Preventing Freezer Burn on Breastmilk

With the frequent rotating brownouts all over the country, one of the concerns of pumping moms is freezer burn on their frozen breastmilk. I found this informative video on how to prevent freezer burn:

Meanwhile, if your frozen milk already shows signs of freezer burn, should it already be discarded? According to Britannica Online, freezer burn occurs when "improperly package frozen foods lose small amounts of moisture during storage, resulting in surface dehydration. If you have lots of extra stored milk, I would suggest that you throw out the frozen milk bags exhibiting freezer burn. However, considering that freezer burn is really just loss of moisture and doesn't mean that the milk is spoiled, my opinion is that you can also do the taste and smell test. Thaw out your milk in the refrigerator, then smell and taste if it is sour and spoiled. If you're lucky to have a baby who is not picky (like Naima), then you wouldn't have problems giving it. But if your baby refuses it, you can either throw it out or donate it to a milk bank with a pasteurizer. Don't forget to inform the nurse that it has already been thawed out and should be pasteurized immediately!

Creative Kids - Giveaway Week 2

Naima just finished her summer class and this proud mama just wants to share her artwork.  She has been quite busy this summer - summer classes with music and arts at Abba's Orchard and swimming classes with AquaLogic.  She continuously amazes us with her progress and development and the new things she says or does every day!  Some will tell me that I put her in school too early.   Naima started going to school in November last year when she was 1 year and 11 months old.  She went to Toddler Class every day for 2.5 hours.
For the 1st week, she didn't cry and even told me to go outside.    Surprisingly, she had the separation blues in the 2nd week.  But after that, going to school was normal and she looked forward to doing so everyday.  She loves music and arts.  I'm sure most kids do too.  

This week's prizes will be for your creative kids - 1 box of EcoStars and 1 pouch of Crayon Rocks.


There will be 2 winners - one for the EcoStars and one for the Crayon Rocks.  

How to join this contest?

Leave a comment about how your baby surprised you with their comments or antics.  You can also get extra entries (total of 4 entries) by:

1. Becoming a fan of Mama.Baby.Love on Facebook.
2. Tweeting about this giveaway (please leave a link to your status update.  Right click in the time stamp and copy the URL).
3. Blogging about the giveaway (please leave a link to your blog entry)

Leave a separate comment for each entry so it will be counted separately.  One comment = 1 entry.  However, a comment about how your baby surprised you counts as only 1 entry even if you write down xxx number of antics in separate comments.

If your email address is not in your public profile, leave it with your comment in words (e.g. fabnaima[at]gmail[dot]com) so I can contact you if you win.

This contest is open to readers within the Philippines and items will be shipped to you for free using Xend.  Contest will end on May 14, Friday at 11:59PM.  Names of winners will be posted in this entry and will be contacted by email.  Please respond within 48 hours – otherwise, I will choose another winner.  Two winners will be chosen using random.org.  Winners can win once per week.

CONTEST CLOSED.  Winners will be announced by Tuesday.   

Congratulations to the winners:
Rosette Ecleo-Sacil (crayon rocks) and Ricci (ecostars).  

Please check your email, Rosette.

Ricci, please send me an email at fabnaima[at]gmail[dot]com.  Your profile is marked private and you didn't leave your email address.   

Klean Kanteen Recall

I'm upset!! I just received an email from CPSC that Klean Kanteen is recalling its Sports Cap 2.0 water bottle spouts. Since the SIGG brouhaha last year, we've migrated to Klean Kanteen. I was able to purchase Naima's bottles from Babysteals (excellent site!) and purchased the sports cap from Amazon. I'm not too happy to learn that these caps are now the subject of a recall! There is no official Klean Kanteen distributor in the Philippines. I went to Klean Kanteen's recall website and filled up the customer's form - which luckily allowed international customers! Hopefully, the new spouts will get to the Philippines. We still love our Klean Kanteens and happily, the newer ones I purchased (again from Babysteals - you can tell I love that site!) came with the 3.0 sports cap!

*Update 29 July 2010. Medela Mom Maricel is the exclusive distributor of Klean Kanteen in the Philippines. You can contact her through the Medela House.

Details of the recall below:
Klean Kanteen Recalls Water Bottle Spouts Due to Choking Hazard

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and Health Canada, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed.

Name of Product: Sport Cap 2.0 water bottle spouts

Units: About 1.2 million in the United States and 102,000 in Canada

Manufacturer: Klean Kanteen Inc., of Chico, Calif.

Hazard: The water bottle spouts can break or crack, posing a choking hazard to children and adults.

Incidents/Injuries: The firm has received six reports of incidents of the water bottle spouts breaking or cracking in children's mouths as they were drinking from the bottles. No injuries have been reported.

Description: The Sport Cap 2.0 water bottle spouts are made of black plastic and have an attachment loop. "Klean Kanteen" is stamped into the side of the cap.

Sold at: Outdoor sports stores, including LLBean, and grocery and specialty stores nationwide, and on the Web at www.llbean.com from April 2009 through April 2010 for $5 for the spout and between $15 and $28 when sold with a stainless steel water bottle.

Manufactured in: China

Remedy: Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled product and contact Klean Kanteen to receive a free mailing envelope to return the water bottle spout and to receive a free replacement.

Consumer Contact: For additional information, contact Klean Kanteen toll-free at (877) 546-9063 anytime, or visit the firm's website at www.kleankanteen.com/safetynotice

Note: Health Canada's press release is available at http://cpsr-rspc.hc-sc.gc.ca/PR-RP/recall-retrait-eng.jsp?re_id=1039

To see this recall on CPSC's web site, including a picture of the recalled product, please go to:
http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml10/10218.html

Breastfeeding stations and clinics

In 2006, SM set-up its first breastfeeding center in SM Megamall. SM currently has 24 breastfeeding stations in its various malls nationwide.  In fact, in March 2010, SM even won an Anvil Award of Merit for its Breastfeeding Program. Among the 24 stations, I've had the opportunity of using only the one in SM Mall of Asia.  It used to be located inside the main mall, near the ATMs.  I've used it several times and I really wasn't too happy.  Sure there was a private room, but it wasn't too clean.  Some moms reported that there were cockroaches and creepy crawlies there, although I've never seen any when I was using the room.  The room is quite small and once, I had to share it with another nursing mom, her yaya and her mom.  I was there with Naima and Naima's yaya and it was a tight fit for all of us.  Previously, the glass door was covered with blinds.  But some of the blinds got ripped off so management decided to use gauzy curtains instead - which to my opinion was a big mistake because I could see people lining in front of the ATM trying hard not to look inside the breastfeeding station.  If I can see them, I'm sure they can see me.  

Recently, a new wing in the Entertainment Mall opened - with shops focused on kids and families.  During a visit, I saw a "breastfeeding station and mall clinic" sign.  I was pleased that there was going to be a 2nd station.  But, it turned out, they were closing down the old clinic.  Now, with 390,193 m² of retail space, Mall of Asia is not exactly small.  I'm happy that they have 1 breastfeeding station but was actually hoping that they would maintain 2 - one for each wing.  Plus - what I didn't like about this breastfeeding station is that it is located inside the mall clinic!  Sure there was a nurse on duty all the time and the breastfeeding room was enclosed with walls and a real door.  But before you get to the breastfeeding room, you'd have to pass through the clinic examination area.  Seriously, would you want to bring your baby to an area where there is a possibility for him/her to be in close contact with sick people?!

To give them credit, the room was better furnished than the old breastfeeding station.  There were 2 sofas and some plastic chairs.  Plus there was a clean sink, with thermos.  What I didn't like was that when not in use, the breastfeeding room was being used as a stockroom.  You can see from the photo that wheelchairs, extra toilet papers and boxes are being stored there. 

Also, the new breastfeeding was cleaner.  I told the nurse on duty about my observations and she admitted that the breastfeeding room now was better maintained than the old breastfeeding station because there were doctors and nurses constantly in the room - thus, maintenance cleaned it more often.  

The nurse also mentioned that they had brought up with SM Management  the issue of having a breastfeeding room inside the clinic.  SM Management was non-committal on whether they would be transferring the breastfeeding room to a separate location.  But from the looks of the breastfeeding room and the set-up in other SM malls, I would think that SM Management is planning to combine breastfeeding rooms with their mall clinics permanently.  I hope SM Management will realize the importance of why breastfeeding rooms and clinics should be in separate rooms.  The SM's breastfeeding program is laudable but there just has to be some tweaks to make their rooms responsive to the nursing mom's needs.

Pumping Moms! - Giveaway Week 1

I’m a working, pumping mom who never got the hang of hand-expressing milk.  So the pump was definitely a very good friend for 2 years.  When I first went back to work, I pumped 4x a day at the office, 1x when I woke up and one more time before I sleep (if Naima drank a lot that day).  That's about 2 hours of pumping per day or 60 hours per month for the first 6 months.  Pumping sessions slowly waned and now I am just at one pump a day - storing milk for my preemie niece.  

My most recent post on pumping was about the Time Magazine article on exclusive pumpers.  I also previously wrote about how pumping moms can increase and maintain their milk supply to ensure a long-term nursing career.   I compiled tips on proper milk storage and even wrote about how we set up a lactation program at my workplace.

Pumping is definitely not easy and I'm sure every pumping mom has a story to tell about their pumping challenges - from plugged ducts, to no let-down as well as have their own tips to share to new pumping moms.  For this week, the give-away will be 1 box of Honeysuckle Breast Milk Storage Bags which consists of 25 pieces of bags.  I will be giving away 2 boxes which means there will be 2 winners.  

From Honeysuckle Bags website:

Honeysuckle Breast Milk Storage Bags are the new solution to your milk storage needs.  A superior double zipper closure lets you know when you've sealed the bag.  Our bags have an excellent tamper evident top to insure sterility and a large writing area for you to mark the date and other information.  Wide side seals and a reinforced bottom offer leak protection not available with any other brand.  These bags are made from FDA approved, BPA free materials,  to far exceed today's demanding ecological and safety requirements.

What sets these Breast Milk Storage bags apart from others is that they are the first line available that are environmentally conscious.  With the inclusion of the Oxo-Biodegradable technology, these bags will deteriorate in the environment in approximately 18 months after they are disposed of.  This will provide a better future for you and your child.

Read a review of the Honeysuckle Milk Storage Bags here. 

How to join this contest?

Leave a comment about your biggest pumping challenge with a tip to pumping moms.  You can also get extra entries (total of 4 entries) by:

1. Becoming a fan of Mama.Baby.Love on Facebook.
2. Tweeting about this giveaway (please leave a link to your status update.  Right click in the time stamp and copy the URL).
3. Blogging about the giveaway (please leave a link to your blog entry)

Leave a separate comment for each entry so it will be counted separately.  One comment = 1 entry.  However, a pumping challenge + tip counts only as 1 entry even if you write down xxx number of challenges/tips in separate comments.

If your email address is not in your public profile, leave it with your comment in words (e.g. fabnaima[at]gmail[dot]com) so I can contact you if you win.

This contest is open to readers within the Philippines and items will be shipped to you for free using Xend.  Contest will end on May 7, Friday at 11:59PM.  Names of winners will be posted in this entry and will be contacted by email.  Please respond within 48 hours – otherwise, I will choose another winner.  Two winners will be chosen using random.org.  Winners can win once per week.

CONTEST CLOSED.    
Week 2 Giveaway already up HERE.  Winners will be announced on Tuesday.   

Congratulations to the winners!
Mavie and Nachobing.  Please check your emails.  
Deleted comments not included in count.