My Brest Friend Nursing Stool ~ Review and Giveaway

When I was at the ABC Kids Expo I sought out My Brest Friend to personally tell them how much I LOVE their nursing pillow.

Seriously, Love - it was one of the products that made breastfeeding a little easier for me. Unlike other nursing pillows I didn't have to slouch over to get a correct latch.

While I was talking to Jessica she showed me their newest product, The Adjustable Nursing Stool! Designed to make nursing a more comfortable experience by allowing you to adjust the level of your knees. A comfortable nursing position will in turn reduce strain on your neck, shoulders, back and wrists. Some of the unique features this little stool provide you are: (From My Brest Friend)

• Adjustable to different angles for optimum nursing support
• Provides comfortable positioning for breastfeeding
• Alleviates stress on you back, shoulders and neck
• Becomes a step stool after nursing
• To use adjust the stool to the desired angle and turn knobs securely into place.

Unfortunately, I was right at the end of our breastfeeding career when I received the stool to review, but I can tell you it has been uses for many things since I got it. (Which is great, bc it isn't just a product you buy for one use, and put away after!)

• Putting my feet up while I type on my laptop.
• Standing to get the items above the kitchen fridge that are just a little out of reach.
• Rocking at night while Squish was sick. (It really does make rocking easier.)
• And of course Squish thinks it is the perfect size for his little bum!

Here he is using it as a drum! He loves that it is just his size!

Seriously, my Squishy loves this stool. I imagine it will be used to access the sink in the future, as well as continue to be his little perch. I am looking forward to using it with any more children we have. Simply using it for Rocking the Squish, I can already tell how much more comfortable it will make breastfeeding.

On the Squishy Rating Scale the My Brest Friend Adjustable Nursing Stool gets a VERY SQUISHABLE!

The Giveaway

My Brest Friend is giving one lucky Family and Life in Las Vegas reader their very own adjustable nursing stool! This would be a great prize for any nursing mom, a mom with young children, a gift for a baby shower, or even someone who spend a great deal of time behind a desk!

How to Win

Entering is easy – all you have to do is the mandatory entry. Extra entries are available but not mandatory. Please make sure to leave your email in your comment, or I will not be able to contact you about your win, and will have to choose another winner. I will be checking each entry to the best of my ability, so honesty is appreciated!

Mandatory Entry

Head over to the My Brest Friend and tell me something you learned about the company, or how you would use this nursing stool. You must also be a follower of Family and Life in Las Vegas. Please leave one (1) comment saying you have done both of these things. (This is the only mandatory entry. The other entries below are EXTRA.)

Extra Entries

Follow Family and Life in Las Vegas via GFC, Facebook, and Twitter. (1 entry for each)

Follow My Brest Friend on Facebook and leave a comment saying you came from Family and Life in Las Vegas. (1 entry)

Since I recently just made the switch to a new Facebook page - for any friend you send to the page, you can have 1 extra entry! Send 10 friends - get 10 entries. Just have them leave a comment saying you sent them on my page.

Subscribe to Family and Life in Las Vegas via email or RSS. (Upper Right-hand Corner) (2 entries each)

Tweet/Facebook this Giveaway and leave a comment with the link. (1 entry each) (can be done daily)

"#win a My Brest Friend nursing stool #giveaway from @FamilyNLifeLV! ends 12/14 http://bit.ly/brestfriend Pls RT "

Grab my Button and comment with the link to where I can find it. (2 entries)

Add this giveaway to a giveaway linky and comment with the link (5 entries)

If you would like I would love for you to vote on Top Mommy Blogs and Picket Fences while you are here. No entries for this, just a big YOU ROCK for each vote!

Disclosure: I received an adjustable nursing stool to review. No monetary compensation was given. All opinions are 100% my own, and may differ from yours.

This Giveaway is open to US entrants only and ends on 12/14 at 9 pm PST. The winner will be chosen via Random.Org and notified via email. The winner has 48 hours to respond or another winner will be picked. Good Luck!

Daily Vegas ~October 20th, 2010

• Just over 2 years since we found out we were expecting the sweetest squishiest baby ever.
• 16.5 Months since we had said Squishy Baby.
• 500+ days of our lives.
• Easily over 3000 Nursing sessions.
• Hundreds of hours of bonding time.
• One formally 10lb 2 oz baby, Now a healthy 26+lb 33inch Toddler.
• Cracked nipples.
• Un-totaled amounts spent on nipple creams, nursing bras, breast pads and other breastfeeding paraphernalia.
• Pinch marks.
• A million sweet smiles hidden sweetly behind my breast.
• 14 teeth.
• A few bite incidents.
• Countless public boob flashes.
• A place where sleep kissed both of our eyelids from time to time.
• Sweet Hands on Mama's Face.
• Soft baby skin for me to rub with love.
• A lot of hard work.
• A lot of love.
• An end of a chapter.
• A healthy beginning.
• A sad and sweet moment for me.
• A reminder of Roots and Wings.

My son has been fighting his only nursing session of the day. The past few weeks, nursing has only been frustrating for him, and work for me. Last night I nursed for the last time. I am thrilled to have made it this long. I am counting my blessings. I am sad it ended this way. I always thought it would be him nursing, gazing into my eyes, me knowing it was our last time nursing. A tear or two. A sweet end to a rough beginning.

Instead I knew it was the right thing to do. My son self-weaned himself. I had gotten him to a point where he was ready to be done. I just thought it would last longer, and end different. I am kind of numb to it right now. Despite the fact that my son was ready, my breasts are still feeling full having not nursed in over 24 hours. I knew being a mother would be filled with ups and downs, but I never realized it you could be filled with such sorrow at the same time as you are proud to have made it this long.

Please welcome Family and Life in Las Vegas Sponsor ~ LaDy LaDuke

I would like to welcome LaDy LaDuke as a sponsor to Family and Life in Las Vegas!

Recently LaDy LaDuke found my blog checking out other Lovely Blog awarded blogs. And I have to tell you, when I went to follow them back, I was thrilled with what I saw. It is no secret I am a big supporter of breastfeeding and anything that makes a breastfeeding mom's life easier. Add more fashionable into that mix and I am on board 100%.

LaDy LaDuke is the creator of the Feeder Frock. It is designed to make public breastfeeding a little less public, and it is also "Cute". I love that on their website the ladies of LaDy LaDuke describe themselves as sisters who "typically finish each others' sentences, and according to our husbands, use the word "cute" entirely too often!"

The Feeder Frock is the first nursing cover designed to allow you to nurse completely covered while standing, moving, pushing a stroller, or chasing down your kids. Not to mention it leaves you looking completely fabulous while doing so!!

Please check out the creators behind this fabulously unique design:

Courtney L. Gillard and Betina N. Powers~LaDy LaDuke...Unique Items For Mothers & Women...

We are two sisters, who always loved fashion and design, sharing a room, and playing dress up. Our Mom used to sew many of our clothes, as well as her own, and we would have a ball looking through her Vogue patterns. So, the design seed was always there. Then we were out with our sister-in-law, who was trying to nurse in public, while walking, chasing her toddler, and tugging at the back of her shirt to keep covered, and thought, why don’t we make something that really works for Moms!

After research and prototypes, we came up with our full coverage, mobile nursing cover invention…"The Feeder Frock". The first Feeder Frock design was very simple, and then it just evolved over time into 25 unique styles, including our "Pocket styles" to hold all of your Mom stuff. Some of our designs are inspired by custom requests, and our new Feeder FRONT Frocks came from a request for just the front cover.

We decided to be handmade, because we wanted to be completely different, and to be able to cater to Moms with a variety of tastes and custom choices, as well as offering seasonal collections. We also wanted plus size options, and we knew that being handmade would give us the freedom to do that, and keep offering more. We wouldn’t have to have that one style fits all minimum order submission to a manufacturer.

We opened our first Shop on Etsy, and then added Shops on Zibbet and Artfire. We have Australian stockists, and Zibbet is the new Australian handmade version of Etsy. Artfire was started by local artists here in Tucson, Arizona, and we wanted to support them. We made our Artfire Shop our LaDy's Outlet. We also offer Nursery decor, like our Couture Curtains and Crib Fringe. We hope to expand those product lines even more!

Our name comes from our maiden name, LaDuke, and we added the capital "D" in LaDy to match.

Aren't they wonderful? I love when women see a need for something, and go out and get it done. So inspiring. So fresh. So fashionable. I would say a partnership made in breastfeeding heaven!

LaDy LaDuke has generously offered a $10 off coupon to anyone who writes a story for my breastfeeding blog, Simple Gift ~ Stories from Breastfeeding Mamas. It can be any kind of story as long as it is breastfeeding related. Take a look at the stories already posted, get some inspiration, write your story, send it to simplegiftstories at gmail dot com and get your Feeder Frock at $10 off!! It really doesn't get any better than that!

Want to read more about the Feeder Frock and the ladies of LaDy LaDuke? You can find them on their blog, twitter, facebook, etsy, and youtube.

Interested in becoming a sponsor on Family and Life in Las Vegas? Check out my Media Kit, and send me an email.

Why breastfeeding was the best choice for us.

Today I realized that we may be closer to the end of breastfeeding then I thought. While I have a million reasons to be sad about that, I am only feeling happiness. My son is 15.5 months old now, and considering our beginning to breastfeeding, I am thrilled to have made it this long. If you haven’t already done so, please check out my story about beginning breastfeeding at my other blog Simple Gift – Stories from Breastfeeding mamas.

Breastfeeding wasn’t easy for me, and I realize there are many situations when breastfeeding isn’t possible. Whatever your choice for not doing it, I would never judge you. My theory on parenting choices is two fold – Your baby, your body, your choice. And Happy Momma = Happy Baby. Please know this is not a post about formula vs. breastfeeding. This post is about me, and my baby and our choice to breastfeed. For me, Breastfeeding was the route I wanted to go, and best for both Squish and Me.

There are many benefits of breastfeeding. Here are the ones that have made breastfeeding such an amazing experience for us.

1. The bonding time was/is indescribable. The first time he smiled at me while nursing, or the way he would touch my face, play with my hair, or simply just stare at me. The softness of his skin and hair that I got to stroke as he ate in the wee hours of the morning. Those are moments I would not trade for anything in the world.
2. I suffered from Migraines prior to getting pregnant. Once I got pregnant my migraines all but disappeared. I feared after I had Squish they would return, but they didn’t (well I have had 3-4 since getting pregnant, but not nearly as severe or often as they used to be.) When I asked my OB about it, she told me it was the chemicals released during pregnancy and by breastfeeding those chemicals continued to keep my migraines at bay.
3. While I didn’t lose my baby weight right away, I did lose all of it in a decent amount of time, with not dieting. I did start to change my eating habits after I had lost the baby weight, but the initial lose I attribute to breastfeeding.
4. I love the convenience of breastfeeding. Once I got comfortable with it, and figured out what worked for us, I never looked back. Not to mention the money saved.
5. For me, breastfeeding didn’t keep illness at bay. Squish was sick plenty. But we never did have any ear infection issues, and when he was sick I knew that I could always turn to breastfeeding as a source of comfort.
6. Finally, (well there are many more things I loved about breastfeeding, and things that made it clear it was the best choice for us) but I loved that for 7 months my Squishy thrived on only my breast milk. He was constantly at the top of the growth charts. There was a real sense of accomplishment knowing I was able to satisfy my son’s nutritional needs.

While I don’t think breastfeeding for us will end tomorrow, or next week, I can tell that the end is close. Squish is down to 2 nursing sessions a day. One in the am, and one before bed, and honestly he could easily drop the bedtime nursing. I am so glad I stuck it out, and pushed through the hard times in the beginning. The moments I nursed my son are moments that will be with me forever.

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Wordful Wednesday

Pasta is Yummy Mama!

What do you mean I need to take a bath?  I worked hard on this mess!!

Heading out to story-time at the library.  Don't forget to stop by tonight to link up with Toddler Talk Thursday!  This week's topic is Toddler Fun Outside the Home: Fun and Educational Activities.

Did you know this week is World Breastfeeding Week??

I would love for you to stop by and check out my Breastfeeding blog. 

We are always looking for new stories.  So in honor of World Breastfeeding Week, please consider sharing your story.

Squishy is 14 months old today!!  That means we have been breastfeeding for 14 months!! There was a time 

I wasn't sure we would make it past 2 months.  Want to read my story?