Advertise in our Calendar!

Hey all!  It's reaching the end of October and I'm still looking for companies who would be interested in our 2011-2012 fundraising calendar.  Do you do direct sales (Tupperware, jewelry, purses, etc) or own a store in the Central Florida area?  You should advertise with us... Here's some details:

*We're looking at an INITIAL distribution of 2,000 copies (both paid and free) throughout the Central Florida area, but primarily concentrating on Orange, Seminole, Lake, Brevard and Volusia.
*Our calendar will have a shelf life of over 20 months!  We will be offering these for sale, initially, in April of 2011 and our 18-month calendar lasts through the end of 2012.  Keep your name on people's minds for almost TWO YEARS.  It's unprecedented in advertising opportunities.
*By our estimates, our calendars will primarily go to either pregnant women or women with children, in the age range of 20 - 45 years.  We hope to also reach out to the grandmothers who are supportive of breastfeeding.  As we all know, women are the ones in the household who make the majority of the decisions... it's an ideal demographic for local companies hoping to spread the word on their products.

Our advertising rates are very reasonable -- ranging from $500 down to $25 -- and exceptional when you look at the demographics, size of initial distribution and shelf life of the calendar. 

Who should advertise in here:
*Lactation consultants
*Doulas and midwives
*Doctors such as pediatricians and OBs along with opthamologists, optometrists and dentists
*Children's boutique owners
*Massage therapists, yoga studios, chiropractors
*Any breastfeeding supportive company
*Online and Central Florida companies looking to increase awareness of their business locally

Month sponsorships are only $200 and if you purchase your spot by November 10th, I'll even help you design your ad for free (just send me your logo and any information you'd like on the ad).... Think about it -- get your business in front of an ideal demographic for 30 days completely by yourself.  It's an amazing deal!!!

Pssssst... who wants to see our bags?

Ok, I've been wanting to post this since last night... our bags!

They're not 100% finished -- I still need to add the local resources like our wonderful lactation consultants and there are a few companies who have told me they are in the process of sending us items -- but I doubt they'll ever be 100% done...  why?  Because I'd always like to be adding more sponsors and items!

Anyway, what's in them?  Here you go:


**A large tote bag with our logo (approximately 16x12x4")
**A 27 oz stainless steel water bottle with our logo
**A pair of 100% merino wool nursing pads
**A hot/cold compress filled with rice, flax seeds and lavender
**A copy of Mothering Magazine (issue 154, Breast is Best)
**A large folder of information with:

• Tips and tricks for dealing with sore nipples, engorgement, clogged ducts and mastitis
• A "Breastfed Baby" placard for the hospital
• Three handy quick reference cards for milk storage and how to know the baby is getting enough
• Nutrition 
• Pumping tips (including information on GetPumped, another local nonprofit)
• Laws regarding both workplace pumping and breastfeeding in public (in Florida)
• When to start solids
• Local resources like group meetings, LLL info and lactation consultants... online websites... great books to read...
• A gift certificate for a nursing cover (for those mommas who don't feel comfortable nursing in public without one)
• ... and more!

**An informative latch dvd
**Nipple cream from MotherLove
**Full-sized Nursing Tea from Weleda
**Lanolin sample from Lansinoh
**Sample of either Classic or Hard Rock soap from Rockin Green
**Free shipping from Milk Nursingwear (with a $75 purchase)
**Free shipping from Expressiva (first purchase only)
**Coupons for free classes from Gymboree's Play and Music centers plus 20% off coupons 
**Informational brochures from Bravado, My Brest Friend, Moby Wrap, Bye Bye with Baby, Eco Diaper Service, MotherLove, Weleda and Ameda 

Wow and that's just the beginning!  I can't wait to see who else is interested in joining our project...  Let me know what you all think!  :)


Oh, and by the way, we ARE selling some of these items to help raise funds for more bags.  The Stainless Steel Water Bottles are $12, the tote bags are $3, the wool nursing pads are $7.50 and the hot/cold compresses are $6.50 each or two for $12....   These are the current prices (if you let me know during the preorder time, you'll get the discounted price) :). 

Nursing in public stories...

Ok, readers, confession time...

I've never had a bad experience nursing in public.

My daughter is just over 7 months old and I've nursed everywhere one could possibly imagine.  Restaurants, malls, parks, festivals, grocery stores, my car (when a convenient bench and air conditioning was not to be found), various places at Disney and Universal Studios.... and I've never had a negative reaction.  Oh sure, some people might have rolled their eyes but I don't pay attention to people enough to really notice... and no, I don't use a cover.  To be fair, I tried... but I guess I don't have the manual dexterity necessary to cover myself and nurse a baby at the same time.  I think I used one twice before it just made me AND my daughter hot and angry...  plus, I have a feeling that a nursing cover just screams "I AM BREASTFEEDING A BABY, HAVE A LOOK" .  Scroll down to a previous post I made about nursing at Harry Potter at IOA and you'll see that nursing in public can be incredibly discreet... I doubt many people even knew what I was doing.

Anyway, the ONLY reactions I've ever experience have been positive.  Once, at a Boston Coffee House a guy came up to me and started talking about how his wife is 38 weeks pregnant with their first child and how she was planning a birth at one of our local birth centers.  He mentioned how nice it was to see someone nursing in public and raising awareness.  An older woman at a bbq joint let me know how wonderful it was to see younger women nursing in public -- she had a great statement that I won't be able to get quite right... something about how our country is a sad mix of puritans and cowboys.  One of the funniest NIP stories I have happened when I was nursing my daughter at a mall playground while my preschooler played.  A little girl, about 18 months, walked over to me, stood close by and stared at me.  When her mom came over, she laughed and said that she had just weaned her daughter.... we made jokes that she was 'standing in line'... I mean, heck, hers work... I'll just have some at that tap!

So, ladies (and gentlemen, too, if you want to share your wife/girlfriend/friend's story)... do you have some nursing in public stories?  Funny, good, bad, sad, whatever... share!

Sneak peek at one of our new fundraisers!

As many of you know, I've been looking for a way to create beautiful onesies that we can use in two ways -- one is as a perk to go in the bags and the other is to use it as a way to raise funds.  Since we're new and short on cash, spending $7.50 a onesie to get it screen printed is way out of our reach, so I've been searching for ways to do it myself (short of purchasing screen printing machines). 

Ask Me About Breastfeeding and PeaceLoveBreastfeeding

Finally, I've done it and WHAT a success!  I found a really easy method that I can do at home with really awesome results.  If you look at the pictures, you'll notice that the images seem almost distressed or vintage in nature and that's because they are.  Unlike many t-shirt transfers that sit on top of the fibers (and thus can crack and peel over time or when stretched and feel stiff), the ink is actually set into the fibers...  This results in a piece of clothing that you can iron (even over the image itself) and stretch and that feels almost as soft as the t-shirt underneath.  It's not as bright and bold as the other options but, personally, I like this a bit better (especially considering how nice these transfers feel).  These have even been washed and dried after the printing process to ensure they won't bleed in your laundry. 

Healthy, Happy Breast Fed Baby and our Logo

So, what do you all think?  I've used our logo (designed by the wonderful graphic designer Tabatha -- thanks momma!) in various designs...  Would you want one for your babe?  I'm going to be offering them for $10 as an introductory price -- I'll have a few of each design made.  Let me know if there's one in specific you want, along with the size you would like.  I'm using Gerber onesies currently but I can use Hanes t-shirts if you'd like something larger.

New Items for Sale in our Etsy Shop!

Hey all, this is Jen popping in to let everyone know we've added three items to our fundraising Etsy shop!  We got our bumper stickers today and I must say, they look awesome! 

The three stickers are:  "Make Milk, Not War," "Breastfeeding.  It does a baby good." and "Veni Vidi Vici VBAC" (I successfully had my VBAC in February, so this issue is very near-and-dear to my heart).  I'll put up pictures in the post so everyone can see!  Hurry and buy one!  If you live in the Orlando area, we can arrange to meet somewhere so you can avoid shipping costs...

Have a great day,
Jen