Heads up breastfeeding mama’s, International Nestlé-Free Week is coming up. It runs from July 2-8 2007 and we can help the cause. If you don’t already boycott Nestlé and its subsidiaries, read on to find out why you should.

The Nestlé boycott began in 1977 in response to the unscrupulous marketing campaigns and questionable tactics that formula manufacturers use to promote their products. The advertisements on television and women’s magazines and the free formula samples offered to new moms undermine a new mom’s confidence in breastfeeding which negatively affects infant health worldwide. In attempt to bring the boycott to light once again, July 2-8 of this year has been declared International Nestlé-Free Week.

According to the World Health Organization , 1.5 million babies die every year as a result of feeding practices that are considered inappropriate and unsafe due to contaminated water and foods, including infant formula which is mixed with contaminated water. Breastfeeding rates, strong and steady in earlier decades began to decline rapidly during the 1960’s as baby food and infant formula manufacturers expanded their activities into developing countries around the world. Nestlé refuses to acknowledge the role formula manufacturers have played in changing breastfeeding cultures into bottle-feeding cultures and they continue to aggressively advertise its human milk substitutes, which are in breach of international standards that have been in place since 1981. Nestlé and other infant formula manufacturers’ have been monitored by interested groups worldwide and the results have consistently shown that Nestlé is guilty of far more violations than any other infant formula company.

If you don’t already boycott Nestlé, I ask, other breastfeeding mama’s ask, and INFACT Canada, a breastfeeding and global health advocacy group, asks that you boycott all Nestlé products for one week. Just one week, during International Nestlé-Free Week, July 2-8.

If I haven’t convinced you, check out INFACT Canada and read the information on the Baby Milk Action website. You can dig into the sordid history and sign up to support the boycott. But don’t stop there; let Nestlé know you are boycotting their products until they stop their unethical marketing of infant formula and start saving infant lives. You can telephone Nestlé Infant Nutrition in Canada at 1-800 387-5536 or in the US at 1-800-225-2270 or you can send them an email through their website at www.nestle.com. Make the call, send the email, use your voice.

Pumping has officially become a contact sport! I just pumped almost 5 ounces of breastmilk in 4 minutes using my Avent manual breast pump. I had a fairly full breast and was inspired to empty the breast and up production. I do have a party on Friday after all.

I grabbed the breast pump, stood at the kitchen sink and pumped. Stand back because it was an episode of ducts gone wild! I had 20 or more milk ducts spraying in all directions! It looked like a sprinkler in there! I was filling up the funnel faster than it was draining into the bottle. I must say, the excitement of it all did lead me to get a little carried away. I started goading myself on, pumping faster and faster to see how I fast I could draw another ounce. I pumped with shorter strokes to see if the flow would change. I pressed the handle all the way down to get good long sprays and before I knew it I filled that bottle! Yeah!

I proudly presented my findings to DH with whoops of glee. `Honey, you`re never going to believe what I just did?` `What?` Ì just pumped almost 5 ounces in 4 minutes. My nipple was going like crazy spraying all over the place so I thought, hmm, I wonder how fast I can pump a full bottle and I did it in 4 minutes. Isn t that fantastic?` Raised eyes and a disbelieving expression on his face followed that question, along with a good laugh.Yes, I do believe DH believes he has married a breast pumping mad woman…why I do believe he has, muwah ha ha ha ha ha.

It is a momentous day! It is the day of my first milking. I have been putting it off and putting it off, I just couldn’t be bothered to bring the pump downstairs, wash it, sterilize it, put it togther. I mean, all those small parts…and isn‘t it easier to breastfeed my DD anyway? We do have a party we want to attend on the 15^th, so I have to pump some milk for my girl. Oh the hassle of it all.

Now that I have ventured beyond the hassle and pulled that pump out of the box and used it, I have to say I still love my Avent manual breast pump. It really is the best manual breast pump EVER, for my breasts anyway. My breasts still pump like they did with my eldest daughter. How funny is that? After 2 years, my right breast still pumps like a dream and the left one is slow to start – I like to call it the lazy pumper – but once it starts it drains in no time flat. I’ve got ducts that keep spraying long after the suction has stopped. I love breastfeeding but I forgot how freaking entertaining breast pumps really are. The whole family got in on the fun. They were postively mesmerized watching me pump. My eldest daughter quickly asked if she could help as she reached out for the pump. She got quite a kick out of squeezing the pump and watching the milk squirt out of my nipple and down the funnel. I wonder when the realization will hit her that she milked her mama? Twelve, sixteen maybe?

After a few minutes DH wanted to get in on the action (different motivation perhaps?) and he pumped my breast a few squirts (Oh Rabbi Schmuley would soooo not condone this!). Mind you I think it freaked him out a bit…just a little bit. The expression on his face was priceless, a bit deer caught in the headlights and a bit `what the hell did I just do`.

I pumped almost 5 ounces that first pumping. One bag down, a few more to go. Dang, pumping is fun!