Momzelle Review

All month long I've been focusing on mom and baby products, bringing you some great reviews of helpful and unique products. Momzelle nursing tops are another great product for nursing moms. I was able to review one of their tops and purchased a second one. These tops are nice quality and comfortable to wear.

Momzelle tops have a specially designed easy access nursing opening. There are two different styles, a criss cross front and an empire opening. A video on their website demonstrates the openings. Both of the tops that I have are the empire opening type and I find it very easy to use. I like that I don't have to mess with layers of clothing, I just lift the material over the bust area and nurse. Other nursing tops that I've worn have two full layers and can get hot and feel cumbersome. With these tops I feel much more like I'm wearing a normal shirt.

Their sizing chart can be found here. I normally wear a small and even that can sometimes be big on me. I first chose an extra small because of the note under the sizing chart that says these clothes are designed with a postpartum figure in mind and they can run big in the cup size. I didn't find this to be true at all. The extra small was very tight and I had to exchange it. The small fits nicely but I would say its more of a 2/4 than a 4/6. If anything I think these run a bit small. I love the fit though, its usually hard to find nursing clothing that is flattering and slim fitting. The shirt is also a great length and comes down to my hips.

The styles Momzelle offers are great. They look nice with jeans or can easily be dressed up with a skirt and nice chunky necklace. I like having such versatile pieces in my wardrobe.

Momzelle was started by a breastfeeding mom who saw the need for functional stylish nursing clothes and her brother who jumped on board with the idea. They are supportive of breastfeeding (of course!) and have a section on the website with links to Dr Jack Newman's articles and information on how to get help with breastfeeding. If you're thinking of purchasing from them, they've given us a discount code. Use the code "LITTLE" for 10% off through the end of May. Thanks Momzelle!

Stay tuned, I have a few more baby product reviews and giveaways coming up!

Bravado Giveaway

Bravado Designs is running a great giveaway for a Nursing Essentials Prize Pack! Click here to enter the giveaway at Bravado's website. One of the great prizes you can win is the Body Silk Seamless Nursing Bra. Bravado sent me one to review and share my thoughts with you about. I also have a giveaway for one of my readers.

First of all, let me say that I'm sort of hard to fit when it comes to bras. I have a wide rib cage and small chest. I'm somewhere around a 36 A/ small B. Ordering a nursing bra online did not seem like a good idea to me, but this one has a large range of fit so I thought it might work. Bravado offers great information and help figuring out your size. I received the Body Silk Seamless Nursing Bra in a size small.

The band of the bra is a thick elastic. Its very supportive but also stretchy at the same time. I wear it on the last set of hooks which is okay because if it stretches out over time I can tighten it. The cups fit well despite being just a bit too big. The molded foam cups help give the bra some shape and hide nursing pads. The bra does not have underwire - underwire is not recommended because it can put pressure on milk ducts and cause plugs and discomfort. Even without underwire it is supportive. The bra seems like a great quality bra that will last. The clasps are easy to use and can be opened and closed underneath my shirt without looking or having to mess with them too much.

I didn't wear the Body Silk Seamless Nursing Bra much at first because of having mastitis. I was afraid that the band was a bit too tight and didn't want to cause any issues. Its comfortable now though and will get lots of use. If you're looking for a high quality reliable nursing bra, give the Body Silk Seamless Nursing Bra a try. This is also a great gift for new moms since the sizing is so versatile. Bravado is a great company to support. They are making an effort to be green (read this section, you might even get some ideas to green your own home further!) and are involved in giving back to their community through product donations.

Be sure you enter the giveaway in the link at the top of this post. You can also enter here on my blog to win a Body Silk Seamless Nursing Bra. Leave a comment to enter, being sure to include your email address. Followers of my blog get an extra entry, just leave a second comment for that. For a third entry, you can blog about this giveaway linking back to Bravado and to my blog. Leave a comment with the link to your blog post. I'll close the giveaway on March 31 at midnight. Check back soon, there are a few more baby product giveaways yet to come... Click the Prizey button on the right to see current giveaways. Thanks for visiting!

*Giveaway closed. Random.org chose comment #7.*

Baking Bread

Reader Question:

"I actually haven't ever made bread before and I'm pretty sure that I'll have to make it a dozen times or so before getting it right, but I don't know where to start. I thought if you had a recipe that is reliable, it'd be worth a shot for me to try it.

Any thoughts? Also, I don't have a mixer...is that a problem? Have you ever had to actually knead dough?"

I haven't made bread all that much myself yet either! The recipe that I used the other day was great, but I did use my Bosch mixer to knead the dough. You can knead dough by hand, in a mixer, or in a bread machine with the same recipe. I have used my bread machine before to knead the dough and then I dump it out and bake it in the oven. Bread machines can be found inexpensively at garage sales or on craigslist, so that might be a good option if you don't want to knead dough by hand all the time.

The recipe that I used recently for whole wheat bread was from A Beginner's Guide To Baking Bread. This is a great e-book with lots of tips on bread baking and getting started.

My library has this dvd on baking bread so I'm going to check that out soon.

Here is a great tutorial on bread making with a video on kneading dough. I haven't tried this recipe, but it looks very similar to what I've used.

A reader shared her bread recipe with me in the comments on this post.

And another recipe with tips on how to bake bread. She also answers questions in the comments section.

Have fun!

(linked to Kitchen Tip Tuesdays)

Ecobuns Nursing Cover Giveaway

Since having three babies I've gotten pretty confident about nursing in public. Lucy and Julia were both persistent little ones and when they wanted to eat, there was no putting them off until later! I'm not sure if these nursing covers were around when I was nursing my other two, but I've been using one recently with Esther and its great. I don't have to search around for an out of the way corner to nurse in or worry about showing too much skin.

I received a nursing cover from Ecobuns.com to review. This is a new item to their store, made by a mom here locally. Ecobuns is a great little cloth diaper store run by a friend of mine right around the corner from my house. (Dangerous, I know!) I've been keeping the nursing cover in my diaper bag so that its handy when I'm out somewhere and need to nurse Esther. I've used it several times now, and I'm thankful to have it. The nursing cover has a stiff arch up at the neckline which is great. I like that I can see Esther and latch her on without trying to fumble with a blanket. The arch also helps Esther not get too hot under the blanket, and she can look up and see me. I love that I can nurse in public yet still have that connection of being able to see my baby.

Some nice features are a terry cloth pocket on one side, and the adjustable D ring strap. The pocket is great for wiping a bit of spit up (although Esther spits so much at a time I don't bother to use this). The strap holds the nursing cover in place nicely. If I have to sit Esther up to burp her, the cover can be sort of pushed aside and then pulled back into place - unlike a blanket that falls off if the baby moves. The covers are available from Ecobuns in a variety of prints for $24.99.

Would you like one? Ecobuns is giving away the nursing cover pictured at the top of this post! Here are some ways to win:

- visit Ecobuns and tell me something they carry that you are tempted to buy

- follow my blog

- post about this giveaway on your blog linking back to this post and to Ecobuns

- become a fan of Ecobuns on facebook

Leave a separate comment for each of the entries above, being sure to include an email address. Good luck! I'll close this giveaway on March 29 at midnight. If you're new to my blog, take a look around. I have several other great baby product giveaways running this month. You can also click on the purple Prizey button on the right to see what is current. Thanks for stopping by!

*Giveaway closed. Comment #11 won!*