Lunch with Cheska Kramer for Cycles Sensitive + Giveaway

It's the last day of the love month and let me end it with another giveaway from Cycles Sensitive.  Cycles Baby has been a part of our life for the past 7 years.  When we had N, we were conscious about the products that we use on her body and her clothes.  My early research showed Cycles Baby laundry detergent to be the mildest product for baby's use - and so we chose that laundry detergent for N's clothes.

Eventually, I was surprised to find out that Eveolution, Inc., the company behind Cycles Baby, is owned by college batchmates - Dennis and Emily.  With 5 kids, they found themselves having had to import products from abroad to suit their sensitive kids.  They decided to expand Cycles Baby and develop a bath and body line to meet their needs - and so, Cycles Sensitive was born.

Cheska with Dennis and Emily

Bebe Chic Diaper Bag Giveaway

It's time for the long over due Bebe Chic Diaper Bag Giveaway! The owners of Bebe Chic, Catherine and Mike Dy are long time friends who I met during the first bazaar I joined.  As I was going through my draft posts, I realized that Catherine had first asked me to do the giveaway back in May 2012 - almost 2 years ago!  (Sorry Catherine!!)

Stopover in Seattle

My trips to the US are always synonymous to outlet shopping and this trip is not an exception.  Actually, a trip to Seattle was not in our itinerary.  We were only going to be in Canada for 2 weeks and transferring from one place to another with 2 kids in tow, sans yaya, was something I didn't want to do.  However, since all of Stan's siblings would be traveling to Seattle and we've never been there, we decided to brave the trip, especially since it included a trip to an outlet.

A Nursing Mom's Shopping Guide: ELIN Maternity and Nursing Wear

I am excited to see more and more brands that offer breastfeeding friendly clothing to Filipina mothers.  I had been a fan of Elin when they were still focused on mainstream clothing.  When I found out that one of their partners was going to have a baby, I become more excited because I hoped that a breastfeeding friendly line would follow.  And apparently, I wasn't far off!  They had already expanded into the maternity line because they found out that a lot of their customers were using their clothes as maternity wear because of the comfort and fit.  Naturally, because Martina is breastfeeding (yay!), the nursing line followed.

My favorite Elin top during the launch of
LATCH's Snuggle Wuggle Wee

Solutions to the Challenging First Week of Breastfeeding

The first few weeks for any new parent is always the toughest.  For breastfeeding moms, these weeks are especially as this can make or break your breastfeeding relationship.  It is really important to surround yourself with breastfeeding supporters.  However, it is equally important to read and research and equip yourself with the information to help you succeed.

I realize that even if the internet is now easily accessible there is so much information out there, such that some new parents get overwhelmed and give up.  Plus, there are also information that come from dubious sources.  So, I decided to compile information which I believe in and find reliable in hopes that new parents can use this guide to gain confidence during the early weeks of breastfeeding their baby.

Painting Her Destiny

I first learned about Nice So when fellow SoMom Tiffany of Breakfast with Tiffany posted pictures of her artwork in our group page.  Tiff also shared that Nice had been diagnosed with lupus.  But instead of feeling sorry for herself, she paints to support her medical treatments.

Marketing of Growing Up Milk

Earlier this week, I shared this article on my social media channels - Breastfeeding is winning! So companies are pushing “toddler milk” to neurotic parents.  I find this article very important to merit its own blog post. One paragraph in the article struck me most:

Often, these drinks contain much higher levels of protein than breast milk or cow’s milk, health advocates say, which undercuts demand for healthy food. “When you drink a lot of formula milk, your appetite is not so good,” Ip said. That makes parents think their kids are picky eaters, she said, which then leads them to feed them more toddlers milk. These companies “are trying to solve problems they are creating,” she said.

Gingersnaps is 20 years old!

If you follow me on Instagram, you might have noticed several recent posts I shared showing N in this floral Gingersnaps outfit.  This outfit was chosen by Stan on occasion of Gingersnaps' 20th year anniversary!

Join LATCH! Batch 5 Recruitment

I can't believe that it has been 2 and a half years since the last LATCH recruitment in Metro Manila!   2013 was particularly a busy year because we organized a symposium with an international speaker - Dr. Jack Newman, no less.  We also published the very first breastfeeding book for kids in the Philippines - Snuggle Wuggle Wee!

Breastfeeding and Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis is a pandemic in the Philippines.  Every other person I know has this and I wouldn't be surprised if ALL Filipinos living in the Philippines has some latent form of the virus in them.  Despite this, it is very disappointing to hear tuberculosis being used as a reason to stop breastfeeding.