The life of a mompreneur

I’m a busy mom first and a busy mompreneur second. My children just turned 4 and 5. It’s amazing to think that my first child was just a newborn when I started tinkering with Bare™. When my son was 2 I decided I was going to take two years off work to get Bare™ up and running and now….. 3 years later, we’re finally close to launching. Keeping my fingers crossed!

Fall, Halloween & Bare™

Fall is here, where's Bare? Bare’s production continues to progress as we’re filling up our offices with prototypes. Some would say perfection is a ridiculous goal but we at Bittylab believe that perfection should be the standard practice, not a lofty goal. And for us….perfection is just around the corner, so stay tuned. Don’t forget to register if you’d like to get news on all upcoming events such as giveaways, pre-sales, the BARE launch and much more. 

What's new with BARE™ air-free baby bottles

Hi everyone, May will be a very exciting month for us and very busy. The BARE™ trials are around the corner. Only the moms who are registered on the Bittylab site will be eligible, so if you haven’t already, register here. We’ll give more info as the date gets closer.
We’ll start this beautiful month by getting you ready for a safe and healthy summer. We put together this Fun-Summer giveaway with products made by moms, for you.

What you need to know about cord blood.

You're the type of parent that cares about your health, the environment and of course you want only the best for your children. This is why you chose BARE™ as your baby bottle for your baby-to-be.  Well, in case you’re not aware yet, here's another way you can do the best for you and your baby…you can save or "bank" your baby’s cord blood, which could potentially save your child’s life one day.

Lisa Valastro, wife of TLC’s “Cake Boss,” a mother of four and a cord blood banking advocate, is partnering with a national cord blood bank and a not-for-profit organization to help propel more parents to fully consider the option of saving their newborn’s cord blood stem cells.

Cavities can put Preschoolers in Surgery

There was a recent story in the New York Times about a 2 ½ year old who was admitted to Seattle Children’s Hospital and placed under general anesthesia to have 11 of his 20 baby teeth with cavities drilled and filled, in addition to having a root canal on a molar and two incisors extracted. 
(Photo credit Stuart Isett for The New York Times)

Best New Baby Bottles for 2012

7 NEW BABY BOTTLES FOR 2012




The average baby bottle is about to get a modern makeover! Most moms don't equate technology and baby bottles, but as with most baby products, the two worlds are colliding. From new bottles designed for breastfed babies to bottles that avoid plastic and glass altogether, take a look at seven bottles that will be hitting store shelves this year!

This article also on Shine from Yahoo

BARE air-free is the second most natural way of feeding your baby, but is it Green?

At Bittylab, we believe that good nutrition begins at day one. Breast milk is the best nutrition for babies. When you can’t breastfeed, BARE is here to help you and your baby with a good start.

• Promotes breastfeeding: the Perfe-latch™ nipple is a device that behaves like a prosthetic feeding nipple. Because it starts small, it helps baby learn to open his mouth wide to get a latch onto the areola part, only then the small nipple touches his/her tongue and triggers the suction process. Once baby sucks, the nipple stretches to reach between the soft and hard palette and begins to dispense milk. Another reason to breastfeed is because mom produces milk with different nutrient values at different times of the day. Other bottles make feeding too easy for the baby; they dispense milk before baby begins to suck and the unnatural nipple shape promotes improper latching by allowing baby to latch on the tip.
• Safest materials available: BARE air-free baby bottles are made with the same safe material as medical devices, like syringes for example. BARE is BPA-free, PVC-free, Lead-free & Phthalate-free. 
• Economical and better for the environment: BARE has no consumable components like drop-in bags that are used once and discarded, adding to landfill waste. BARE’s components are designed to be sterilized and reused hundreds of times before needing replacement. BARE was engineered to minimize the amount of material in production to reduce environmental impact. All parts are designed for easy disassembly and washing to promote good hygiene. 
• Healthier feeding: BARE’s ability to dispense milk without air vents creates an air-tight environment. The lack of air inside a BARE bottle inhibits bacteria growth and retains milk nutrients longer for healthier feeding. The patented air-plug™ helps prevent baby’s backwash from penetrating the bottle. This vent-less system dispenses air-free milk to help prevent air swallowing that leads to gas and colic in babies. BARE allows baby to take only what he/she needs by dispensing milk upon suction only. 

As responsible parents, we try to find a balance between sustainability, affordability, and leading a healthy lifestyle in general. One of the easy things to do was breastfeed my babies for as long as I could. Well, things don’t always work according to plan. As a result, BARE air-free was born to help combo moms continue to breastfeed. That’s my contribution towards making earth a better place.

Retailers

Thanks to readers like you, news about BARE air-free baby bottles is spreading like wild fire. Moms are excited about the benefits of air-free feeding and nipple extension, not to mention that everyone appreciates the extra benefits like air-tight closure to help prevent bacteria growth and promote development of self-feeding in toddlers. It didn’t take long for this excitement to spill over to retailers. Small boutiques, large specialty stores, big-box retailer chains and international distributors are anxious to distribute the bottle world-wide. It’s easy to see that the BARE bottle is a truly advanced feeding system that will raise performance standards in the baby bottle category. Usually, a high performance product like this can only be found in hi-end boutique stores because BARE’s production costs more than blow-molded (standard) bottles. But in my opinion the hallmark of a successful new technology is to make it accessible to everyone for the benefit of babykind. While studying the history of design in college, my favorite period was Bauhaus where the main philosophy was “beauty met high performance thru design yet affordable by masses”. This guiding philosophy is presenting some challenges as I try to bring the bottle to market at a reasonable price point that everyone can afford.

The bottle for breastfed babies

This video was used at the ABC Kids Expo September 2011.

ABC Kids Show

We are back from the ABC Show. What a great experience! The big brands were there of course but to my surprise, I met a lot of fabulous mom-preneurs promoting all kinds of products from a device that reduces the pain of vaccinations to bottle bibs, sunshades, and inflatable booster seats. These are all moms who were unhappy/frustrated with commercially available solutions and decided to invent and market their own useful product.

BARE air-free baby bottles got the attention of many attendees; the ones who have heard about it were amazed that it worked as expected. Others who discovered BARE at the show were genuinely excited and agreed that BARE is the “next generation” in baby bottles. Some of our competitors came over to see me demonstrate BARE in action. One particular man wearing the identity of a major baby bottle brand seemed very concerned and after I did the demo, his face turned pale, then he quickly left without talking. Normally I’d expect a “thank you” or question but he really looked alarmed and threatened which I found amusing.

After a first day full of international buyers, the second and third days were more about domestic buyers. Many independent retailers were excited by the demonstration and want to carry the BARE bottles. On the fourth day I was elated to learn from someone at my booth that BARE bottles are featured in the Daily, a tabloid distributed at the show. That woke me up and put a smile on my face. BARE was picked from thousands of products to be written up, now that’s amazing!!

The science behind BARE air-free baby bottles

BARE is unique because the individual parts are designed to work in synergy, creating a superior air-free feeding system to prevent air-swallowing that leads to gas and colic: 

1. BARE’s patented air-plug (which is inserted into the bottom of the bottle) is designed to maintain water-tight seal and easy movement throughout the length of bottle as it slides toward the nipple when baby feeds. 
2. The bottle compartment is designed to maintain a neutral sucking pressure from top to bottom regardless of liquid viscosity (mother’s milk, water, fruit juice or formula). In other words, the baby can maintain a consistent drinking flow and control the amounts with suction strength, like nature intended. 
3. The perfe-latch nipple has miniature one-way valves in tip to dispense contents only upon suction (like a mom’s nipple); it lets liquid out but no air in. The nipple and collar are molded together as one part to ensure an air-tight seal, simplify cleaning and easy assembly. The patented design has a one-of-a-kind feature that allows the nipple to grow in length when baby sucks (to mimic a mother’s nipple that triples in length inside the baby’s mouth). Because it starts small, baby doesn’t have a choice but to open his mouth wide in order to latch. This helps prevent nipple confusion and promotes good latching techniques. Perfe-latch nipple easily mounts to the top of bottle using an enhanced design with an indicator that lets mom know it is securely attached. 
4. Nipple Cap is designed to protect and cover the nipple when baby is not drinking. 

Additionally, BARE’s airtight seal helps maintain the contents fresher and healthier longer.

BARE promotes development of self-feeding because it works with suction as opposed to gravity. A toddler can begin self-feeding as soon as he can bring BARE to his mouth without having to turn a bottle upside-down or to learn to recline or lie down in order to drink. Putting your baby to sleep with a bottle may increase the chances to become obese by age 5. Pediatricians recommend weaning baby off bottle after 12 months.

A message from BARE: Please breastfeed your baby for as long as you can, we are here to help.

Bacteria growth in baby bottles

Here’s a quick biology lesson. At room temperature, bacteria cells multiply by splitting and doubling their numbers every 20 to 30 minutes. This process, called oxidation or decomposition, causes vitamins and nutrients in milk to disintegrate over time. Baby backwash can also cause bacteria growth due to contamination.

There are several ways to slow down bacteria growth in foods, like refrigeration (lower temperatures inhibit bacteria growth) and vacuum treatment. Vacuum Treatment іѕ air-free or air-extracted storage of food in an air-tight container. In an air-free environment, bacteria is deprived οf thе oxygen іt needs to multiply and grow. Hence, thе growth οf thеѕе micro-organisms іѕ slowed аnd food stays fresh longer. 

BARE air-free baby bottle maintains an air-free environment to prevent oxidation and contamination. The air-plug™ enables mom to expel any air that remains in the bottle after filling with milk and installing the nipple. Just like a hypodermic syringe, you push the air-plug™ from the bottom up until you see a drop of milk coming out of the nipple. The Perfe-latch™ nipple, with specially designed slits that act like tiny one-way valves, lets milk out but doesn’t allow air or baby backwash in. 

In conclusion, BARE air-free baby bottle inhibits bacteria-growth due to its air-tight properties, keeping milk fresher, healthier and more nutritious than vented bottles.

Related Articles: 

http://www.myfoodstoragecontainers.com/airtight-food-storage-containers.html 

http://drinc.ucdavis.edu/dbact.htm 

http://www.rps.psu.edu/student/microbial.html