The first few weeks of motherhood passed in a blur for me. It was an amazing high, and I was elated with my amazing birth experience. I was in love with my baby and I loved breastfeeding her from the very beginning. Within minutes of birth she fed for the first time, and she’s still going.
The main problem I had in the beginning, and especially at night, was remembering which breast she had last fed from. I have enough of a job deciphering left from right on a good day – add in post partum high, disturbed sleeping patterns and pretty much the whole lot and it was pretty impossible.
I had a set of beads which my mother gave me a few years ago in a craft box, so I dug them out one afternoon while my daughter, her granddaughter, had a nap. We sat in the lounge threading beads and chatting – I don’t remember what about, but I remember our mother/daughter time fondly.
I wore the bracelet continuously for the first few months swapping it after every feed to the side where we had to start next. This was especially useful for the night time feeds, once I remembered to do it!
Soon I learned to feel which side was ready for a feed and no longer needed the bracelet. I took it off and put it in my daughter’s memory box, where it will go with her first tooth, her first lock of hair and her own christening bracelet.
Jo from Babybeads UK, who offered us the beautiful necklace earlier in the week, has also offered us a bracelet for all you soon to be mums, new mums or friends and family of mums. The Babybeads UK bracelets (click the link to the left of the page) have no fiddly clasps to struggle with, but instead are elasticated for ease of changeover – especially useful at night!
Their bracelets serve as subtle reminders, and no one else will know what the bracelet is for.
These bracelets sell for £4 each, and if you look at what other mums have to say, you will see that they have found it useful too. You can also receive news and special offers from Babybeads UK by signing up to receive their newsletter.
To enter to win a breastfeeding bracelet for yourself or a friend, head on over to the website and see which bracelet is your favourite then leave a comment here to let me know which you would prefer should you be the winner. (These are examples and may differ from what you receive). I will draw a random winner using random.org. The competition closes on 2 July at 12 noon and the winner will be announced here on 3 July. The competition is open to UK readers only.
For more information on breastfeeding and more competitions relating to breastfeeding, please see Breastfeeding Awareness Week.
Diary of a First Child is a blog about natural parenting and learning how to be a natural parent. If you like what you see here, please subscribe to my RSS Feed or become a friend on Google Friend Connect (sidebar on the right). I would love to hear from you, so please feel free to contact me by email on diaryofafirstchild @ googlemail.com or on twitter @diaryfirstchild. I look forward to chatting to you!
Small print:
Please leave an email address/blog address/twitter name where I can contact the winner. If I am unable to make contact within one week I will select a new winner and the previously selected winner will have no recourse to the prize.
Prizes are sent out by sponsors directly. Please get in touch if you do not receive your prize within four weeks of the closing date.
And the winner is:
Thank you to Babybeads UK for sponsoring this giveaway.
Remember you can still buy a bracelet for only £4.00
Thank you to everyone who entered!
The heart braclet is lovely. A great idea too, I can never remember.
I love the blue flower bracelet! I’ve always used a hair band to remind me and even then I forget to change it to the other wrist! Lovely picture by the way!
.-= Laura C´s last blog ..The Mastermind of a 3 year old – Ice cream =-.
Love the purple flower bracelet. MUCH more attractive than my current silicon charity bracelet, which is playing the same role.
Ladybird is also my favourite
Love ladybirds.
This is a great idea especially as I don’t get a full feeling a.ymore x
And I’m not actually Urbanvox – oops, that’s what I get for pinching the husband’s browser! Vic x
.-= urbanvox´s last blog ..The One Where I Talk About Boobs and Milk =-.
@urbanvox, lol! no worries!
I like the purple flower bracelet.
.-= urbanvox´s last blog ..The One Where I Talk About Boobs and Milk =-.
rather like the ladybird bracelets.
Oddly, when I follow your link I get a page on the bead website without any pictures, then when I click on the link in the menu I appear to get the same page but with pictures. Dunno if that’s a quirk of my setup or yours!
.-= Jax´s last blog ..Not just another day. =-.
@Jax, Yes, I just tried it and it did the same for me. Thanks for letting me know – I’ve adjusted the text!