Breastfeeding support: Fairhaven Health Review and Giveaway!

***This giveaway is closed***
Winner: CanadianMama

So the breastfeeding is going a little better... We're working on the latching, and I've decided to just let her have her hands all over the place rather than try to control it. As long as they're not clawing at her own face or in between her mouth and me, it's cool.

As for my supply - well, that has been just fine. Almost too much, in fact - I leak on the side she's not latched to, I drip like a tap if she cries or goes longer than an hour or so without nursing, I go through cloth breast pads like nobody's business.

All that cluster feeding she did early on probably helped, but I also think it has a lot to do with some great supplements I've been taking. I've reviewed products from Fairhaven Health before (they were great when we were trying to conceive and during pregnancy - you can check out my previous reviews of FertilAid for Women, Natural Pregnancy Deodorant, and the most fabulous Dream Belly Stretch Mark Cream - I didn't get a single stretch mark!), and they were kind enough to send me some nursing products.

I got to try out the Nursing Blend Breastfeeding Supplement, the Nursing Time Tea, and the Nipple Nurture Balm. I am so sorry, I haven't had a moment to take pictures of the products yet (Mia's keeping me really occupied lately!), but if I can I will update with some of my own photos.

The Nursing Blend Breastfeeding Supplement is a complete postnatal vitamin supplement that goes beyond and includes herbal support for breastfeeding. Besides the usual vitamins and minerals you need, it also contains fenugreek, anise, fennel, coriander, anise, chamomile and vervain, an herbal blend designed to stimulate milk production and calm mum and baby. I love that the capsules are suitable for vegetarians/vegans as well! The dose is two capsules daily. I've had such a good supply of milk that I'm alternating these with a regular postnatal vitamin every other day. The capsules are a standard size, but are easy to swallow, and have a vaguely herbal taste to them - no bad flavour at all.

The Nursing Time Tea is a loose tea blend of fennel seed, goat's rue, blessed thistle, alfalfa, anise seed and lemon verbena. I find the flavour of anise really comes out in it - slightly licoricey. I love that flavour! It is wonderful with a bit of honey for sweetness and a little extra energy. The herbs in it are chosen for their role in increasing milk production, helping baby with gas and indigestion, and adding nutrients for mum and baby. I really like this tea and if I weren't already engorged I'd be drinking cup after cup - for now, I'm limiting myself to a cup a day at most because it works overly well! If you have any trouble with supply, this will definitely help.

The Nipple Nurture Balm is an organic, lanolin-free ointment for the nipples that helps to soothe and heal them - so necessary for new mums! If you have tried lanolin, you will know it's fairly 'stiff' and sticky out of the tube. The Nipple Nurture Balm is the opposite - quite liquid and easy to spread over sore, cracked or chapped nipples. To me that makes it much easier to use because I'm so sensitive there right now. It is safe for ingestion as well, so no need to clean it off before nursing. The base is shea butter and olive oil, and it contains the herbs marshmallow root, calendula, and self-heal, which have anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory, and healing properties. If I had one complaint it would be that it's a little too runny for this type of container - I have to keep it flat because if it's tilted the oil runs into the threads of the lid and gets messy. I don't like mess! So I just keep it in one place rather than toting it around.

Fairhaven Health has offered a giveaway for one of my readers!

The giveaway: One winner will receive the three products I tried: Nursing Blend Breastfeeding Supplement, Nursing Time Tea, and Nipple Nurture Balm !

How to enter: Visit Fairhaven Health, and tell me something that piques your interest, OR something you learned from the website. Please be sure to include your email if it’s not public in your blogger profile! This is the mandatory entry - do this first!

Extra entries: Bonus time! Leave a comment for each extra entry.

• Become a fan of/"like" FertilAid on Facebook (mention your first name and last initial in your comment). Already do? That counts!
• Follow @FertilAidAmy on Twitter (leave your Twitter name!). Already do? That counts!
• Follow me on Twitter (leave your Twitter name!). Already do? That counts!
• Tweet about this giveaway (once - this is not a daily!) and leave me the permalink. You can use this for your tweet, if you like:
  

  "#Win amazing #Breastfeeding Support Products at Emily's Latest. @emilyisland @FertilAidAmy http://bit.ly/dOsZR0 US/CAN ends 3/17 #bfcafe"

• Follow my blog (publicly) – 2 entries, leave 2 comments. Already do? That counts!
  
• Add my blog button to your blog - leave the URL. Already have it? That counts!
• Blog about this giveaway, linking back to this post and to Fairhaven Health – 2 entries, leave 2 comments and please include a link to your post
• Let me know if you've tried a product intended to help with lactation before - and did it work for you? If you haven't tried one yet, do you plan to?
  

Please be sure to include your email if it’s not public in your blogger profile! Anonymous comments without a way to contact you will be rejected. Canadian or US mailing addresses only, please. Giveaway ends March 17th at 11:59 pm EST. A winner will be drawn within a day or two of the giveaway's end, announced here, in a separate post and emailed!