a safe bottle simple by ensuring all it bottles are BPA-free. The company sent me two different types of bottles, the Nurser with drop in liners and the Ventaire, to test.

playtex smartsteam sterilizer [Read more…]