Modern mother

There are more breastfeeding aids on the market than you can poke a stick at (why you'd want to poke a stick at them though is beyond me). The most popular are special little pins that you can clip to your bra strap to remember what side you fed from last and rubber bracelets that let you record what side you fed from and at what time.

In the early days of breastfeeding when I was still getting the hang of it I realised I needed help remembering which side I'd fed from (I was such a milk factory that even after Tricky had a feed I could barely tell the difference by feel). Did I go out and buy a special pin or bracelet? No. I put on my birth stone ring and moved it from one hand to the other at the end of each feed. Then I'd look at the time,  round it up to the nearest quarter hour and remember it. My system worked great and now that I'm in the swing of things I don't need it and the ring stays permanently on my right hand.

Today I received one of the reminder bracelets (from a company wanting me to try their products) and decided to use it for the day to see how it would stack up against my turquoise ring. I didn't last more than a few hours it was so annoying! To remember which breast you fed from last you turn the bracelet inside out and the time is recorded with a slider that you line up to a number. Now it might be because it was a cheaply made version destined to be a freebie, but the band would twist and the slider would move itself – if I had been relying on it for accurate information I would have been screwed. I can imagine looking at the bracelet and seeing that Tricky last fed seven hours ago and in a sleep deprived state I might actually believe it.

So if a cheaply made bracelet or a fancy pin are not going to work for you, you can always go high tech. That's right, there's an iPhone app that will record it all for you, for up to six different bubs (sorry, Octomom, you'll have to find a different method). You'll be a super-duper high tech mum with that. What ever happened to a pen and paper? Please note the sarcasm is due to the fact that I don't own an iPhone and am therefore jealous of anyone who could have this app.

Do these products help us be better parents? Or do they just drain our pockets? Leave a comment below with your thoughts