a new electronic device which helps track when and how long babies have been breast fed for and doubles as a night light thermometer has scored plenty of fans and even an award.
breast mate by oogy baby was designed and created by mum brooke nicol who was inspired to create the product after her first baby. he was not gaining much weight and nicol was tracking his feeds to help work out why.
“i used to record all of his feeding habits in a book just so i could keep track of when he fed and how often,” she says. “also a hair band around my wrist showed me what side he fed on last.
“i decided there must be an easier way which is why i started searching for means to alleviate my frustration. with no success, i decided to invent my own product.”
nicol describes the four years it took to get from idea to product as the toughest of her life. as well as working full-time in marketing and raising two children, she self-financed the product and collaborated with designers, engineers and software developers.
“every aspect along the way was a learning curve and i remember saying to myself ‘i will just work out this part and see how far i can take this’ never really thinking i would get to this stage.”
the product was launched earlier this year and has gone on to win the ausmumpreneur award for product innovation. it has also gained the attention of plenty of mums.
“so far there has been a great amount of interest in breast mate as it is unique to the market and with so many features it makes it a great value proposition. as breast feeding can be quite stressful for some mums or mums just like to keep track of their baby’s feeding habits there has been very positive feedback.
“whether it be new mums or mums with older children and juggling a new baby, breast mate has been seen to make life a bit easier. with combined features such as the colour changing room thermometer or nightlight it provides more than just a breast feeding function, which makes it more appealing than buying each of these items separately,” nicol adds.
it is available online and via a few boutique retailers. nicol plans to wholesale and at this stage is looking at retailers on an individual basis. “as breast mate is so unique and needs to be a trusted product by mums i want to create a following for the product through word of mouth. as a mum’s word of mouth is so powerful it is important that breast mate is recognised as a product for mums made by a mum.”
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