Practical Baby Gift Guide

Our friends at Sleepytot are compiling a Practical Baby Gift Guide voted for by parents and they need your help. If you love your Mamascarf for breastfeeding in public, don't forget to vote for it!

Looking back on all the baby stuff you bought or had given to you from friends and family, how much of it did you actually use? Since the day your little bundle arrived, you’ve probably been on the steepest learning curve of your life. There's no other role which forces us to learn so much, so quickly, while working on the job 24 hours a day!

With this comes the stuff you buy to actually solve a problem, to make your life easier, and to make your baby happy. It seems that we all come to the end of the first year with three baby products that we rave about.

It might be a fantastic toy, a baby sleep product, something for bath time, a baby guide book, or a feeding product. Anything that made your life easier.

Whatever it was, Sleepytot want to know about it. Why? Because they’re compiling the first ever Practical Baby Gift Guide. This ultimate guide will be totally free and available to all parents and parents-to- be, their friends and their families.

In return for your feedback, your email address will be entered into a prize draw to win £50 of Sleepytot vouchers.

Head over to Sleepytot http://www.sleepytot.com/community.phtml to vote today!

WIN BABY SHOW TICKETS!

Mamascarf are very excited to be exhibiting at the Baby Show next month at Excel(from 19th-21st Feb). Preparations are well underway at Mamascarf Towers and we would like to offer you the chance to win a pair of tickets so you can come and see /try our wonderful breastfeeding cover for yourself. Breastfeeding in public will never be the same again! All you need to do to be in with a chance of winning is email me the names of the two celebrity mums who are fans of Mamascarf. Put "Baby Show Competition" as the title of your email and click on the email us link.
If you need a clue, check out the Feedback page! The winner will be randomly selected on Friday 29th January. Good luck!

Birmingham stressful for breastfeeding in public and celebs who breastfeed!

This one links into my last post, as it has received a huge amount of press in the last week or so. As part of the same survey, it seems that the two "most stressful places to breastfeed" are the West Midlands (where I live, in sunny Birmingham) and the North West (where I am from!!). So was I destined to be someone who was stressed about breastfeeding in public?

Another big thing to come from the research (in my opinion!) was that two thirds of the women surveyed thought that celebrities should be breastfeeding in public to act as positive role models. I completely agree with this and think that it would have a great impact. However, when I think about how I felt breastfeeding in public and imagine if my every move was being snapped to be displayed to the world and his dog, maybe I would stay indoors to. Unless of course I had a Mamascarf! :0) Come to think of it, I don't think I have seen many pictures of celebrities breastfeeding in public. I have just done a search and seen a picture of Billie Piper breastfeeding her baby on a beach. Go Billie!!

It seems that most celebrity mums are breastfeeding, some are more open about it than others. Various celebs have been used to front breastfeeding camapigns, Charlotte Church and Jenny Frost are two that spring to mind. Obviously we know Melanie C is breastfeeding, Holly Willoughby and Tess Daly too. I'm wondering whether Coleen will be breastfeeding. I noticed that she has said she is going to all of her ante natal appointments at an NHS hospital. Proving she is just like us ....!

Two mothers in three 'fear stares if they breastfeed'

The Independent newspaper ran a story yesterday reporting that some mums are so nervous about breastfeeding in public that they prefer to use formula. The survey results from Mother & Baby magazine indicated that nearly two in three mothers believe the UK is "not breastfeeding-friendly", prompting concerns from nursing mums that they would struggle to breastfeed while out and about.

Apparently the next issue of Mother & Baby magazine will feature a breastfeeding mum on the cover, a first in this country. Well if its good enough for Angelina Jolie! You can read the article in full here http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/two-mothers-in-three-fear-stares-if-they-breastfeed-1732181.html