An awesome application for your iPhone or iPod touch to make life as a nursing mom easier. You already have so much to remember and think about with your new baby, keeping track of breastfeeding shouldn’t be adding stress to your life!
 
Baby Tracker: Nursing keeps track of your nursing sessions with just a few clicks, allowing you to relax and focus on feeding your baby without worrying about lists and sheets of paper, stop-watches and safety pins in your bra, or extraneous ribbons and bracelets!

Baby Tracker: Nursing is a real time tool. With just a few clicks your nursing session is recorded: length of time and the side you nursed on (or both), always noting which side you nursed on last!

A detailed nursing history is always right in front of you and permanently stored in daily logs for future reference. And since it’s on your iPhone or iPod touch you always have it with you! 

Features

– Easy start/stop timer for the Left and Right nursing sides.

– Promotion of proper alternate side nursing with both visual cues (safety pins) and simple Begin (alternate) side functionality.

– Multiple baby support (up to 6), with names and easy switching (slide your finger left or right).

– Nursing history log grouped by day.

– Add new nursing sessions manually without using the timer or edit previous saved sessions.

– Record bottle feedings by type (Formula/Milk), volume (oz/mL), and amount.

– Twin and triplet support to easily nurse from one baby to the next.

– Change the background color to (Pink, Blue, Green, or Gray).

– Full day summary of nursing times and session counts, ready to show your doctor or lactation consultant.

– Last Feeding time is always visible so you know when the next feeding should be.

Baby Tracker: Nursing application is available at the iPhone App Store and cost to download the application is $7.99.  For more information visit http://www.andesigned.net/

We recently spent some time with breastfeeding educator and Founder of The Motherhood Center, Gabriela Gerhart, and wanted to share with you our conversation regarding breastfeeding and alcohol. 

Q/MilkscreenMoms:  What is the most common reason that women stop breastfeeding?

A/Gerhart:  There are many reasons moms give for why they stop breastfeeding and most of the time it is because they want to regain a ‘normal’ life.  By normal life I mean a time when the mother is not dictated by breastfeeding, pumping, sleep schedules and dietary restrictions.

Q/MilkscreenMoms:  You mention dietary restrictions and we commonly hear of alcohol as one of these restrictions for women that are nursing.  As a breastfeeding educator, what is realistic in regards to alcohol consumption post delivery?

A/Gerhart:  One of the most common questions I hear from women is ‘can I occasionally drink while breastfeeding my baby?’  Moms have given up drinking for nine months or longer during conception and pregnancy but are worried about passing anything negative to their baby.  Most women are often advised to ‘wait’ before breastfeeding their babies after consuming alcohol; but ‘waiting’ is vague and most moms don’t have a lot of time, so they end up pumping and dumping their breast milk.

Q/MilkscreenMoms:  Does pumping and dumping remove alcohol from breast milk?

A/Gerhart:  No.  As alcohol leaves the bloodstream, it also leaves the breast milk.  Since alcohol is not ‘trapped’ in breast milk (it returns to the bloodstream as mother’s blood alcohol level declines), pumping and dumping will not remove it.  Pumping and dumping, drinking a lot of water, resting, or drinking coffee will not speed up the rate of the elimination of alcohol from your body.  Plus depending on the amount of alcohol consumed, pumping and dumping may be unnecessary.  If mom took the time to pump she certainly does not want to waste that precious breast milk.

Q/MilkscreenMoms:  So if waiting is too vague and pumping and dumping doesn’t actually remove alcohol from breast milk, what are other options for women?

A/Gerhart:  Of course there is abstinence but as I mentioned before some women choose to stop breastfeeding rather than abstain completely.  However, all experts recommend doing everything possible to maximize the period of time that mom breastfeeds her baby.  For women that want to occasionally consume alcohol but also continue breastfeeding, we tell them about Milkscreen.  I’ve found that many of our clients actually continue breastfeeding much longer than they would have otherwise due to their ability to test their breast milk after enjoying an occasional glass of wine without fearing the effects on their baby. 

Thank you Gabriela for your time.  We know a lot of women are going to benefit from this valuable information.