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What was it? Baby Jaeli was allergic to just about anything she could eat and would need a supply of breastmilk, but her mother couldn’t supply the amount needed.

Facebook and Twitter jumped up to the cause letting everyone know about the situation and it has now been announced that 60 complete strangers have donated breastmilk. By the way, it costs $4.25 per ounce of breastmilk from the Human Milk Banking Association of North America. Jaeli needs 30 ounces a day and the insurance companies are fighting this.  Friends and strangers rallied together in order to start a new cause, “Jaeli’s Milk” and within the first few hours had collected just over $1000, to date they have just over $3000 and it is still going strong.

Want to help this tiny little baby girl?

WalletPop:

If you’d like to donate, follow Jaeli’s progress, or spread the word, log onto Twitter and follow @angengland, @brandybrow and @rarechromobaby. Or, stop by her website.

Post from: Babylune

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Even the La Leche League states that you should NOT breastfeed your baby while intoxicated and that you should wait until you are sober. Currently it is unknown what her blood alcohol level was and even if she was drunk. The assistant state’s attorney, Carmel Mattison has stated this will be the first time they’ve accused any mother of breast-feeding while drunk.

A lactation consultant in Altru had this to say:

“No matter how little you drink, you are potentially exposing your baby to alcohol. You need to make that decision for yourself.” – Dee Grabanski

According to the La Leche League FAQ:

Mothers who are intoxicated should not breastfeed until they are completely sober, at which time most of the alcohol will have left the mother’s blood. Drinking to the point of intoxication, or binge drinking, by breastfeeding mothers has not been adequately studied. Since all of the risks are not understood, drinking to the point of intoxication is not advised.

Post from: Babylune

What is your name and how many children do you have? Any babies, if so what ages?Julie Jumonville and I have two children.  Grace (daughter) is 8 years oldand Reece (Son) is 6 years old.

Milkscreen.com

What is it you created and why?
I created a suite of products called Milkscreen which are products designed to extend the life of breastfeeding.  The first product in the suite, which is currently on the market, is an enzymatic test for testing for alcohol in breastmilk.  Mom, is pregnant for nine months and then typically will nurse baby for 6-9 months.  We feel it is unrealistic that a holiday, wedding or night with the girls or a husband will not happen during this time period.  We created Milkscreen so mom could have a glass of wine and based on her metabolism and body know for sure when her breastmilk is alcohol free.

How did you create it?
I was the matron of honor in my sister-in-laws wedding and was responsible for giving the toast and participating in the wedding.  I was nursing my first child and I wanted to be able to enjoy this amazing celebration and have some wine for this event.  I used to think that I could pump and dump my breastmilk to eliminate the alcohol but actually I found out that this was not true.  Time and metabolism are the only way alcohol leaves our system and it is different for every mother.

This basically means that mom’s are pumping and dumping precious milk that is going down the drain for no reason.  I believe in leading a balanced life and I feel like Milkscreen is a part of this formula for making nursing a pleasurable experience.

What is your schedule like now?
My schedule is still somewhat hectic but more calm.  I think the reason for this is that we have an excellent team that is helping execute all the moving parts to get our products on the shelf.  I used to be the salesperson, shipper, packer, receptionist and accountant so now I am able to focus on innovation and sale-thru of our products.

What was your schedule like while you were making your product?
Whew!  This was challenging.  I was working another full-time job to help my husband support our family so nights and weekends were my time to work on the Milkscreen Suite.  Many sleepless hours and stress with two jobs but we made it through this time and are now enjoying the fruits of our labor.

Milkscreen.com

What did you do to MAKE this happen?
I was able to realize that I needed to ask for help.  I found a company in Austin that had national distribution and sales and operations.  I had the product roadmap and after a merger in April 2007 this is when things started to happen.

I hear stories sometimes that there may have been struggles to get the product noticed or on shelves. Did this happen? Could you share your experience with us?
The biggest challenge for us was the positioning of the product, high cost of goods out the gate and the need to shift the package to a more clinical and credible package.

How is your product different from others like it?
Milkscreen is really the first diagnostic for breastfeeding mothers in the world to provide them with information about levels of alcohol that are passing through their breastmilk and ultimately to baby.

What would you tell moms that are sitting at home with ideas in their head?
If you have a great idea check to see if you are able to first secure Intellectual Property around your product idea then use an on-line survey or focus group to validate your target market.  If your idea passes through  these two initial gates then it means the idea is worth spending time on developing.

What advice do you have for moms that just got a product out there? (tips for them on promotions, marketing, etc)
Use the blogoshpere and viral channels to market to your moms is my first and favorite tip for new momprenuers.  My second piece of advice or tip is to network with other mom-owned baby product companies to share information and lessons learned when launching a new baby product.

What would you like to say at this time?
I was scared to death to bring an idea from a piece of paper to the market because of how it was going to impact my family financially, emotionally and even our special time together.  So, I called a family meeting and asked for the support of my husband, Jeff and my kiddos Grace and Reece and they surprised me.  They all said let’s do this together and I can remember Reece carrying boxes from the Yellow Freight Truck to my dining room and Grace packaging the Milkscreen boxes for on-line sales and my husband setting up our entire operations back in 2006.  We made it a family project and because we did this I have zero regrets and I am the happiest I have ever been because I love what I do.
www.UpSpringbaby.com

Thank you for this amazing opportunity.  It is because of folks like you that UpSpring Baby is successful!

Post from: Babylune

Okay, there are just some things that should stay behind closed doors and one fo them is when one spouse tries drinking breastmilk. Ikk. It is one thing to breast-feed your own child but to have your husband try it is another thing. Honestly, I don’t even care if they do that but one should NEVER talk about it.

Pete Wentz was on Sirius’ radio show where he told everyone that he had tried Ashlee Simpson’s breast milk. When asked how it tasted he replied, “Soury and weird”. I guess it’s good he didn’t say sweet and delicious and that he couldn’t wait to go back for more.

Most people would keep this bit of information a secret, not sure why the stars never do.

source

Post from: Babylune

-  We knew ahead of time when we wanted to wean so we started cutting down little by little as the time got closer. By the date, he was off.

-  Try skipping either morning or nights.

-  Just cutting down one feeding a day didn’t work for me, I had to do it even slower. I did one feeding a week until I was finally down to one night and then off.

-  I put my breastmilk in a sippy cup and she went straight to it. All you need is to pump your milk between feedings and fill up the cup.

-  Cold turkey. That’s how I did it, but you’ll have to stick to your guns.

For myself I’ve done the cutting back, as well as the waiting for him/her to take themselves off but the best for me was when the doctor gave me the pill to dry it up. The pill from my understandings is no longer available.  How did you do it?

Post from: Babylune