Chronicles of a Nursing Mom

Date Nights at New World Makati's Jasmine

2013-06-18T10:32:00.000+08:00

New World Makati is always special to me because this was one of the places where Mr. Ong and I dated in the early days of our relationship. I still remember our "kilig" moments at the now-closed Bocarino's almost 15 years ago.

Recently, the SoMoms were invited to a dinner at Jasmine restaurant to introduce their fine Cantonese signature sets. Whenever I hear Chinese restaurants set menus, I always think of lauriat meals. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that New World's Jasmine does their Chinese restaurants set menus in style!

Unlike most lauriat meals, the Signature Sets can already be ordered with a minimum of 2 persons - very conducive for date nights. Tonight was a date night with girl friends and with great food and excellent company, it was a night full of laughter!

We started with a trio of appetizers - Chinese sushi, Wagyu beef roll and golden scallop on tropical fresh fruits. Everyone else wolfed down their scallop first but I saved it for very last! Tender and juicy - yum!! The Wagyu beef roll was also very good - crunchy and savory. Next, we had some braised seafood soup with bamboo shoots and conpoy. I can never have my soup without black vinegar. I find that it adds a little kick.

My favorite dishes from the set menu were the steamed king prawns with garlic and noodles and the deep fried fish fillet, salted egg yolk and steamed egg white. The prawn + garlic was really good and I forgot to take a photo until after I had eaten all the noodles (oops!). The sauce and noodles added flavor to the prawn meat. I also enjoyed the mix of egg whites and salted egg yolk which made the deep fried fish fillet dish far from boring.

We also met the Cantonese chefs - led by Chef Wong Kam On who designed the four Signature Sets - ranging from P750+ per person to P1,450+ per person. Neither could speak English very well but happily, we had Cai who could converse with them.

Aside from the Signature Sets, Jasmine also has unlimited dimsum at P600++ (about 660p) with tea or soda and P950+ with champagne on weekends.

Menu for Unlimited Dimsum

Our family loves dimsum! N particularly considers siomai and xiao long bao as her special treats and regularly request that we eat at restaurants serving these items. We used to dine at a hotel in Ortigas with unlimited dimsum at 888p. However, we were disappointed during our recent visit because the dimsum was limited to certain items only plus service was really slow (that was early lunch when there were only few tables filled). Thus, Jasmine's unlimited dimsum offering is a welcome addition to our dining choices.

A #SoMoms gathering is always filled with laughter, chit-chats and good memories. To cap off the evening, New World sent us home with a tin of their cookies from the bakery.

To book your own date nights at New World, call them at 811-6888.

Happy Father's Day to our Breastfeeding Daddy!

2013-06-16T07:08:00.001+08:00

This year marks Stan's 6th Father's Day. Not because I am being biased - but he is excellent at being a father! There is a running contest among Stan's barkada about how he is doting dad ideal. Beyond being a doting dad, there are just so many things that I am thankful for and let me take the opportunity to do so in this blog post.

Thank you for overcoming your squeamishness, holding up my legs when it was time to deliver our babies and wrapping up E's placenta for future use.
Thank you for changing all diapers - wet and dirty during the kids' first month, allowing me to learn how to breastfeed and to recuperate.
Thank you for giving both our kids their first baths, washing their faces, cleaning up their poo and spit-ups and putting them to sleep, giving me a lot of "ME" time.
Thank you for attending breastfeeding and birthing classes with me and for never saying No even if you are skeptical of the practices I suggest.
Thank you for NEVER suggesting that we switch to formula milk when I was having trouble with N.
Thank you for bearing with me when I asked to see several lactation counselors, breastfeeding counselors to get my latch, positioning right.
Thank you for taking breastfeeding photographs, for being open to talk about and give breastfeeding tips to families (especially dads) who ask you about it.
Thank you for making the kids laugh and scheduling daddy dates without me or the kids asking you to.
Thank you for keeping it cool during the times I lose my temper.
Thank you for never being a male chauvinist - for stepping up to take care of our children's needs - without thought on whether it is a man's job or a woman's job.
Thank you for giving your children their best start in life by encouraging me to breastfeed and adopting my advocacy as your own.

Happy Father's Day to the Number One Dad in our lives!! We love you!

Issues raised about the #beststartswithdad turnaround campaign

2013-06-07T08:50:00.000+08:00

When I wrote my last post about #beststartswithdad, several people asked me why I was so bothered when the campaign was for growing up milk? Was I against thanking the dads? Am I making formula feeding moms guilty?

I am not against companies thanking dads for their support, etc.etc. But when the campaign undermines breastfeeding, then I take a stand.

How does the campaign undermine breastfeeding when it is trying to sell growing up milk (3+ and 6+)?
This article from UNICEF UK best answers this question. Access the full article here:
http://www.unicef.org.uk/BabyFriendly/News-and-Research/Research/Miscellaneous-illnesses/Legal-loophole-allows-banned-formula-advertising-to-mothers/

"When the advertising ban was introduced, it didn't cover follow-on formula," said Andrew Radford, Director of UNICEF UK's Baby Friendly Initiative. "The manufacturers have since changed the way they package and promote their follow-on formulas so that they're almost identical to the regular infant formula. This means that a supposedly legal TV or magazine advert for a follow-on formula will also promote a company's infant formula.

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The survey also reveals that many mothers are unclear about the distinction between the different types of formula milk. Of the mothers who had used follow-on milk, nearly one in five said they started before their baby was three months old, despite the product's higher mineral content, which is unsuitable before six months."

In fact, there was someone who commented on my blog about how advertisements affect breastfeeding mothers - most especially C, D, E:

So even if the products being promoted here in the #beststartswithdad campaign refer to growing up milk, IT DOES affect breastfeeding.

In fact, this campaign just emphasizes or reiterates what the UNICEF write-up says about the way manufacturers market their products. And I do not just refer to the "BEST STARTS" tag line, which I have already discussed in my previous post. Look at the campaign poster:

Nowhere in the poster is there ANY mention of the products - Lactum or Enfakid. Instead, what is right in your face is "MEAD JOHNSON NUTRITION." Why is that? To associate the campaign with MJN and not with any specific product. Why? Because MJN also manufactures infant formula. To explain further, let me just quote Jen's comment below:

Think about this. Mead Johnson, a milk company (yes, the ENTIRE RANGE from forumla to older people milk), focuses on dads. Dads feel good (marketing nga eh, diba?)! And who wouldn't with the carrots they're dangling (gadgets, etc). One day Mom has a new baby and she might be having a difficult first 2-3 days. Dad remembers MJN and says "honey, bili nalang tayo ng ********, para di ka mahirapan." Then that can RUIN the REAL BEST START ng baby -- ang Breastfeeding. When Dads do this, MJN HOPES that the dads remember them. (this is where it translates to sales for MJN).

Another common refrain? Do you think consumers are THAT naive? Well not all but yes there ARE people who get confused - like purble's maid. And we are waging this campaign for them.

Why the need to criticize Mead Johnson and the campaign? And why not focus your energy on extolling the benefits of breastfeeding?
Because IT IS NOT ENOUGH to just educate parents about the benefits of breastfeeding. There is a recent news article about the current situation in Mexico - you can access the link here
http://www.montrealgazette.com/health/Breastfeeding+woes+Mexico+sees+dramatic+drop+moms+nursing/8483401/story.html

Despite the well-known advantages to breast milk and vigorous campaigns around the world championing breast as best, Mexican mothers say the bottle is better.

In a dramatic decline over the past six years, today only one in seven mothers in Mexico breast-feeds exclusively in the first six months, the standard recommended by the World Health Organization. That leaves Mexico with nearly the lowest level of breast-feeding in Latin America.

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Officials blame an invasion of baby food ads, little regulation of formula companies and the failure of doctors to promote breast-feeding for an overreliance on formula.

Mexico has become the example of what not to do. It's the strongest case of a setback in breast-feeding," said Marcos Arana Cedeno, a child nutrition expert and health adviser for the state of Chiapas.

It has to be hand in hand - breastfeeding promotion plus regulation of marketing. The regulation of marketing is very important which is why there is even a World Health Organization International Code of Marketing Breastmilk Substitutes. So should we wait until our breastfeeding rates be like Mexico's?

Breastfeeding advocacy is not just a single approach - it is three-pronged:

PROTECT - against marketing/advertising that undermines it
PROMOTE - breastfeeding information, classes, educate public
SUPPORT - provide support, counseling to the breastfeeding mother

To end, this campaign to turn around #beststartswithdads into a #breastfeeding campaign is not an attack on formula feeding moms. However, I am not about to assuage any formula feeding moms' guilt by not talking about a campaign that undermines breastfeeding. It is only by writing about the campaign can we make people stop and think about it. See, if people simply stop, even just consider not buying growing up milk or even just be open to talk about the perils of advertising/marketing of growing up milk - and even if they do not necessarily agree with me, half the battle is already won by virtue of discussion.

Breastfeeding: #beststartswithdad

2013-06-03T22:52:00.003+08:00

I was supposed to start off June with a feel good post about our summer vacation. However, with the launch of this devious underhanded marketing campaign of Mead Johnson, I have to start June with this not-feel good post.

Some weeks ago, some blogger friends received this invitation and sent it to me. I was not invited (for obvious reasons!!) and I wasn't the type to crash an event just to find out what was going on.

Then last night, Jen shared this article with me. The author talks about is experiences with his dad and how he is raising his own son. La di da, it is a well-written article targeted for Father's Day. But what made my temperature rise was this blurb at the end:

Mead Johnson is actively launching this sneaky campaign, this time targeting dads! With social media, more and more moms are aware of the Milk Code and constantly keep an eye on the actions of milk companies. Perhaps the milk companies are aware of this and decided to shift gears to focus on dads.

This is very disturbing, devious and sneaky. Most disturbing of all, it undermines breastfeeding. We all know how big the role of a dad is in a successful mother-baby relationship. My own husband, Stanley, has been instrumental in my extended breastfeeding relationship with my kids. N nursed for 5 years while E is still nursing at almost 18 months. I never doubted my decision to nurse my babies beyond toddlerhood because Stan fully supported my decision.

In one of the forums I am part of, one of the moms, Eliang Sanchez, shared this story (translated from Filipino):

My sister and some of her friends visited my house today. They saw my 3-months old baby boy and one of the male friends, "A"asked me if I am breastfeeding my baby. I proudly said yes and proudly showed off my healthy baby. Then A suddenly shared to us about how his child is 1.5 years old already and still breastfed. I congratulated him and expressed my own hope to breastfeed my child for that long as well. Unfortunately, he expressed disgust - saying that his wife's breasts were now sagging up to her tummy and he was wondering if it will still go back to normal. Plus he also shared how he was disgusted when his baby feeds on one breasts and plays with the other one while nursing. I expressed my disappointment and told A that I pity his wife because everything his wife is doing is for their child and it is sad because it just shows that A doesn't love his wife with these things that he is saying.

As Velvet pointed out, this ignorant man-specie is the perfect example of society's sexualization of the breasts. So how does this relate to the campaign? Mead Johnson's tagline for this campaign is #beststartswithdad and through this Facebook page asks for submissions of father and child photos offering entrants the chance to win popular tech prizes.

If you visit the "About" of the page, this is what is written there:

Mead Johnson Nutrition's mission is to nourish the world's children for the best start in life. This year, MJN Philippines launches the BEST STARTS WITH DAD campaign to pay tribute to all fathers for wanting to give the best for their children.

We all know that the "best start" to life is BREASTFEEDING. But this campaign would like you (most especially dads) to think otherwise - it aims to convince dads that the best start to life is "Mead Johnson Nutrition." Sure, MJN will claim - hey what we are focusing on here is milk for 3+ and 6+ but we also know that they manufacture infant formula Enfalac and Enfapro. This is subliminal marketing at work!

By convincing dads that the best start to life is Mead Johnson Nutrition, they are undermining breastfeeding by removing a crucial factor in the successful breastfeeding relationship - the dad! How many moms do you think will stop breastfeeding if their husbands are convinced (and convince them) that MJN products will be the best start for their children? Couple that with image issues like what that ignorant man-specie had imputed on his wife. Dads can make or break the breastfeeding relationship!

The campaign is up and running and Rappler will be hosting a #beststartswithdad conversation on June 16 and MJN is sweetening the pie by offering enticing prizes. So what can we do?

1. If you are a blogger, check your ad units. I have a nuffnang widget on my blog and I asked them to put down the Mead Johnson ad - otherwise, I will remove the nuffnang ad unit. Please do let me know if you still see the ad on my blog.

2. Report this campaign as a violation of the Milk Code because it undermines breastfeeding. I called the IAC and was informed that because this is growing up milk (milk for 3+), there is no pre-monitoring of the ads but only post-monitoring. However, if there are enough reports that the campaign undermines breastfeeding, the IAC can take action. You can report the violation in this website.

3. Participate and share your stories how dads helped breastfeeding relationships succeed. Use the #beststartswithdad hashtag. Visit Rappler's IG photo - http://instagram.com/p/aF3urJmtW3/ and comment. Tweet about breastfeeding being the best start with dad and use the #beststartswithdad hashtag.

Let your voice be heard and make it clear that the best start with dad is not Mead Johnson but breastfeeding.

Update: A Pia Ranada from Rappler has been actively commenting in this post (see below). I find this comment very interesting:

If a company wishes to greet fathers on father's day and the company happens to sell infant formula, it is a stretch in logic to say that they are asking dads to make their wives use infant formula instead of breastfeed their babies. I think consumers are smart enough to know the difference between celebrating father's day and choosing how to nourish their babies.

I ask you - do you think that a milk company with a promotion giving away IPads, a MacBook Air, paying ad units and sponsoring advertorials - is just going to greet dads a "happy father's day" out of the goodness of their hearts?

As very well explained by fellow LATCHer Sylvia, this "Best Start" is a sly marketing campaign by Mead Johnson to promote their bread and butter - infant formula. They cannot advertise their products for babies 0-12 months so they focus on WHAT they can advertise - growing up milk. Strangely though, the hash tag is "BEST START" why not "BEST TIMES" or "BEST MOMENTS"? Why focus on "START"? "BEST START" is implicitly linked to babies and this campaign really conditions the public to associate "best start" with Mead Johnson - who by the way makes infant formula (contrary to what Pia Ranada claims below - that MJ does not manufacture milk for children below 3 years old).

Read my follow-up post here, with answers to common questions raised about this post.

Reconciling Milk Storage Guidelines - Philippine Setting

2013-05-31T16:12:00.002+08:00

I haven't posted anything for more than 1 week!! I started working on this post about 2 weeks ago and really agonized how to make it all come together. Finally, here it is and I hope this will be helpful and not confusing to breastfeeding moms.

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Back in my 2009 post about milk storage guidelines, I referred to guidelines culled from Western countries. I'm happy to share that there are now guidelines specifically created for the Philippine climate. However, if you notice the charts, the suggested storage guidelines are not the same. One guidelines were developed by MDs while the other was developed by internationally recognized expert breastfeeding counselors.

Guidelines from Arugaan

Guidelines from the Philippine National
Committee on Human Milk Banking

The first set of guidelines were developed by Arugaan. According to Ines Avellana-Fernandez, the ranges specified in the Arugaan guidelines is dependent on usage. Nanay Ines engaged with Dr. Ruth Elena Arango of Guatemala Ministry of Health in developing these guidelines. The Philippines and Guatemala share similar traditional practices. For instance, the "refrigeration system" used is by digging the soil and placing earthen jars to cool and preserve food.

Since the 1980's, Nanay Ines adopted and taught a similar method applied by Filipino breastfeeding mothers in urban poor communities - placing expressed breastmilk in containers (usually recycled bottles) inside a container with water to avoid ants and keep the milk cool despite of the heat.

To overcome brownouts, the mothers put small bottles of expressed breastmilk inside a plastic bag with water then freeze everything - double bagging. The bag of water will be defrosted first, keeping the expressed breastmilk in a frozen state. This will allow the frozen expressed milk to last longer - until the brownout ends.

Meanwhile, Dr. Lei Alfonso has also discussed storage guidelines for Pinay moms in her blog here. One thing that really bothered me about the MD guidelines was that the storage period was much shorter. I asked one of the drafters, Dr. Jessa Sareno why they drafted it as such. She shares that since most Filipino households that have refrigerators usually have a lot of household members using the same ref (e.g. opening and closing the ref often), the Committee opted to recommend the margin of safety that can ensure the optimal quality of stored milk. If the refrigerator is dedicated for breastmilk (which is rare and usually cannot be afforded by an average low-income Filipino), then more than 48 hours may still be safe.

If you noticed, the MD guidelines referred to 24-48 hours in the refrigerator while the Arugaan guidelines referred to 3-5 days. Fortunately, my favorite resource Dr. Z reminded me of two things. First, if in law we have different levels of quantum of proof (substantial evidence, prepoderance of evidence, proof beyond reasonable doubt), in medicine they follow a similar levels of evidence when they offer clinical advice.

When the Committee on Milk Banking drafted their recommendations, they used the highest level of evidence - where recommendations are based on pooling of current available scientific data. (Edit: Dr. Z clarified: "When drafting recommendations, we ideally use the highest level of scientific evidence available at the time - so if there are multiple studies then we pool that data together, and if there are none, then we will end up using Expert Opinion")

Meanwhile, Nanay Ines' recommendations are considered "Expert Opinion" - based on her background research, experiences and learnings. Dr. Z shares that often times, it is expert opinion that drives further scientific study and a possible later change in policy or recommendations. And this is very true in breastfeeding. If you read this article about Dr. Jack Newman, he pioneered several ideas (based on expert opinion) which have now been adopted as part of basic breastfeeding advice or guidelines.

Secondly, Dr. Z emphasized that guidelines are not laws but are "best practice" suggestions. For example, for newborns, it is recommended that you feed from 8-12 times a day (or every 2-3 hours). But as moms we know that this is not always true because there are some babies who feed every hour - and this does not mean that there is anything wrong with your baby or your supply.

Thus, to reconcile, I would choose to be conservative if my circumstances permit me but still apply Arugaan's guidelines as my maximum range. For instance, the milk I express early morning (6am) sits at room temperature ready for E's consumption at about 9am. However, if he doesn't completely finish the milk by 1-2pm, we don't throw it out but keep it in the refrigerator for consumption later in the day. In the same manner, if I know I won't be using Monday's expressed milk, I don't wait until Wednesday before we move it to the freezer. We freeze it right away. However, if on Thursday we still find some Monday milk, we don't throw it out. We either give it to E or freeze it.

As a final note, to convince yourself that the milk you are giving your baby is not spoiled, I would suggest that you purposely spoil some of your breastmilk. Take half an ounce or even less of your milk and leave it outside or in the refrigerator for such a time until it spoils. Then smell your milk - it will smell really BAD! Then once you and your caregiver knows how spoiled breastmilk smells like, then you can be sure that you won't ever be giving your baby spoiled milk!

Edit from Velvet of Arugaan: The reason why there is so much concern about the life of breastmilk is because our society is used to the standards set for formula milk. While formula milk expires within 1 hour from the time it was made, breastmilk is much more potent. So even when abused, breastmilk is still alive and much like babies, breastmilk is sturdier than we think it is!

Quick Reminder: Working Mom May 2013 - Setting up your Lactation Policy

2013-05-23T07:20:00.001+08:00

May is about to end and just a quick reminder to grab a copy of Working Mom May 2013. I have an article there about how we set up our lactation rooms in the workplace and how we are currently working on our lactation policy.

I have a compilation of posts in this blog related to breastfeeding and working and you can see them here. Meanwhile, you can download and print this very useful guide (PDF) from the Department of Labor and Employment's Bureau of Workers with Special Concerns.

I can, let me reiterate, nothing will happen if you don't take the first step. So read, research, know your rights and make the move! You never know - the lactation room/policy may just be a request away.

Online Shopping? Try Taste Central

2013-05-18T17:16:00.000+08:00

As a full time working mom, I am addicted to online shopping. My favorite local deal site is Deal Grocer. I have booked several vacations through them - from Misibis Bay, Crimson Resort, Taal Vista plus countless of vouchers for lunches and dinners in various restaurants.

I was pleasantly surprised and excited when they launched a shopping site - Taste Central. I am a huge fan of shopping sites such as Zulily, Gilt and HauteLook. However, since these are US-based sites, I have to wait for months before I get my purchase.

Taste Central makes various brands - both local and foreign - easily available for immediate purchase. They generously sent the SoMoms shopping credits and asked us to try out their site. New products and brands are uploaded every Sunday so I made sure to schedule my shopping day on a weekend.

To be honest, most of my shopping is now for the kids and my husband. Happily, Taste Central has a lot of items for them.
To start, you can log-in using your Deal Grocer account. Since I'm a Deal Grocer Platinum member, I get free shipping at Taste Central. The products are grouped according to category and you can also see the items on "Sale" or "Special" with one click.

Because we have several trips coming up which will be spent in beaches and theme parks, I opted to get Babiators for the kids. Meanwhile, Mr. Ong and I love coffee and home massages. Hence, I included a set of Blue Kitchen Coffee and a set of VitaOils Mulberry Healing Oils Set. I also purchased a Farm to Table Modern Twist Kidz Box for N.

I added items to my cart by clicking the "Buy Now" button then "Add to Cart". You do have to shop quickly because Taste Central holds items in your shopping cart only for 30 minutes. If you are not a Platinum Deal Grocer member, you have to pay a flat rate shipping fee of P100 - regardless of the number of items you order. I settled my order via Paypal. I placed my order on a Sunday and received everything on Wednesday. Talk about speedy service!

our loot from Taste Central

packaged really well

Opening a Taste Central package is like opening presents! Everything was very well wrapped to prevent spills and broken pieces. The receipt was included and packaged in a cardboard envelope. To prevent the items from bouncing about in the box, they added paper to cushion.

enjoying our purchases

Purchasing at Taste Central is simple, easy and dangerous to my wallet! Whatever great service I received from Deal Grocer was replicated in my experience with Taste Central. They have a repeat customer in me for sure!

The Sad State of Filipino Families [Formula Milk Marketing]

2013-05-16T15:29:00.000+08:00

Photo by Atty. Ipat Luna

I do not consider formula milk as evil or poison. While I encourage breastfeeding, when moms choose to formula feed, I shut my mouth. However, what I am up in arms against would be the evils of formula milk marketing.

Whatever formula milk companies say (we promote breastfeeding, breastfeeding is best, etc. etc.) keep in mind that breastfeeding is their number 1 competitor. Breastfeeding or breastmilk is free while their product has a huge ecological footprint and also makes a big hole in the consumers' pockets. What is more sickening is that they target their marketing activities to the poorest of the poor -- to those who cannot actually afford their products.

I'm lucky to be connected to breastfeeding angels who are working with grassroots, communities directly affected by the marketing activities of these milk companies. Nanay Ines Fernandez of Arugaan regularly shares what she sees in the various communities she serves.

Nanay Ines shared about the marketing activities of the milk companies such as funding Christmas parties for the city and barangay health workers, treating them to movie tickets and so on and so forth. There are companies with very aggressive medical representatives who give P1,000 incentive for each worker who are able to gather 10 mothers who can collect 10 box tops from a milk carton. The mothers are each given a milk tin in exchange for the 10 box tops while the health worker is given the monetary incentive. That's 100 box tops for every P1,000 or just P10 incentive for every box top - piece of cake for the milk company who simply charges it to their marketing or advertising budget.

It is very frustrating that the target market are the urban poor communities. Milk companies hook mothers on the expensive formula through subtle sampling and giveaways. Brands for the younger babies are more expensive than those for older kids. Poor urban mother usually starts off with the expensive brand which costs about P90 per day. After 2 weeks, mother realizes that she cannot afford expensive brand and switches to the cheaper brand targeted to older kids. Eventually, moms end up using tinned milk, creamer or worse sugar water.

Arugaan saw this first hand when they were conducting their training for peer counselors in various cities. It is a sad situation for Filipino mothers who cannot afford the milk products. Those mothers are NOT the readers of this blog but those are the mothers who are affected by the evils of formula milk marketing.

To those moms who choose to formula feed and say that breastfeeding is a choice, you are lucky because you have that choice. However, for a lot of Filipino moms, breastfeeding is life and death for their babies.

Why am I writing this? Because I want you to understand that there is a reason why I am a strong advocate for the strict implementation of our Milk Code. Yes, you might be happy with the sales on bottles, milk products but let's not live within the comfort of our world and think of how a strict implementation of the Milk Code can affect those who need it most.

Mom's Perfect Day at Ayala Malls

2013-05-13T11:11:00.004+08:00

To celebrate Mother's day, the SoMoms were invited to spend the day at Ayala Malls. We were also treated to a pre-Mother's day shopping at Gingersnaps. Gingersnaps is one of my favorite brands for kids and I usually end up buying N or E an item from each of their collections. The task was to buy a Mom and Me outfit for the high tea party on Mother's Day.

We headed out to Gingersnaps Glorietta 2 to shop for the kids' outfits first. I didn't expect to find my outfit at Gingersnaps since their adult line is for maternity. But I was pleasantly surprised! I found out that I still fit in their teen line - Just G - albeit the biggest size. Plus I found a maternity dress that I liked and could actually use as a nursing outfit!

Left: In Just G - the teen line - fitting the biggest size!
Right: Me in a wrap dress and N in a jumpsuit

I shopped with fellow SoMom Neva of Manila Mommy and kids. Shopping with kids is a riot! Good thing when we stopped by Gingersnaps Glorietta 2, the sales people were patient and accommodating, allowing us to find the perfect outfits and they entertained the kids too!

shopping with kids is no easy task!

For Mother's Day, since we were dining with my mom and mother in law, my sister chose a restaurant that everyone liked. So, we headed out to one of our favorite Japanese restaurant - Kimpura in Greenbelt 5. Stan's family have been regulars even when this restaurant was still in Glorietta 2. My family is a recent convert. I was happy that we were able to dine together (mom and mom-in-law) and really thankful that they get together well :)

grandma, moms and kids

After lunch, we proceeded to the 2nd floor of Greenbelt 5, The Gallery, where Ayala Malls' "Music Takes Wing on Mother's Day" was happening. Aside from a live musical orchestra, there was a mini butterfly garden which N really enjoyed. Ayala Malls also prepared a Mother's Day Garden party with dessert treats, an express mani-pedi station and a photo booth.

E was lulled to sleep by the live orchestra
while N had fun at the butterfly garden

It was a busy afternoon. The SoMoms and SoKids also visited Gingersnaps, Lancome and Kiehl's for their Mother's Day specials. The kids were real troopers - posing for the camera and entertaining each other.

Top: SoKids in Gingersnaps
Bottom: The entire gang

Thank you Ayala Malls, Kiehls and Lancome

Shopping at Ayala Malls is even made more comfortable for families with the launch of their family lounges. I don't know about you but one of my top requirement in visiting a mall is to have a place where I can breastfeed and change my baby's diaper in peace. I was very pleased that Ayala Malls has dedicated spaces in their various malls for family lounges.

spanking new family lounge at Serendra (not yet open)
2nd floor, near Gymboree and Hossein

Entrance to family lounges is free for A+ card holders and costs 10pesos per person for non-card holders. However, if you are a breastfeeding and/or pumping mom, you get to use the breastfeeding lounge for free!

airy and bright - family lounge at Greenbelt 5, 4F
more photos from the designer Kish

I've previously posted about this and received emails that some breastfeeding moms are still charged for the use of the breastfeeding station. I clarified this with Ms. Thez Garcia of Customer Relations and was informed that breastfeeding/pumping moms can indeed use the lounge for free and they have cascaded this information to the lounge personnel.

breastfeeding nook at Glorietta 4 family lounge
3rd floor near Rustan's

Other Ayala Malls with family lounges include Abreeza (in Davao) - 2nd floor near Timex; Alabang Town Center - upper ground level, Corte de las Palmas; Market Market - 2nd level between Kevin's Kut and Alteresi and Trinoma - level 3, beside Sony Centre.

It was certainly a fun Mother's day since I got to spend time with my mom and Stan got to spend time with his own mom. Thanks to Ayala Malls for the great afternoon!

everyday is a perfect day when I'm with my loves
thank you Gingersnaps!

Mother's day is a special day for me to thank my husband and my children for making me into a mother.

How did you spend mother's day?

Long Distance Travel with Breastmilk

2013-05-09T12:02:00.003+08:00

Traveling with breastmilk is a top concern of mothers - especially those who have to go out of the country and still want to bring home their milk. I have previously posted tips on traveling and expressing milk without baby and how to transport breastmilk via air (Asian travel).

My own experiences in transporting breastmilk involved air travel, dry ice and regular ice packs. For this post, I will share some tips on traveling with refrigerated breastmilk with travel time of about 6 hours and traveling with frozen breastmilk using dry ice.

As previously shared by Steph, if you are away from your baby for about 4-5 days, I would suggest that you don't freeze your milk and keep it refrigerated. Freezing breastmilk kills some of the good bacteria to make the milk last longer. Also, it is more challenging to transport frozen breastmilk because you need to maintain really a cold temperature to prevent thawing. When traveling with chilled breastmilk, I recommend that you hand carry it in a Fridge to Go or you can use those coolers from department stores and fill them with these chillers:

On whether you can handcarry your milk or not? We do not have set rules. If you do ask the airlines, they will tell you that you have to check in your milk. I have traveled to Davao City, Cebu, Caticlan and hand carried my breastmilk. So far so good, no issues. I didn't even have to declare the liquid as breastmilk. I just placed everything inside my handcarried bag and laid them on the x-ray conveyor.

Transatlantic or transpacific travels are more challenging. I've successfully brought home frozen milk from the East Coast - all frozen solid when I arrived in Manila. It takes some planning but it is very doable.

Visit the website of your airline. Check their regulations for traveling with breastmilk. If there is none, print this document from the TSA and bring it. Remember though that the TSA is a US agency and each country has their own rules/regulations. However, for countries without specific rules on breastmilk, I've found that the TSA rules have a persuasive effect on airport officials who decides whether or not to let you hand carry your breastmilk.

If you have to check-in your breastmilk (e.g. travels of 16 hours or more), I would suggest you do it using dry ice. To transport milk using dry ice, you need to use an insulated box or an insulated bag placed in a box:

insulated box

insulated bag

I haven't seen an insulated box locally available but I have seen an insulated bag in S&R. Next, freeze your breastmilk and wrap them individually with cling wrap. After wrapping with cling wrap, wrap with newspaper. Why do I do this? My parents often send us meat from Davao City and it is always wrapped with newspaper to keep the cold in and make it last longer. I wrap the milk bags in cling wrap first because I don't want to milk bags to get dirty because of the newspaper. Note: If you only have refrigerated milk, dry ice will cause it to freeze so no problem with transporting refrigerated milk using dry ice.

Now the challenging part - sourcing and packing dry ice. In the Philippines, you can buy dry ice from the 2 companies listed here:

Philippine Industrial Gas Corporation - 525 M. Naval St., Navotas - phone number 2817951
Philippine CO2 Corporation - 453 Quirino Highway Novaliches, QC - phone number 9393806

Dry ice is P112 per kilo and minimum amount is 1 kilo to purchase. However, I suggest you call ahead to ensure that there is dry ice available for sale before you pick-up.

Remember that dry ice subliminates (solid turning to gas) so I suggest you pick up the dry ice the day before you leave. I also suggest that you read these FAQs about dry ice from these 2 sites: ADryIce and DryIceInfo.

Aviation rules in transporting dry ice. Full pdf here.

Check your airlines' rules in transporting dry ice. I usually find the rules by googling "dry ice" + "airline name". Generally, what is allowed is 5lbs of dry ice. But buy more because dry ice subliminates fast. When you purchase dry ice, don't store it in your refrigerator. Store it in a cooler outside your house or in your condominium's balcony. Dry ice subliminates into carbon dioxide and may cause suffocation if stored in an unventilated area. Dry ice also burns so handle it carefully and use gloves.

When packing, you need to make sure that there is no empty space to lengthen the life of your dry ice. Pack empty spaces with wadded newspapers. The frozen milk bags (individually wrapped in cling wrap and newspaper) are stacked and layered like bricks then the dry ice goes on top (because cold sinks).

If you are using an insulated box, seal with masking tape only in the middle and tie it up. If using an insulated bag, don't completely zip up the insulated bag. Put in a box then seal only in the middle. It is important that you do not completely seal the package. Again - dry ice subliminates and the carbon dioxide needs a place to escape - otherwise, it will explode.

Mark the box with dry ice and upon checking in, tell the check-in counter person that the package contains dry ice. Can you put the box inside your suitcase? Hmm... unless you don't completely seal your suitcase then you can. Remember, you cannot completely seal the container with dry ice as it may explode. So it is best to separate it from your other baggage so it will be properly marked and tagged.

Questions? Leave a comment? Find this post helpful? Feel free to share :)

A Mother's Day Raffle from Mothering Earthlings

2013-05-07T13:42:00.000+08:00

If you've been wondering about where I get the funky shirts and tops for my kids, I get them from Mothering Earthlings. Rone has gathered the funkiest and coolest items from Philippine brands and made online shopping fun and easy for busy moms like me.

Check out our fun stuff from Rone's shop!

waiting at the doctor's office in an agoo tee

sick baby says no photos mommy
getting his comfort from bitbit the rabbit

malling in Cebu in jelly nelly sandals and
googooandgaga tee

party hearty in ines moda infantil and in the crib

mom and me jelly nelly sandals

keeping kids busy in an anthill doll and spinkie rattle

getting cultured in her Strawberry Fields shirt

ready to decorate her gingerbread house in her
Two Tots personalized apron

To celebrate Mother's Day, Mothering Earthlings is raffling off a discount card for 1 COANM reader. This discount card is good for 10% off for all purchases for the next 6 months (July - December 2013). Contest will run from 6 May to 14 May 2013. Winner will be announced on 14 May 2013. Mothering Earthlings will deliver a soft copy of the discount card via email to the winner.

Meanwhile, you can visit Rone's store - Mothering Earthlings - to check out her goodies. You can also follow her on Twitter and Facebook to stay updated.

Interested? Join via Rafflecopter below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Last Chance to Make Your Own Havaianas

2013-05-05T08:42:00.002+08:00

Tuesday was a special night! Not only was it my first time to attend a "Make Your Own Havaianas" which is now on its 8th year (where was I, the past 7 years?!), I also got to spend a night out with girl friends!

I braved the traffic from Manila to Rockwell - and it was really bad because it was a payday and the eve of a holiday. I got to Rockwell Tent a little past 7 and the party was in full swing!

this hot air balloon made of slippers
greets you as you enter the venue

I met up with the SoMoms who were also all giddy with excitement. Most of us were attending MYOH for the first time and for some, it was the first night out (without kids!) for years!!

the SoMoms having fun!
thanks to Mommy Mundo for the photo

When I bought my first pair of Havaianas back in 2004, it was plain aqua blue - no fancy frills. Since then, Havaianas has expanded its collection - Disney, Filipinas and even UAAP designs! However, store-bought slippers are limited to fixed designs and there is no opportunity to design your own e.g. change straps or add pins, etc.

After going to #MYOH2013, I know understand why hordes of people flock to it year after year!

shelves full of colors

Yes, you are getting flip flops but there is something special about choosing your own design - personalizing it and knowing that you are making a unique one of a kind pair.

the frenzy begins!

As with every MYOH event, Havaianas partners with an artist to come out with an exclusive design available only during the event. The past collaborations had been with foreign artists but this year, it is with Filipino illustrator Dan Matutina who came up with the very first glow-in-the-dark commemorative pair!

flip-flops for myself and a limited edition pair for Mr. Ong

One disappointment was that there were no sizes available for kids. Some of the SoMoms bought the smallest adult size for their child to grow into. I decided not to because N still has 1 pair of Havaianas that she has yet to grow into and we are running out of storage space in our home!

My fit flops from #MYOH2013 were packaged in reusable tote bags. The tote bags also come with markers and my budding artist N immediately went to work on them.

This year's #MYOH2013 theme is You + Havaianas and Havaianas Philippines has launched its first ever flip-flops design contest. The contest is currently ongoing and you can join through this link. Pretty exciting because if your design wins, it will be introduced as a Limited Edition style of the Havaianas 2014 Collection to be named after you!

You have until today to head on to the Rockwell Tent, make your own Havaianas and see what the hype is all about!

MomBa: Babywearing Fun!

2013-05-02T09:37:00.000+08:00

One of the activities I wanted to include during the babywearing events was a local version of Sling and Dance. However, I was creatively challenge and had no idea how to choreograph a routine. Plus, I don't go to classes like zumba or yoga so I really had no idea how to organize a similar activity locally. Hence, this idea got shelved.

Fast forward to several months later when I met Nadine Casino online. Nadine and I had been corresponding in Facebook, focusing on setting up a breastfeeding support group in Cagayan de Oro City. Along with her friend Meg Gabe, they set up Mommy Bright Side, a support group for babywearing, breastfeeding and cloth diapering families. Together with neonatologist Dr. Jessamine Sareno, the group organized the successful "Pay it Forward CDO" a breastmilk drive campaign for the Typhoon Pablo orphans.

Aside from the milk drive, the group has been conducting regular monthly mommy meet-ups in Cagayan de Oro. Fairly recently (and I am really excited about this!!), the group organized MomBa classes for moms and babies!

The classes were developed by Nadine and her friend Jasmine San Juan. Nadine is a ballerina, tae kwon do jin, cheerleader, while Jasmine is a ballerina who trained with Lisa Macuja. They merged their passion for dancing with their love for babywearing and came up with MomBa - zumba, samba, mamba, salsa but for babies and mommas.

Nadine and Jasmine

So what is MomBa? Nadine explains that it is playtime with baby while burning calories away. The activity focuses on core strengthening exercises, arm workouts and cardio workout for mommy

Core strengthening – Floor exercises concentrating on core strength to tighten those muscles strained from pregnancy
Arm workout – carrying baby is a workout alright and we are going to use the baby as weights to help tone arm muscles
Aerobic workout – Wearing your baby burns extra 300 calories. I wonder how much more calories you will burn if you do cardio exercises with baby strapped on! Additional 10 kilos or more wouldn’t be considered much of a burden if the weights you use are your happy babies.

Meanwhile for baby, the workout will be playtime - learning time. Through play the babies will develop their motor, social and cognitive skills.

Gross Motor Skills. Large muscle groups need to develop first so that they can learn how to sit up, stand up, crawl, cruise, walk, run, jump, and hop. While mommy use baby as weights during her core exercise baby will also develop her gross motor skills. While mom makes baby fly like an airplane baby will develop her upper body to assist in pushing up from the ground. While mommy makes baby move like a snake with the right arm then the left arm we are teaching baby how to use their arms to crawl. While baby tries to keep their position constant while mommy breaks her dance moves their vestibular system tunes in the inner ear’s balancing act.
Fine Motor Skills. Fine motor skills targets the smaller muscle groups needed. While baby holds on to mommy’s fingers while mom gives her a horsy ride or while mommy points to a body part baby will follow pointing fingers too.
Perception. Sensory perception enables infants to learn about themselves and their environment so they can make better judgemnets on how they navigate in it. Motor experience together with awareness of their changing bodies sharpens and modifies their perceptual understanding of what is likely to happen if they move in a certain way.
Cognitive Skills. With the knowledge about Piaget’s cognitive stages of development we know babies can initiate recognize and repeat pleasurable experience. Memory traces are now present so the infant can anticipate familiar events. For example, when we lay baby on the floor and we glide away from her they know that you will glide back to pick them up. Older babies can also learn how to go away from mommy and come to mommy like a snake, dog, a bird etc. Helping them with their imagination
Social Skills. With the presence of other babies and other mommies our babies get attuned in social situations. They become sensitive to spaces and to the other babies. They can judge distance or look for cues if the situation is secure or frightening by looking at their caregivers

Here's a slideshow of the MomBa workouts that the pair has conducted in Cagayan de Oro City and Davao City.

View all

Get your own

For May, Mommy Bright Side regularly holds MomBa classes in Cagayan de Oro city at SM every Wednesday 5:30pm - 6:30 pm. For Davao mommies, you can join the next MomBa session on May 12 at the Mommapalooza bazaar. Read about the MomBa experience of Davao mommy Julie.

For once, I am jealous that I am in Manila while MomBa is in Davao/Cagayan de Oro. Stay tuned though for a similar workout in the next babywearing meet!

One Sweet Afternoon

2013-04-29T13:19:00.001+08:00

Unlike me, N loves to tinker in the kitchen. When we received the invitation for a Mom and me cupcake decorating activity by Cupcakes by Sonja, I immediately said yes - knowing how N will definitely enjoy this activity.

We all know how Sonja started the cupcakes craze in 2006 by introducing the gourmet cupcake concept in the Philippines. I remember visiting the Serendra store and gazing at a variety of cupcake creations. My favorite back then was the lemon drop cupcake. After more than 5 years, Cupcakes by Sonja has expanded to open more stores - with the first in the new Glorietta 2! They have also included new flavors in their line-up with my favorites being the choco cream cheese swirl and the banana monkey cream pie!

so many choices!

the cupcake spread

For the afternoon, N and I worked on 4 cupcakes and 2 cookies. Happily, the Cupcakes by Sonja team helped us [me actually] by preparing kits which made the assembly and decorating fun and easy.

my little lady ready for the afternoon's activity

posing with Mommy Mundo's R and
ManilaMommy's D

I am all thumbs in the kitchen. Happily, being a good cook was not one of S' requirements when he married me. When we went on our honeymoon and stayed in timeshare resorts in Bundaberg and Paihia, S cooked our meals during the times when we chose to dine in! Lucky me! Happily, N is quite the opposite and thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon's activity.

Aside from matching mom and me hats and aprons, the organizers thoughtfully prepared color guide cheat sheets - perfect for moms like me!

make your desired color of frosting

N was quite the pro - mixing the frosting by herself and spreading them on the cupcakes. She had already taken baking/cooking classes previously so she knew what to do. My task was to decorate the cupcakes by sticking the pre-made shaped candies on top.

our finished cupcakes

I asked and was informed that you can hold small cupcake decorating parties at the Glorietta 2 store. Cupcakes by Sonja can also bring cupcake decorating kits to your kiddie parties. N is actually not much of a sweet tooth (yay!) so the cupcakes we made and took home were enjoyed by the adults in the house.

choco cream cheese swirl, decadent choco cupcake
red velvet (N's choice) and banana monkey cream pie

The cupcakes had to be refrigerated but I let them soften in room temperature when I was ready to eat them (I finished all 3 and a half cupcakes!) and they were as good as fresh! Breastfeeding allows me to indulge my sweet tooth! ;)

SoKids having fun

Despite the heavy workload (decorating 4 cupcakes and 2 cookies is not easy for an amateur like me!), it was a fun bonding afternoon for N and myself. I'm happy I took time to attend this cupcake decorating activity with her. As a working mom, I really appreciate activities like these when I'm able to focus on the "fun" side of parenting - without thinking about the need to clean up afterwards :D

the gang!

with Sonja who brought the cupcake craze to Manila

More Cupcakes by Sonja stores are set to open within the year at Shangri-La Plaza Mall, Eastwood City, Greenhills, and TriNoma. Meanwhile, there is an ongoing Shoot & Share promo which will end on 1 May 2013. Cupcakes by Sonja will be giving away cupcakes to 5 winners!

You can join by taking photos of your favorite parts of the new Glorietta store and post it on Cupcakes by Sonja’s Facebook page. The top five photos will win a special gift from Cupcakes by Sonja.

For more information, visit Cupcakes by Sonja online!
FACEBOOK http://www.facebook.com/CupcakesBySonjaOfficial
TWITTER http://twitter.com/CUPCAKESBYSONJA
INSTAGRAM http://instagram.com/CUPCAKESBYSONJA
PINTEREST http://pinterest.com/cupcakesbysonja
BLOG http://blog.cupcakesbysonja.com/
TUMBLR http://cupcakesbysonja.tumblr.com/

Review: The new Unimom Forte

2013-04-25T11:40:00.000+08:00

Good ol' days... 15 ounces from my 1st morning pump using the old Unimom Forte

When E was much younger, Babymama Mi'Ann Oblea sent me this Unimom Forte to road test. With my first nursling, I had been using a Lansinoh dual pump and an Ameda Elite - both brands locally available from Babymama. Since Mi'Ann carried several other pump brands, she asked me to try the Korean brand Unimom to see how it compares with the American brands.

just pumped! yes, my milk supply
has drastically reduced.

So what do I like about this pump? Top advantage would be the price. This used to be sold at P7,500. The pump has been updated and the new Unimom Forte sells at P7,000 only and is a lot smaller than the original design. The Unimom Forte is very simple to use. You just switch on the machine then turn the suction strength to your desired level.

The pump is also very quiet. When turned on, you can hardly hear the motor. This is perfect since I pump early morning when everyone else is sleeping. When you move the dial to the middle or past the middle, there is an additional clicking sound but this is still a very minimal sound compared to my other pumps.

parts of the Unimom Forte

One disadvantage of the Unimom Forte is that it only comes in 1 bottle size - 5 ounces so when I was pumping during the early days and overflowing with milk, I had to use Medela's bigger capacity bottle. Since it has no rechargeable battery, it must be plugged in all the time and is not very portable. There is also no built-in timer so you have to consciously keep track of how long you have been pumping.

comparing sizes: Spectra, Unimom, Medela

*Spectra and Unimom on loan from Babymama.ph

Finally, since there is only 1 dial, there is no way to control the suction speed, only the suction strength. So what I do is to turn the pump on and off to trigger my milk ejection reflex (MER). I usually get 2-3 MERs during my expression time. So once I get the first one, I turn off the pump, rest for about 15-30 seconds then turn it on again. This usually triggers the 2nd MER.

I recommend the Unimom Forte for moms who have a place to store the pump (don't need to lug the pump about), need to pump 3-4 times a day and are on a budget. You can purchase the Unimom Forte directly from Babymama.

Tea Talks and Happy Earth Day

2013-04-22T08:49:00.000+08:00

Happy Earth Day! Today, 22 April 2013 the world celebrates Earth Day and for this year, the theme is Face of Climate Change - effects of which have been becoming more and more evident in the Philippines in the past couple of years - from Ondoy to Sendong to Pablo.

This is the the perfect day to share the learnings I gained during "Tea Talks". If you are a regular reader of this blog, you would know that I am concerned about the environment and the impact that my family has on it. When I received an invitation for "Tea Talks" from Dappy, WWF-Philippines and Holy Carabao, I immediately saved the date and said yes.

Dappy is owned by Jenny Chua, a mom of 2 active boys. With her 1st baby, she used a mix of disposable and reusable diapers. She became concerned where her baby's used nappies ended up in, did some research and was horrified to discover that most disposable diapers do not decompose until at least 250 years! This was way past the time of her children’s great grand children from the time she disposed it. This realization gave birth to the Dappy brand. What makes this brand different is that the Dappy diapers use bamboo fabric - more absorbent, hypoallergenic and anti-bacterial. Dappy has been supporting the WWF programs and for every Dappy you buy, P10 goes to WWF.

For this event, Dappy tied up with WWF-Philippines and Holy Carabao to launch their "I will if you will" project. The refreshments were thoughtfully served in ceramic plates and paper cups - no plastic. There were also reminders displayed all over the venue of how we can lessen our carbon footprint by reusing items or choosing to purchase reusable instead of disposable products.

The afternoon started with a talk by WWF-Philippines. While the Philippines is nowhere near the top rankings for the most carbon contribution per capita, we are one of the countries most susceptible or vulnerable to climate change! WWF-Philippines also emphasized that we are currently using the resources equivalent to what 1.5 planet can provide! This means, we are using resources faster than the planet can produce them. WWF-Philippines has this downloadable calculator which allows you to compute your carbon footprint.

Dappy reusable towels

Among the changes that WWF-Philippines encouraged us to apply to our households would be to switch to reusable items such as cloth diapers, chargeable batteries, washable tumblers and choosing to buy local.

N writes her pledge

We were also encourage to write our own "I will, you will" pledges to spread the word and encourage others to make little changes which will have a great impact on the environment. It was a good thing that I brought N with me to the event because she was able to realize that there was a reason for the saving tips that we practiced at home. For instance, when we use tissue paper, we limit it to 3 squares at a time. She also uses scratch paper [instead of fresh paper] for her scribbles and drawings.

N joined the action and wrote her own I will pledge: "I WILL REUSE SCRATCH PAPER" and "I WILL REUSE TOILET PAPER ROLLS FOR MY ART PROJECTS"

Meanwhile, my own pledge was "I WILL REDUCE OUR AIRCON USE BY 2 HOURS, IF YOU WILL SWITCH TO MAMA PADS". Here are some of the other pledges made during the event:

Jenny's pledge

Pledges from the SoMoms, SoDad and SoKid!

Have you thought about making your own pledge? Today, Earth Day, is the perfect time to make one. Share your pledge in the Dappy wall!

For more information about Dappy, Holy Carabao and WWF-Philippines, visit their social media pages below:
Dappy - Facebook, Twitter, Instagram
WWF-Philippines - Facebook, Twitter, Instagram
Holy Carabao - Facebook, Twitter, Instagram

Mommy Maker Day - Doll Making

2013-04-19T14:24:00.000+08:00

Are you a crafty mom? I most definitely am not! However, for the love of N, I put on a brave face and signed up for a doll-making workshop.

So one fine Sunday morning, N and I headed to Fully Booked to join one of the Mommy Mundo's Mommy Maker Day activities - doll-making. The event was actually one of 3 activities - the two others were screen painting and setting up an etsy shop.

Our facilitator for the day was Jaclyn Colmenares-Zapatos of i.am.handmade. Jac designs and sews Waldorf-inspired dolls. Waldorf dolls are made intentionally simple - usually with no facial expression - to encourage creativity or imagination in the child.

For this activity, Jac prepared 2 kits - a mommy doll and a girl doll and we were supposed to make both dolls in a span of 3 hours.

However, after hearing us describe our sewing experience and background, she relented and allowed us to choose only 1 doll to finish! Whew! My sewing experience was limited to cross stitch during high school. For this project, we were required to know the basic running and back stitch - which fortunately I did.

SoMoms documenting the event

N was really excited and for her, I pricked my finger several times to sew our doll. Jac pre-cut the body parts (thank you Jac!) and already sewed the sides. So I just had to make the head, hair, connect the body parts then we're done!

N wants to get in action!

Sounds simple? But for an amateur sewer like me, it was a long process. I couldn't clean stitches so had to re-do some and sewing together the doll head and body was difficult - pushing and pulling the needle was uncomfortable. Jac shared that she had developed calluses on the tips of her fingers - which made it easier for her to push and pull the needles.

K and N having fun while I was on my pumping break.

Finally, we were able to finish a little past 12 [beyond our allotted 3 hours!] and the happy smile on N's face made all that pushing pulling and pricks worth it!

Work wasn't over because when we got home, N was budding me to finish the mommy doll. So before I went back to my loaded work week, I prepped my fingers and finished the mommy doll that Sunday night.

Mommy and daughter doll

The experience was surprisingly therapeutic and rewarding as I was able to come up with an end-product that I could say was created from my hard work [with some help from Jac!]. This is quite an achievement for me especially since I don't cook, sew, iron.

If you're like me and can't sew dolls, you can also choose to buy dolls that Jac makes under her i.am.handmade.by.mom label. She makes custom dolls, baby blankets and quilts. Check out her really cute Dolldalita line too.

Are you a crafty mom? What craft projects do you enjoy with your child?

Back to Back Saturday! - Cloth diapering and breastfeeding events

2013-04-16T14:30:00.000+08:00

Saturday will be a very busy day as I will be joining 2 activities to promote practices close to my heart - cloth diapering and breastfeeding.

I had wanted to organize a local activity to support The Great Cloth Diaper Change last year. However, one of the requirements of last year's event was that it had to be a simultaneous activity - which meant hosting the event at 11pm to coincide with the EST time zone. Not really feasible with babies so I scrapped that out and instead organized a series of activities to celebrate Real Diaper Week - from a blog carnival, to seminars on cloth diapers and cloth diaper drive.

This year, rules have changed and with more international events being set-up, the organizers decided to allow the event to be scheduled at 11am, LOCAL time. Hooray! Initially, I wanted to organize an event that could be included in the Guinness World Records Diaper Changing Challenge. I was able to pre-register but well, I lost track of time and realized that the deadline for registering and paying for the event had passed!

However, together with next9 and tickledmoms, we are still pushing through with the first Philippine Great Cloth Diaper Change! We won't be joining the world record challenge but we will want to promote cloth diaper use.

The event will be held at the 1st Floor Function Room of Renaissance 3000, along Meralco Ave. Pasig City. You need to have a baby under 39" tall and bring a commercially-available 100% reusable cloth diaper (or borrow one) to change into at the event.

If you don't have a cloth diaper but still want to join, you can purchase one from my online store and we can prep the diaper for you. Please purchase by Wednesday (April 17) at the latest to give us enough time to prep the diaper. Kindly also bring your own mats as we will be sitting and changing babies on the floor during the event.

To join, please fill up the form below. If you can't see the form, sign up through this link. You can also visit the Facebook event page for more details.

After the Great Diaper Challenge, I will be heading on to Medela House for Mamaway Philippines and Medela Moms' monthly seminar on What to Expect When You've Decided to Breastfeed. This comprehensive seminar includes topics such as breastfeeding benefits, latching, positioning, what to expect at the hospital and upon going home and my topic - going back to work. Aside from myself, speakers include Joyce Ann Zaragoza-Martinez RN - a trained lactation nurse and breastfeeding doctors - Dr. Lei Camiling-Alfonso, Dr. Jamie Isip-Cumpas.

This is a 3-hour seminar perfect for pregnant moms and their partners/support persons. You can register by calling 7253723.

Hope to see you at one of the events this Saturday!

Educational Breastfeeding Videos

2013-04-14T07:56:00.001+08:00

I just had to make a post about this series of breastfeeding videos. I already shared one of them on my FB page but I wanted to make a post about it so I could easily refer back to it anytime I wanted to.

The videos are created by Baby-Friendly Council of Newfoundland and Labrador, whose mandate is to protect, promote, and support breastfeeding.

The first video shares "WHY" breastfeed:

Discussions include the importance of local culture and support; the role of grandparents and partners; and the mothers' considerations regarding freedom and confidence. Ultimately, breastfeeding is encouraged for health and convenience. This video may be used to open the dialogue on breastfeeding among pregnant women, their partners and those who may influence them.

This second video shares different perspectives and will attempt to answer the question "What Are Breasts For"

Looking at breastfeeding from the perspectives of everyone ranging from young children to grandmothers, childless young women to fathers, this video is ideal for pregnant women and their support partners in a prenatal setting. There is someone for everyone to identify with as we explore the importance of breastfeeding and the risks of formula feeding.

This is the most viewed video in the series and taps celebrities to emphasize how "breastfeeding is the one parenting choice you won't regret."

This celebrity-packed exploration of the choice of breastfeeding is an ideal video for any public event. A must-see for its entertainment value alone, this fast-paced video shares laughs, facts, personal thoughts, song and passion. As a group of celebrities begin by discussing the benefits of formula feeding, the conversation quickly twists.

Personalized Books - Look It's About Me

2013-04-12T09:51:00.000+08:00

To say that N loves books is an understatement. Our small condo is filled with all sorts of reading materials - hers and mine, to be honest. If there was one thing that my parents never said "no" to, it was for the purchase of books. I have adopted a similar attitude with N.

Early this year, Rone of Mothering Earthlings introduced me to Tatiana Pena. Together with her partner, Kimmie Lamata, Tatiana publishes personalized children's books under the company Look It's About Me. I really got excited when they contacted me because I had previously bought a personalized book for N from a US company. I was thrilled that a similar product was locally available.

The company currently has 5 titles: My Magical Christmas Adventure, My Super Duper Birthday Party, My Underwater Adventure, My Great Space Race (For Boys) and My Great Space Race (For Girls).

At the time when Tati wrote me, My Underwater Adventure was not yet available for ordering. However, knowing that N enjoys water stories, I decided to wait. The saying - "good things come to those who wait" - applies here. I was definitely not disappointed with the wait. N's Underwater Adventure was a huge hit!

Compared to N's previous personalized book with a fairy theme, Look It's About Me's Underwater Adventure was filled with details that really make the book special. Aside from getting the child's name, the book also included details about N's talents, friends and family members.

N was thrilled to not only see her name but also to read about her favorite activities, friends and relatives. The engaging story written by international published author Maria Natalia Mercedes Diaz is artistically illustrated by Robby Singh. The book tells of how N turns into a mermaid to save sea turtles who got entangled in nets.

a scene from the Christmas book

Meanwhile, for E, I chose "E's Magical Christmas Adventure. Yes, yes, I know Christmas is 8 months away but I decided on the Christmas book because by Christmas 2013, E will be 2 years old and will start to enjoy reading (instead of tearing books).

Also written by Natalia Diaz, this book is illustrated by Dax Xenos Tee and tells of your child's visit to the North Pole. What I especially enjoyed about this book is the tidbits and info provided about the North Pole. In the meantime, N enjoyed this book even if it was personalized for E.

I took advantage of their Easter promo and ordered 2 more books for gifts - Super Duper Happy Birthday and the Great Space Adventure. Ordering was easy - all done online and payment was processed through PayPal. You do need to know certain information about the recipient e.g. names of friends, etc. so you can also opt to buy a gift certificate instead.

Look It's About Me is the first company to introduced personalized storybooks for children in the Philippines. The books are of excellent quality - hardcover and printed on paper that is not easy to tear. I also love how colorful the books are. This is an excellent gift for kids and will be a treasured keepsake.

To order, you can visit their website. Stay in touch through Look It's About Me's Facebook, Instagram and Twitter pages and get updates on specials and new products.

*Look It's About Me gifted my kids N and E with one book each. I purchased the 2 other books as gifts.

Non-Traditional Doctors

2013-04-08T14:47:00.002+08:00

A couple of weeks ago, I posted this photograph on my Instagram and was surprised at the interest it generated.

This combination is called Q-P-V - after the names of the 3 medicines and act like "vitamins for the lungs" as coined by a friend, Kate. Last year, N and E had been regularly getting colds and cough. Their pediatrician recommended this combination of 3 medicines to strengthen their immune system and lessen incidences of colds/cough.

There were several moms who were curious and wanted to try this combination. However, since this is a "medicine" given by my pediatrician, I recommended that they ask their own pediatricians first or consult a homeopathic doctor.

I bring my kids to Dr. Cricket Palanca-Chen, a pediatrician who also practices anthroposophical medicine. Even if she is not the most breastfeeding-friendly pediatrician, what I like about her is that she doesn't immediately prescribe antibiotics or strong medicines to counter whatever bug my kids have caught. I know there are some doctors like that - who prescribe a "catch-all" medicine to solve a child's mysterious ailment.

With Dr. Chen, we use homeopathic medicines which is sourced locally from Centro Natura, which is owned by Dr. Divina Hey-Gonzales MD. Here are her details:
14 K-7th St., West Kamias, Quezon City, 1102, Philippines
Tel No. 9285386
Mobile No. 09188888698

Centro Natura is also the importer of Weleda in the Philippines. You can actually also purchase a variety of homeopathic medicines from Healthy Options but these imported ones are much more expensive than the ones we purchase from Centro Natura.

The comments on the IG reminded me of a draft post I've had for some time, listing down the alternative doctors in the Philippines. Given that a lot of families are now interested in going natural, I'm sharing this list of non-traditional doctors and/or clinics that you may want to consider.

1. Dr. Cricket Palanca-Chen, pediatrician with clinics at Medical Plaza, Makati (844-9185) and St. Luke's Global City (5697217). Secretary Rose: 09279877079 or 09224175472. We've been seeing Dr. Chen for about 4 years.
2. Dr. Divina Hey-Gonzales General Medicine, Antroposophic Medicine Clinica Natura, Quezon City: 928-5386. She is in the Kamuning area. She also takes care of adults. 14 K-7th St., West Kamias, Quezon City, 1102, Philippines; Tel No. 9285386; Mobile No. 09188888698
3. Dr. Jake Tan Holistic Practitioner, Accupuncturist and Alternative Development Activist Quezon City: 370-8158
4. Dr. Grace Zozobrado-Hahn based in Puerto Princesa, Palawan 0921-6541228
5. Dr. Delia Patawaran Ob-Gynecologist:

FEU-NRMF Hospital Rm. 403 Marian Medical Arts Bldg., Regalado Avenue cor. Dahlia St., West Fairview Quezon City Phone 936-2671; 935-2198; 427-0213
Metropolitan Medical Center OB-Gyne/Ultrasound Unit, 1357 J. Masangkay St., Tondo Manila, City of Phone 255-0401 to 40
St. Luke's Medical Center Rm. 427 Medical Arts Bldg., 279 E. Rodriguez Sr. Blvd. Quezon City Phone 723-0101; 723-0301
United Doctors Medical Center Rm. 1015, 290 España cor. N. Ramirez St. Quezon City Phone 712-3640

6. Dr. Maria Elvisa G. Casals Ob-Gynecologist

Greenhills: 723-2984
St. Luke's Medical Center 279 E. Rodriguez Sr. Boulevard, Eulogio Rodriguez , Quezon City, Metro Manila Tel No.: (632)7230101 / 7230301 Room 327 , Medical Arts Building Tel No.: (632)7230101 / (632)7230301 loc.: 6327

7. Dr. Irene Cortes Pediatrician Tondo, Manila: 254-9569
8. Healing Leaves Medical Clinic & Wellness Center #6239 Mañalac St., Poblacion, Makati (02) 519-2372 / (02) 710-9623.
9. Raphael Clinic at the Isip Center, 6241 Palma St., Poblacion, Makati City. 632-895-84-21. The Clinic has wellness and healing programs on family medicine and pediatrics, general medicine, eurythmy, acupuncture, stress management and laser therapy.
10. Philippine Association of Anthroposophic Health Practitioners Inc. (PAAHPI) C/o Dr. Paulita Villegas Baclig; 23 Aries Street,Villa Ernesto Phase I 9000 Gusa ,Cagayan de Oro , Mindanao Philippines

Tel/FAx: +63-8822-732 548
Mobile: 02- 0917-706 5398
E-Mail: familymd@mozcom.com

11. Dr. Marian Alonzo - who used to be the doctor at The Farm in San Benito. She now has her own practice
12. Dr. Jenny Madamba - a family physician who is a certified medical acupuncturist and specialized in traditional Chinese medicine and anthroposophic medicine. Contact her through INAM Philippines.
13. Sr. Regina Liu - I visited her for acupuncture when I was having bad mornign sickness with E. I have friends who had difficulty conceiving who attested to her ability to help them. She is also the only person here who I know will help you encapsulate your placenta. You can read more about her HERE.
14. Dr. Girlmar Leones who is a DAN (Defeat Autism Now!) doctor. She is a partner in Rosario R. Austria Health Clinic, which specializes in holistic and natural health care. Contact number is 7243242.
15. I also asked our pediatrician Dr. Chen for other doctors who were practicing homeopathy. She gave me these names but not all of them are in Metro Manila:

Dr. Lorelie Tan +63917 839 6913
Dr. Liberty Santos +63917 8269317
Dr. Moon Maglana +63908 547 7094
Dr. Sony Celis +63917 541 6709

I originally obtained information about some of the doctors in this list from Tet of The Good Earth. However, Multiply has forever erased her journal post about it. Luckily, I was able to save some names from her list. If you do use this list or copy it, please refer back to this post and acknowledge the source.
:) I haven't visited all the names included in this list and I would appreciate feedback if you have.

=========
Update 9 April 2013
I love my readers!! In a day after publishing this post, I received more information about natural doctors.

16. Lia shares that in Davao City, her general practitioner is Dr. Rosalie Bajado, of the Biological Homeopathic Medical Corp. (Davao Clinic).. Tel # (082) 2991619.
17. After searching online, I found more details about Biological Homeopathic Medical Corp and they have doctors all over the Philippines!

BIOLOGICAL HOMEOPATHIC MEDICAL CORP-CEBU 0356 Don Mariano Cui St., Capitol Site Cebu City Tel # 253-3746 / 253-3099 Telefax # 255-9740

Dr. Fortunata Bacalla - 0920-9256741 / 254-2826
Dr. Floro Camenforte - Cel # 09209116268
Dr. Rey Acis - Cel # 0926-2995133

(Davao Clinic) # 123 Camia St., Juna Subd., Matina, Davao City Tel # (082) 299-1619

Dr. Rosalie Shahani Bajado - Cel # 0922-9872829
Dr. Ruby Manzueto - Cel # 09262063686
Dr. Janet Pacifico; Dr. Amber Malaya

(Cavite Clinic) Unit H Freva Bldg., Tanzang Luma 1, Aguinaldo Hi-way, Imus, Cavite Tel # (046) 875-2972

Dr. Rizal Calilung - Cel # 09178054535

(Cagayan De Oro Clinic) SE JO Lim BLDG., Gemilina St., Carmen, CDO City Tel # (088) 858-73-92 Telefax # (088) 233-3139

Dr. Boy Uriarte - Cel # 09165398297
Dr. Greco Gregorio - Cel # 09209280376
Dr. Mary Ann Niez - Cel # 09189380753

Other Cebu Clinics :

Dr. Allan Librando - Cel # 0917-3560389
Dr. Victor Garcia - Tel # (032) 255-0971
Dr. Romy Paredes - Tel # (032) 412-9269
Dr. Letecia Abinuman - Tel # (032) 346-6138 / 413-2674 - Mandaue City
Dr. Myrna Lopez - Cel # 09164574469 - Lapu-Lapu City
Dr. Corazon Villaver - Cel # 09209203404 Dr. Ardel Binoya

Other Clinics to serve you:

Tacloban City - Dr. Floro Camenforte -Tel # (053) 325-2483; Dr. Victor Cruz - Cel # 09194605892
Bacolod City - Dr. Lorenzo Cabalfin -Tel # (034) 433-1848 - Dr. Dean Climaco - Tel # (034) 435-3534
San Carlos City - Dr. Edgardo Quisumbing -Tel #(034) 312-5136
Dipolog City - Dr. Rey Acis - Cel # 0926-2995133 - Dr. April Lopez - Cel # 09185000542
Ozamis City - Dr. George Abordo -Tel # (088) 521-3987
Dumaguete City - Dr. George Abordo -Tel # (088) 521-3987
Butuan City - Dr. Boy Uriarte - Tel # (085) 342-8626 - Dr. Ivy Ferrer - Cel # 09189277825 - Dr. Casals
Valencia City - Dr. Mariano Pizarro - Cel # 0919-3897989 - Dr. Greco Gregorio - Cel # 0920-9280376
Davao del Norte - Dr. Wilfredo Matutes -Tel # (084) 829-1263 - Sto. Tomas, Davao del Norte - Dr. Amber Malaya
Gen. Santos City - Dr. Ruth Santos - Cel # 0920-2793110
Kidapawan City - Dr. Imer Villela - Cel # 0927-3534143
Surigao City - Dr. Romulo Ybernas, Jr. - Cel #

18. Bio-Integrative Healthlink Center - Wellnessland Health Institute Building 314-C Sikatuna Street, Barangay Zapatera, Cebu City, Philippines, 6000

19. Dr. Rosario R. Austria - check this feature article about her.

G.F. Austria Clinic 18 Mariposa St., Cubao Quezon City Phone 412-2583; 724-3242
Center for Holistic Integrited Medicine Asia AGS Bldg, Suite 1 446 Edsa, Makati Phone 897-7916
Center for Holistic Integrited Medicine Asia Green Valley, Country Club E. Rodriguez Ave, Bagong Ugong Pasig City

20. I'm also looking for this clinic near Mt. Mayon featured in this article.

See you at Expo Mom 2013!

2013-04-06T10:18:00.001+08:00

After having scheduled posts and drafts galore, I can't believe I only have 1 post this week! I'm blaming it on the Multiply platform shift. Seriously, it sucked! My online store and inventory is a mess.

Anyway, Mama.Baby.Love is at Expo Mom 2013, sharing space with Mamaway Philippines. We are at Booths No. 18-19 by the entrance.

Here are some of the items exclusively available at the Mama.Baby.Love booth!

Suppori Slings on Sale

Baby Leaf Trainers, now available!

First dibs on the new Saya Summer Collection!

For the first time ever, I will be offering sales on certain products! Discounts await buyers of PumpEase, Piggy Paint and Pink Daisy! Be sure to drop by Mama.Baby.Love this weekend at Expo Mom 2013, Rockwell Tent.

Aside from wearing my mompreneur hat, I will also be wearing my advocate hat this weekend. Next9's Jen CC Tan and I will be sharing about how we enhance #momtuition by practicing attachment parenting. Of course, we will be taking about natural parenting practices close to our hearts like babywearing, cloth diapering, breastfeeding. Catch us on Sunday, 7 April 2013, 10:45am!

Expo Mom 2013 is on 6 - 7 April 2013, Rockwell Tent. See you there!

SoMoms #sessions: Dialogue within the Family

2013-04-01T12:51:00.000+08:00

I had long wanted to attend a Coach Pia session but was unable to do so because of personal reasons. With the popularity of the internet, there is just so much information that needs to be filtered and processed! Added to this would be parenting seminars from "experts" popping up all over the metro, being a discerning consumer is a prudent trait that a parent must have. Imagine my excitement when I found out that Unilab was sponsoring a SoMoms Sessions on Creating Structure for Dialogue to be conducted by Coach Pia's One Core Institute.

UNILAB is one of the best known local pharmaceutical companies. Despite being a relatively young company (they started post-war), it has expanded its reach to countries in the Asia-Pacific. UNILAB prides itself as providing not just quality but affordable products for Filipino families. Because their emphasis is to promote and enrich life for all communities, I was pleased to learn that they have also decided to sponsor activities which they believe can uplift and promote family values - such as this SoMoms parenting session.

As a mom with young kids, a top concern is to have open communication lines to promote exchange of ideas and to allow us to dialogue. During the session, we learned how to create a space conducive for a family dialogue and how to make each member of the family open to dialogue.

First is to identify the leader in the family. Even if you are a parent, it does not mean that you are the leader in your own family. It is possible that there could be other influencers e.g. an aunt, a grandma, et. etc. To succeed, I learned whoever the leaders in the family are, they themselves must be open to dialogue.

Coach Pia asked us to look back on our own relationship with our parents - which fortunately was excellent for my family. I was lucky that I am able to refer or talk to my parents when I have parenting issues with my own kids.

We were also able to identify the natural tools that that we used to lead our own families. These natural tools come with our own upbringing - which would include the issues we had with our own family. More importantly, I learned how to use my frustration and turn it into an area of energy - very helpful during trying times with a preschooler and a toddler.

With our attachment parenting lifestyle, the principle of positive discipline is most challenging for us. The seminar made me realize how important this was to ensure success of a dialogue. Coach Pia emphasized that children should be encouraged to approach and talk to you. Physical closeness and maintaining a positive relationship are just some of the ways to inculcate this in the family.

I also learned the importance of simplifying my lifestyle and expectations. Big expectations come with dealing with more. Dealing with more comes with having even more expectations to fulfil. It is a vicious cycle and thus, we need to shed what the non-essentials and focus on what is really important - definitely less is more in this case!

It was a very enlightening session and I would like to share with you some points I took away that I hope would help our family create a structure for dialogue:
1. Be accepting - define what is within your control and what is not.
2. Choose to be present at the moment. Do a reality check on lifestyle expectations and standards.
3. Choose to listen and take away the burden to respond.
4. The most challenging for me - Expect your children to be children. Children are not extensions of yourselves and they are naturally questioning, exploring, experimenting, curious and overly excitable.

As parents, we have to be discerning in choosing which seminars to join. I would highly recommend One Core Workshop Series. The facilitators are backed with years of expertise and have excellent credentials. If you are unsure whether the paid workshop is right for you, you can opt to try out the free monthly learning sessions.

Do you attend parenting workshops? What do you look for when you sign up for one?

Dakasi: New Milk Tea Place + Giveaway!

2013-03-29T11:54:00.000+08:00

Since I am trying to limit my caffeine intake, I am happy that there are now alternatives with the growing number of tea places in the Metro. I first heard about Dakasi from Jen who discovered this milk tea during one of her trips to China. I chanced upon their booth in Trinoma and tried their bubble milk tea. As with other milk tea joints, you have the option to adjust the sweetness (I like my milk teas to be less sweet). But what made the Dakasi Bubble Tea different was the size of their pearls. The Dakasi pearls are smaller than average, allowing me to enjoy slurping them without risk of choking.

Explaining how a Dakasi drink is made

Dakasi (大卡司) translates to "big cast" and is a popular milk tea brand from Taiwan. The first local store opened in Marquee Mall, Pampanga on Valentine's Day 2012. Since then, Dakasi has opened 17 branches all over the Philippines and is still growing. Aside from having a wide variety of concoctions, Dakasi prides itself for using high quality tea leaves imported from Taiwan and not relying on powder mixes. What I really liked about Dakasi was that the ingredients (pearls, sugar and ice) are made in-house and not supplied by another vendor ensuring the quality of the products used.

my drink: Lemon Holy Leaf

The SoMoms were recently invited to the launch of the newest Dakasi branch in De la Rosa Carpark 1, Makati City. [Trivia: I used to park here when I was a young lawyer working in Makati.] I was pretty happy that there are new Dakasi branches opening closer to the South. However, I'm still waiting for them to open closer to me. Anyway, Dakasi PH is owned by a group of friends who have other businesses. Thus, the swag bag was a mish-mash of items from a cute puppy from Gift Factory to fresh pasta noodles from Toscana Fresh.

GCs for COANM readers!

They were also very generous in giving out gift certificates which I will be sharing with COANM readers! These gift certificates are good until 31 December 2013 and are valid in all Dakasi branches except SM malls and Robinsons Malate. There will be 4 winners who will be getting assorted Dakasi GCs. You do have to claim them at the Mamaway /Mama.Baby.Love booth during Expo Mom on 6-7 April 2013 at the Rockwell Tent.

Giveaway runs from today, 29 March 2013 until 4 April 2013. Winners will be announced on 5 April 2013. Meanwhile, you can also visit Dakasi on social media via Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. See you at Expo Mom! Join through Rafflecopter below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

More on the Legal Rights of Breastfeeding and Working Women

2013-03-27T09:39:00.000+08:00

I've previously written a post about the legal rights of breastfeeding mothers and prepared a slideshow. I continue to receive emails about how working and breastfeeding mothers are not allowed to express milk at work or that their performance evaluation ratings are affected by lactation breaks. Protecting the rights of breastfeeding and working women merits another post. This time, I have included more resources, including those for night workers and a link to the guidelines for setting up a lactation room/policy from the DOLE.

In the Food and Nutrition Research Institute’s Nutritional Status of Filipino Children and other Population Groups: 2011 Survey, one of the top reasons why mothers stop breastfeeding is because they work outside the home. Often, most moms are misinformed or don’t know that there is a law which will help them to continue to breastfeed their babies, even if they go back to work.

Under Republic Act No. 10028 or the Expanded Breastfeeding Promotion Act of 2009, working and breastfeeding moms are entitled to paid lactation periods. Lactation periods are break intervals (on top of the regular time off for meals) to allow the employees to breastfeed or express milk.

The law further states that the intervals should not be less than a total of forty (40) minutes for every eight (8) hour working period. In the Implementing Rules and Regulations, the Department of Health further specifies that the duration and frequency of breaks may be agreed upon by the employees and employers with the minimum being 40 minutes. The recommended period is 2-3 milk expressions lasting 15-30 minutes each within a work day.

our lactation room. photo by Jason Raval

Secondly, aside from providing paid lactation periods, Republic Act No. 10028 also provides for the establishment of lactation stations, including minimum requirements plus a specific statement that this lactation station must NOT be located inside the toilet. It must also be equipped with facilities such as a sink for hand washing, electrical outlets, small table, comfortable seats, which will allow women to express their milk or breastfeed their child.

It is interesting to note that not a lot of women are aware that “lactation periods” are now part of labor standards. Under the Department of Labor and Employment’s Department Order No. 115-A, series of 2012, complying with the requirements under RA10028 is one of the requirements for the issuance of a Tripartite Certificate of Compliance with Labor Standards.

Meanwhile, if you are a night worker (e.g. call center agent with night shift), DOLE’s Department Order No. 119-12, series of 2012 states that one of the mandatory facilities that your employer must provide is a lactation station.

The Implementing Rules and Regulations further require the establishment of a workplace policy. Why is this important? Sometimes, employers provide a space for expressing milk but do not orient its employees. Hence, some moms who use the lactation rooms are chided by their colleagues (or even their bosses) because of these regular breaks. The establishment of a policy ensures the protection of the rights of the breastfeeding mothers.

As early as 2010, DOLE’s Bureau of Workers with Special Concerns issued guidelines for setting up a workplace lactation station. The guidelines also include a draft workplace lactation policy to help employers get started. You can access the guidelines here.

It must be emphasized that as a breastfeeding employee, it is up to you to take the first step if your company does not have this facility. You need to identify the correct department to approach. It is usually the Human Resource Department who handles company policies and would be the best place to start. Print out the law, implementing rules and regulations and corresponding DOLE Department Orders.

Most companies are now concerned with the health and wellness of their employees and even include talks on various topics. You can ask your employer to include a talk on breastfeeding to increase awareness among the employees. It would also help if you print out the DOLE guidelines as it already includes a list of facilities that must be included.

In the government institution where I work in, there are 2 lactation rooms and a workplace lactation policy that is pending approval. This involved constant proposals, meetings and consultations. The institutionalization of these facilities would not have been possible if not for the initiative of affected employees and support from management.

It bears emphasis that despite the existence of these laws, nothing will happen if no employee steps up and takes the initiative to ask for a lactation room and the establishment of a lactation policy in her workplace. Hence, armed with information, it is up to YOU, the employee, to make it happen.

Sometimes, the employer just doesn't know about the existence of the law and most of them are receptive especially since the grant of this benefit includes tax benefits. So, approach your Human Resource Department and ask for your right to a lactation room and policy TODAY.