B for Breastfeeding

When I read about the issues some have with breastfeeding it makes me wish that I had breastfed more in public when I was breastfeeding. And not behind a hooter hider (as Natali refers to them).

Facebook got a lot of flack earlier this month when they deleted the Facebook page of The Leaky B@@b, a breast-feeding support group. The founder received a note from Facebook essentially saying the content was obscene. Ridiculous! The founder of the page and many supporters spoke up and Facebook finally said they made an error in taking the page down. Good news is that it's back up. Hopefully Facebook starts to handle these situations better in the future.

Care2 wrote about a petition to bring breastfeeding back to Sesame Street. They've already received 20,000 signatures. According to the blog, "In the 1970s and 1980s, Sesame Street used to show both breastfeeding and bottle feeding in their stories about babies. Since the 1990s, however, they have removed all images of breastfeeding while continuing to include bottle-fed babies in their storylines." 

Sesame Street says that they don't have an anti-breast-feeding agenda and they would include it again if it were a natural part of the storyline. Interesting if you ask me. In the past 20 years the show producers haven't thought it was "natural" to show breastfeeding? Care2 makes a really great point here: 

Breastfeeding, like healthy eating, is a public health issue and it makes sense to include it in the storyline. Sesame Street could have said that there is no place for vegetables in the Cookie Monster storyline, but it didn’t. Sesame Street recognized the need to promote healthy eating and normalize fruits and vegetables as foods that kids (and monsters!) like. So they adapted the Cookie Monster storyline  and added the motto “cookies are a sometimes food”.  In the same way that they adapted the Cookie Monster storyline, there is also a need to promote and normalize breastfeeding, and as an organization that supports public health, Sesame Street should make it a priority to include breastfeeding on the show.

When I first started breastfeeding I was super shy about it and mainly did it at home or other private places. I remember the first public space I breastfed was at a MommyBeta get together at a restaurant. I asked the girls if they felt comfortable breastfeeding in public and Natali responded something like, “Yea, I’ve breastfed at every Starbucks in Manhattan!” So I did it and from then on, if my baby was hungry, I had breastfed her. No one should feel embarrassed or shy about feeding their child. It’s natural and part of life. I'm looking forward to breastfeeding baby No. 2 when ever that happens! 

Win It! Sonos Play: 3

UPDATE: Apologies for the late notice but Naldo P is the winner of this giveaway. Late entries were not taken into consideration but we appreciate your consideration. Stay tuned because we have more Sonos speakers to giveaway on the MommyBeta Podcast!

This week we are giving a suh-weet gadget, awesome for parents and non-parents alike! It is the brand new Sonos Play: 3 speaker, valued at $299. 

The video below shows off some of the cool features. We absolutely LOVE ours! 

Sonos speakers are Web connected so they use your home Wi-Fi connection to let you listen to Internet radio, podcasts, and even stream whatever music or audio content is on your home computer. You can listen to different things in different rooms if you have multiple Sonos set up in your home and you can control what you listen to with the Sonos mobile apps for iPhone, iPad, and Android devices. 

We use these all the time! I like to listen to podcasts or music while I'm in the kitchen while Clayton listens to something different in his office. The speakers come pre-loaded with Pandora so I often play the Disney station with Baby Mo. 

And the sound quality? Forgettaboutit! This is high quality sound. It is an impressive piece of technology. You don't have to have a little one to want this. My husband Clayton had two in his New York City apartment when he was single and living alone! 

Here is how you can win yourself one of these to impress your neighbors with your eclectic musical taste: 

• Like MommyBeta on Facebook
• Like Sonos on Facebook
• Leave a comment telling us how you would use a new Sonos in your house on this blog post - not on Facebook. (Note: you must include your email when you comment so that we can reach you if you win.)

Contest closes Thursday, September 29, 2011 at 11:59 p.m. ET. Rules can be found here. 

Facebook Adds “Expected Child” Feature; Will You Partake?

All your friends, or so-called friends – on Facebook know a lot about you these days, from whether you’re single, in a relationship, married, single again and so on. Facebook has just introduced a feature to share even more…that you’re expecting a baby. According to VentureBeat, the “expected child” form can be found in the Family Members section of your profile; it will let you specify the baby-to-be’s name and due date. Specifying the gender, however, is not an option.

Awe, isn’t Facebook sweet to acknowledge expecting parents want to share this news with the world. Ha – hardly according to a few news outlets.  This feature means one thing for Facebook – big money –as companies targeting the parent demographic start shelling out the big bucks to target them.

I admit – I did post my ultrasound on Facebook and was really excited to share my pregnancy experience with friends (and strangers through this blog), but I don’t know if I would add that “I’m expecting” officially to my page. For one, I’m pretty superstitious and fear jinxing things. Plus, if something tragic were to happen I wouldn’t want people to question our removing the fact that we expecting.

On the flip side, there are some pretty aggressive deals on Facebook. I might just do it for those.

What about you? Would you partake in this feature?

Win It! Charlie Banana Diapers and Wipes

Update: We have our winner! Congratulations to Laurie for her new stash of Charlie Bananas! Thank you to all who entered. There will be more giveaways here so stay tuned! This week, win a Britax booster seat!! 

This week we are giving away my favorite brand of cloth diapers, Charlie Banana! Enter here to win 3 diapers in your choice of color/size and a stash of reusable wipes - handy for wiping baby's face, hands, or bottom.

I reviewed a good many brands of cloth diapers during my 30-day CD trial and I concluded that Charlie Banana was the brand for my family. Since Baby Mo has outgrown the samples we were given, I have ordered fresh batches in size medium.

Charlie Banana Cloth DiapersThese diapers never leak, they are soft and snug fitting, and you stuff and un-stuff the inserts from the front of the diaper rather than from the back like some other brands. This means that you are a lot less likely to get poopy hands while removing the insert since poop most often stays in the back.

Incidentally, Charlie Banana is going to celebrate its first anniversary on Monday, March 28. If you'd like to buy yourself a stash, this is a good time to do it! You will get free shipping on all orders over $88.88 plus get a chance to win gift certificates on Facebook and Twitter. Be sure you follow along!

If you'd like to win this week's prize, here is what you do:

• Like us on Facebook
• Post a comment in the comments section of this blog post (not on Facebook) about your cloth diapering experience and/or ambition.

Contest rules are here. This contest ends on Thursday, March 31 at 11:59 p.m. EST. Good luck!

Win it! FuzziBunz Cloth Diapers

Update: Thank you to all who entered this contest! Our winner has been chosen. Check back every Friday for our next product giveaway. There will be more diapers and other fun products coming soon! 

This week we are giving away one of my very favorite products: FuzziBunz cloth diapers! My new friend and founder of FuzziBunz Tereson Dupuy has agreed to give away 3 One Size Pocket Diapers to the winner of this giveaway. And don't worry about getting pink diapers for your little boy. You get to pick the colors!

My little cloth diapered man practicing yoga in his FuzziBunz!I love cloth diapering and I particularly love FuzziBunz. They are so soft and warm on Baby Mo's behind and they fit him really nicely. I certainly can't say that about every brand of diapers I tested on my 30-day cloth diaper challenge.

If you are apprehensive about trying cloth diapers, please sign up for this giveaway! I know it sounds like a gnarly thing to do but trust me, once you try it, you won't want to go back to 'sposies. We traveled with Baby Mo the last two weekends to hotels that did not have washing facilities. I had to put him in 'sposies and the idea of putting spongy synthetic and toxic paper on his little bottom really bummed me out. I couldn't wait to get home and rip the 'sposies off and get him back in his cloths.

For more information about FuzziBunz and cloth diapering in general, visit their website and watch the video of Tereson and I from The CBS Early Show's Eye On Parenting series.

In the meantime, here is how to enter to win this week's diaper giveaway:

• Like us on Facebook
• Post a comment in the comments section of this blog post (not on Facebook) about your cloth diapering aspirations or experiences. If you are apprehensive, share that too! Nathalee and I were in your shoes once too and now we're avid CD proponents!
• And like FuzziBunz on Facebook too! (Not required for entry but a nice gesture nevertheless!)

Contest ends on Thursday, March 17 at 11:59 p.m. EST. Good luck!