Little Inkers Alternative Naturals

Mama Baby, Love Fest

2010-09-22T11:01:00.000-07:00

Every morning I wake up to a little baby snuggled up next to me cooing, gooing, smiling, burping and squirming around.
I open my eyes and he's already looking at me, he smiles, I smile, we rub noses and kiss. I offer him the breast but he doesn't want to nurse right now instead he wishes to have our "mama baby love fest".
We stay in bed, laying on our sides, smooching and smiling, I remove his clothing and wet diaper, I give him a massage. The cooing continues, He's beaming. I'm beaming.
I just want to live in this moment forever. Bliss.

Alternative Parenting Practices Survey

2010-09-22T10:43:00.000-07:00

I have created a survey of "Alternative Parenting Practices" to see weather or not there has been a shift in parenting practices that makes what was once alternative now more mainstream, and weather or not ideas that were rare or unusual even among the "alternative" folk are now norm for what is considered "fringe" or "alternative".

Here is the link, please take a few moments and fill it out for me.

The Breastfeeding Crawl

2010-09-09T09:43:00.000-07:00

This video is beautiful and informative.In my opinion it should be watched by every expectant couple, prenatal educator, lactation consultant, doula, nurse, doctor and midwife ...

Birth story

2010-08-19T16:02:00.000-07:00

He was born "au naturale" on July 13th 2010, 10 pounds, 10 ounces....

After months of painful constant (non progressing) contractions, unexplained illness that led to a collapse at 30 weeks, spd, days on rest, weeks of intense prodromal labour and a baby who decided to play a spirited game of un- engage- shift- re- engage (cue small violin), I arranged to meet one of our amazing midwives at the hospital to break my waters after she and my partner had both finished work for the day.

There are many who would disagree with my decision to have my waters broken, but the fact remains that I have two other children who depend on me as well, and in my opinion they had been incredibly patient during the last few months of this somewhat stressful pregnancy and illness. Also our midwife, with whom I felt a connection and who promised to see me through to the end of this journey was to start vacation the next day and I was adamant she be my labour support. And furthermore I was done, period.

I was already having contractions, dilated to four centimetres and he was finally back in a favourable position when I arrived for my forty week, 2 day appointment...so we agreed to meet at 5:00 p.m. on July 13th 2010.

I went out for a delicious "home cooked" lunch with a close friend, then she and I spent the better part of the afternoon shopping around antique stores and local farm markets. I picked up some fresh fruit for myself, my hubby and our wonderful midwife to share during the labour.

I had wanted a homebirth but my collapse and subsequent unexplained illness at thirty weeks made the decision for me. So I began planning what would be my second, natural, midwife attended hospital birth.

Traffic was slower than expected for a Tuesday afternoon, so we were a wee bit late. I recall we arrived around 5:10 or so. At 5:30 our supportive midwife broke my waters and asked me to get the contractions to regulate by walking. I took off zestfully down the hall, looking for a staircase. When I arrived at the stairs I ran up and down the four floors doing squats at each floor using the railing, I was so excited I didn't give any thought to how dirty the railings likely were.

The contraction started to intensify, and grow closer together immediately. Fifteen minutes later I went back to my room because the contractions were already two minutes apart...I didn't leave again until after he was born.

I love to talk, especially when I need to take my mind off something, so for the next couple of hours I paced about the room, madly chattering away to our midwife. Honestly I can't recall everything we talked about but I am certain I confided my entire life story to her. If it bothered her she didn't let on, she was engaging, supportive and kind. I feel a tremendous bond with her and imagine I will feel a loss when I am discharged from midwifery care next week.

Around 8:15 I started feeling real pain in my pubic bone...I assume he was moving down at this point. I kept feeling the urge to vomit but nothing came up. Our midwife asked if I would use the washroom and as soon as I was in there I felt the urge to bear down, I honestly don't remember much after this, there was some pleading (err yelling) to have him pulled out, then our midwife gently guided my hands down to touch his head ( I presume it was an attempt was to calm me down) . I felt his warn wet head, then shoulders, then a very large, ten pound ten ounce baby boy on my chest. It was love at first sight...all over again.

Apparently the second stage (pushing stage) was only a few minutes long. I don't really remember the third stage, but I do remember our midwife showing us the placenta or "tree of life" as she referred to it, then asking if we would like to bring it home with us.

We decided we would like to have a placenta tree or rose bush and had it packaged up to take home. I didn't see it after that until the next morning when a nurse came in carrying a bag (with a funny look on her face) and said "is this your placenta'? She then glanced at my table where I had a baggie of loose leaf raspberry/nettle tea sticking out from under my book , and gave me a sideways glance (I think she thought it was pot). I quickly stammered "it's ummm tea, raspberry leaf tea, may I have some hot water?"

I called my children , then family and friends to share our news.

My closest friend asked how the birth went, my response "I rocked it"! I believe our midwife grinned and said "you did rock it"!

Birth is Power. Birth for me, is the ultimate feminine experience.

Giving birth, breastfeeding and gazing lovingly into the face of a new baby is astonishing, magical, powerful, awesome.

Spring 2010 Winners of The PTPA MEDIA SEAL OF APPROVAL !!!

2010-03-09T15:56:00.000-08:00

Well it's official Little Inkers has won the PTPA Media Inc's Seal Of Approval for Product Excellence. We were nominated last year and entered our long sleeve tee shirts with five different prints and apparently the testers and the judges loved our product.

Little Inkers is ecstatic, over the moon and extremely excited about the possible benefits to our little print studio. Just a few hours after posting/sending out our press release two very cool magazines had contacted us regarding a story in upcoming issues.

We will be keeping our fingers crossed and thanking our lucky stars that all our hard work is paying off.

O Baby Baby- Naming Thy Baby

2010-03-09T14:37:00.000-08:00

What is in a name? Some believe that the name needs to suit the person, but does any name really suit a brand new baby? Some believe that all names should have family name sakes?

Others think that only the most popular names are worth picking from, and a few like myself actually cringe when I see my children's names on popular baby name lists.

Naming a person who is so small and without much personality is difficult at best. Will a child develop into the name they were given or will he or she be completely ill suited to it?Will they keep their name or change it the moment they are old enough?

My partner and I have a very different tastes and therefore have a difficult time agreeing on names. He mocks my interest in naming and compares woman and baby names to geeky teens trading magic cards (no offence geeky teens).

He didn't like our first son Solomon's name until he was born, he then said the name grew on him. He did love our daughter O'Carra's name right away. Our last baby a boy, due in July will be named Kingsly and while he said it still needs time to grow on him, he agreed to it since he was out voted by myself and the other members of our little family.

So when it comes to naming does family opinion matter? We asked for our families input but their opinion wouldn't stop us from using a name we liked.Would you change your chosen name because Grandma and Grandpa aren't keen? What about pressure to name your child after relatives, do you concede or keep with your preferences, ignoring the choir of well meaning but somewhat intrusive would be baby namers?

I have known more than one person to change their child's name before the first birthday, I believe it's known as a name annulment so I guess you have a year to decide without paying fees or performing complicated legal name changes.

If you are like me and appreciate an unusual name, you may enjoy some of these websites for alternative baby naming that I simply love-

Nerd Names

Unusual Old fashioned Names

Behind The Name The Etymology Of First Names

And to check for and avoid (or choose) popularity here are some tips;

Check out websites in your province or state that have a compiled list of the most popular names each year , for example B.C Vital Statistics provides one.

Do a quick look for celebrity baby names and popular movies, t.v shows, books to avoid naming your child after a character and having everyone in the free world also love and use that name.

Have fun and remember, it's your baby choose a name you love weather it's popular, uncommon, long forgotten or invented...it's your child and in the end they are the ones who have to live with it. I suggest following the mantra "would I want this to be my name?"

photo from www.babyzone.com

A Mother Blessing (Blessingway)

2010-01-12T13:20:00.000-08:00

A very close friend has offered to host a Mother Blessing for me on the Summer Solstice during this, my third and last pregnancy. I had not previously heard of a Mother Blessing which is an adaptation of the traditional Navajo "Blessingway". In turn I may add some of the rituals to upcoming baby showers.

Some choose to invite women and men, pampering both Mother and Father while others just invite close women friends, midwives, doulas, mother's, grandmothers, sisters and older girl children.

Some activities I am thinking of having at my Mother Blessing include;

Hair Grooming, Foot Bath and Henna Belly

Typically this includes washing the Mother's feet in warm, flower filled, essential oil infused water. Followed by a pedicure style foot pampering and warm lotion massage.

The mother to be has her hair brushed (usually by her mother of sister) and then styled with fresh flowers and ribbons.

I would like to add to this other pampering gifts such as a manicure, a facial and a massage for the mother since she will have limited time to pamper herself once the baby arrives. Perhaps a variety of masks and lotions can be put out and tried by each of the guests.

I love the idea of an artist or variety of guests painting the mothers belly with Henna.

Candle Lighting

Each guest lights a candle for the mother upon arrival while making a wish or prayer of a safe and fast delivery. They also take a candle home with them upon leaving and agree to light it once the mother is in labor.

Blessing Beads

In the invitation each guest is asked to bring a bead, stone or trinket that can be added to a necklace for the mother to be.The bead should be chosen based on reminding the guest of the Mother or having a sentimental value.

Gifting

Unlike the tradition shower, the Mother Blessing gifts focus on the mother and are often heartfelt gifts such as a massage, food for the freezer, childcare and cleaning postpartum, poems, paintings, knitted or handmade items, lotions, masks or creams and herbs for postpartum. I like the idea of each guest bringing a meal to be frozen to the Mother Blessing that way it's not forgotten at a later date. I would like to add that each guest bring along a

square fabric piece that they embellished in some way that can be sewn into a quilt for the new baby to be wrapped in at birth.

Food Feast

The food at a Mother Blessing can include an combination a mother might like including tradition shower foods or a variety of healthy snacks including local seasonal vegetables and fruit. Regardless of what option is chosen the food can be pot luck style or made solely by the hostess.

Yoga, Tai Chi and Meditation

I think that at the end of the Mother Blessing before guests return home a nice relaxing Moon Salutation, some Tai Chi and a short siting meditation would be a very peaceful closing.

Here are some useful links I found to other Mother Blessing and Blessingway ideas

http://www.naturalbirthandbabycare.com/blessingway.html

http://pregnancy.about.com/cs/blessingway/a/aa102202a.htm

http://www.snowboardmommy.com/content/mother-blessing/

http://www.birthbeads.com/Blessingway.html

Photo taken from flicker http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1063/1287522705_c396e4d81f.jpg

My son was born with Vanishing Testicle Syndrome

2009-09-15T14:10:00.001-07:00

My son (in photo at right), now six , was born with Bilateral Congenital Anorchia or Vanishing Testicle Syndrome (his testicles disappeared between twelve and sixteen weeks gestation). He was born with ambiguous genitalia and a micro penis.

We were devastated, he underwent many tests before we were finally told at six months of age
that he was in fact male.

We were told to be thankful that the medical community was so advanced, if he was born twenty five years earlier he may have been raised as a girl.
We were told to be thankful no one could see his "syndrome", as if that was our main concern.

Our concern was that our son was born without important parts of his body, that he would never have children, that he would be on testosterone for life and without it would not go through puberty or be healthy.
The doctors all told us they didn't know what had caused his "syndrome".
We were left to educate ourselves.We felt very very alone.

My partner had been working in production print shops, using Plastisol inks for years.
We have spent countless hours researching male genital birth defects over the years and we feel there is a strong correlation between the toxins my partner was printing with, the Plastisol inks containing PVC's/Phthalates and his birth defects. We were in awe when we saw this documentary made by the C.B.C called The Disappearing Male.

If anyone else has a son who has been born with this I would be interested in connecting and hearing you share your stories and comments.

Feminism and Equality For Breastfeeding Women

2009-08-26T09:15:00.000-07:00

The fantastic blog post below was taken from the "Breastfeeding Mom's Unite" Blog. Also follow her on twitter @bfmom .

Since 1971 August 26th has been Women’s Equality Day. Although this was a great leap in history for women, we are still faced with rampant sexism today.

Women are discriminated against for many reasons. In North America and Britain and throughout many other parts of the developed world, breastfeeding can be one of them. It is interesting to take mental note of the fact that while women in other cultures are more likely to be discriminated against for other issues, like equality in the workplace and education, they usually are not discriminated against for their God-given right to breastfeed. Take Mongolia for instance…

Mothers are all on equal footing up until they go into labour. And then after that they are routinely asked “How long was it? Did you go for the drugs? Did you do it naturally?” We want every detail, but with that usually comes a silent judgement or comparison for each piece of the story. Same with feeding choice. Even more so for feeding choice. Natural birthing is best. Breastfeeding is best. And no matter whether our story teller chooses the “right” path, or is put into a situation where she has no choice about the direction she takes, she has the freedom to take either. Hooray for human rights. Hooray for feminism. Yet, look out if she takes the path you have strong feelings against. It’s human nature to have a gut reaction when your sister-in-law chooses to breastfeed instead of formula feed like the rest of the clan. It’s like a punch in the face to some people who can’t help but take it as a personal affront. This phenomenon, going both ways, is part of the reason why formula feeding moms and breastfeeding moms generally don’t run in each other’s circles and why breastfeeding moms still receive unequal social treatment.

Another reason breastfeeding moms don’t receive fair treatment is due to the lack of government support and the feared cost of that acceptance. Breastfeeding women in the United States have poor success in extending breastfeeding past a few weeks or months. In 2003, exclusive breastfeeding rates at the six month mark were only 7.9%. I believe this may be correlated with the fact that The United States is one of only five countries world wide that does not offer any form of paid parental leave, and as such puts the breastfeeding relationship in peril. Sometimes it can take weeks to properly establish a successful breastfeeding relationship, but if a woman is forced to go back to her job after 6 weeks becuase that’s all the sick time she could save up, or even after the 12 unpaid weeks FLMA offers eligible mothers, and pump and then nurse when she gets home, the stress of lost sleep and sometimes decreased milk supply as well as a host of other issues that go hand in hand with breastfeeding a baby without proper support causes many women to give up nursing all together. If the US government stood for healthy families, it would make paid maternity/parental leaves a right for new parents. To read more about maternity leave in the United States go here.

Breastfeeding women are also discriminated against for nursing in public, by men and women alike. Breastfeeding in public is a right for most women. In Canada it is, and currently, 43 States protect the rights of public breastfeeding women. However, there are still plenty of ignorant, prudish people who insist that breastfeeding in public is obscene.Women routinely suffer rude looks, disapproving comments, and requests to leave establishments. Facebook’s policy to remove breastfeeding photos from their website is one glaring example of how a gross proportion of society views breastfeeding in terms of sexuality.

Breastfeeding women of colour, or disability, or of a lower socio-economic status are even more vulnerable. Just recently, Marina Chavaz, a Latina woman, was fired from her job at Acosta Taco for bringing her baby into work so she could breastfeed her on breaks. Luckily she stood up for herself and has received a settlement. But is that enough? Only 24 States have laws that protect women who need to pump or breastfeed during their work breaks.

In North America we are fortunate to have the freedom of speech; however, I believe that some people have abused this right and used it to immorally and shamefully attack breastfeeding mothers, regardless of their rights to breastfeed in public.

Breastfeeding is an important part of a healthy society. If it was more valued, breastfeeding mothers would not experience such a lack of resources and support, and breastfeeding rates past a few weeks, or a few months, would not be so low.

I wanted to leave you with a powerful article I found on ParentingWeb that perfectly covers the ongoing inequality for breastfeeding women and why it is important that we stand up for breastfeeding. It’s not just our right as women to choose to breastfeed, it’s our children’s right to eat.

Breastfeeding: A Feminist Issue

by Penny Van Esterik

Breastfeeding is an important women’s issue, human rights issue, and feminist issue, since breastfeeding empowers women and contributes to gender equality. Women who wish to breasted their babies but cannot - because of inadequate support from family or health workers, constraints in the workplace, or misinformation from the infant food industry - are oppressed and exploited. Groups and individuals interested in fighting for women’s rights and human rights should take action to change this situation, and recognise breastfeeding as a woman’s right.

Women are empowered by asserting the value of both their productive and reproductive work. Women should never be forced to make a choice between mother-work and other work. Conditions supportive to successful nurturing, are conditions which reduce gender subordination generally by contradicting negative images of women and emphasising the value of women’s reproductive work.

Why should women’s groups put their valuable time and resources behind breastfeeding campaigns and programs?

1. Breastfeeding requires changes in society to improve the position and condition of women.

Breastfeeding encourages women’s self-reliance by increasing their confidence in their ability to meet the needs of their infants. Breastfeeding requires women to have confidence in themselves, and enough self-esteem to protect (or in some contexts, demand) their rights, including their right to breastfeed. Women with a positive self-image may be less likely to assume that they do not have enough breastmilk, or that their breastmilk is of poor quality.

Breastfeeding focuses attention on the need to insure equality in the distribution of food and other resources within the household. Since breastfeeding women’s nutrient requirements are higher per unit weight than those of adult men, priority must be given to breastfeeding women in the distribution of food. In some societies, women may not receive enough food to insure their own health and of their children.

2. Breastfeeding confirms a woman’s power to control her own body, and challenges the male-dominated medical model and business interests that promote bottle feeding.

Successful breastfeeding reduces women’s dependence on medical professionals and discourages further medicalisation of infant feeding. The knowledge mothers and midwives have about infant care and feeding increases in value and importance.

When breastfeeding is highly valued, the social and physical costs of breastfeeding are more carefully considered. Women’s bodies are finite, and cannot be over-burdened without causing suffering and loss of their productive and reproductive capacities. Breastfeeding mothers need access to food, health care and a supportive environment.

3. Breastfeeding challenges the media model of women as consumers.

The decision not to spend cash on breastmilk substitutes is a rejection of a consumption pattern forcing women to rely on expensive, industrially produced foods. As purchasers of infant formula, women devalue their own capacities, and seek commercial solutions to infant feeding. The constant efforts of infant formula manufactures to expand their markets for these products fuels the advertising campaigns directed to women as consumers.

4. Breastfeeding challenges views of the breast as primarily a sex object.

How did breast become defined as sex objects for male pleasure rather than as the source of food and comfort for children? The sex industry and beauty industry have succeeded in objectifying media and advertising, making it difficult for some women to breastfeed in public. When feeding bottles are used in public for fear of public exposure of breasts, or when women’s reasons for choosing bottle feeding include fears that breastfeeding will alter the shape of their breasts, then women are being treated as sex objects.

Women’s fears about exposing their breast are more than confirmed when North American women are arrested or asked to leave public places for breastfeeding openly. Thanks to the efforts of women activists, breastfeeding women are parts of their bodies and refusing to be treated as sex objects.

5. Breastfeeding requires a new definition of women’s work - one that more realistically integrates women’s productive activities.

In the sexual division of labour, infant care usually falls to women. It is women who have the capacity to provide food for their infants, ensuring women’s self-reliance and their infants’ survival for the first few months of life. Women give birth and produce milk. If the work of breastfeeding is valued as productive work, not a woman’s duty, then conditions for its successful integration with other activities must be arranged.

These arrangements include legislation to provide maternity leaves and nursing breaks, affordable child-care and other strategies developed by women workers. A woman-centered definition of work must take into consideration the importance of nurturance and caring, including breastfeeding.

6. Breastfeeding encourages solidarity and co-operation among women at the household, community, national, and international level.

Within households, women often work together to share child-care and other responsibilities. Other family members can play a useful role in assisting new mothers by providing advice on managing breastfeeding and helping with household tasks.

Internationally, women as individuals and as members of health and consumer organisations, have lobbied governments on behalf of breastfeeding and protested against the commercial interests that put profit over the well-being of mothers and infants. the campaigns against the promotion of infant formula mobilized women all over the world to join consumer groups and to rediscover for themselves how women in developed and developing countries face many similar problems.

Coalitions between women in developed and developing countries on issues like breastfeeding are potential opportunities for empowering women and for identifying common constraints that limit women’s power to care for their children. Men have an important role to play in changing conditions for women and in changing their own attitudes toward breastfeeding and women’s work.

Words and Action

What can women’s groups do?

Campaign for politicians who support policies that help breastfeeding mothers.
Lobby national commissions on women and status of women groups to include breastfeeding in their action plans.
Boycott products whose advertising on TV and in magazines uses women’s breasts as promotional tools.
Make sure that female babies are breastfed and given complementary foods as often as male babies.
Encourage artists to present paintings, photographs, poems, and plays celebrating the power of maternity and breastfeeding, and the beauty of breasts.
Welcome breastfeeding mothers at women’s meetings and seminars, and provide child-care facilities.
Ask key women in public offices to endorse World Breastfeeding Week and to include breastfeeding messages in their speeches.

How does breastfeeding fit with other women’s issues?

Human rights

By focusing on enabling women to breastfeed, we address women’s rights since the improvement of women’s social and economic status is necessary for supporting breastfeeding. Any violation of women’s right to breastfeed is a violation of women’s human rights.

Reproductive health

Breastfeeding helps child spacing and reduces the risks of ovarian and breast cancers.

Violence against women

Pregnant and lactating women are particularly vulnerable to abuse. Obstacles to breastfeeding such as inappropriate hospital practices and promotion of infant formula are also examples of violence against women.

Sisterhood is powerful

Mother-to-mother support among breastfeeding women is the most important gift one woman can give to another.

The Right Education

Women with higher education are more likely to breastfeed. Education empowers women to ask questions and challenge the health care system and demand a supportive environment for breastfeeding.

Women and Work

As more women enter the formal sector and increase their earning power, they are demanding more child care facilities and opportunities to continue breastfeeding. Productivity and work satisfaction increases.

Backlash!

Some feminists have criticized breastfeeding advocates, arguing that they want to tie women down, and keep them at home to feed babies and change dirty diapers. This is not the case. Women’s groups must make sure that their efforts on behalf of breastfeeding are not used by traditionalists and conservative policy makers against women’s interests. How can this be done?

Request that policy makers consult with women’s groups before breastfeeding legislation is drafted; recognise that breastfeeding is an emotional issue for many women and develop strategies for framing the issue in non-judgmental ways; plan how to counter possible negative effects such as employers threatening to fire women rather than provide maternity entitlements; insure that breastfeeding campaigns stress the welfare of both the mother and child.

Feminist Mother

2009-08-25T09:42:00.000-07:00

There has been a great number of concerns raised on various social networking sites regarding my feelings on breastfeeding, natural parenting, births ect...but lately more specifically in regards to breastfeeding.

I was given a bit of grief for a post entitled A Formula Sponsored "I want to quite breastfeeding" Blog WAKE UP WOMEN (via @feministbreeder -a twitter follower, activist rocker mom turned granola). The wake up women was in regards to thinking that the blog was something other than a thinly veiled money grab from formula companies and not a real mother struggling with breastfeeding issues.

I have been accused of being less than a feminist...I am crushed by the thought that my comments have made women feel that they should be forced to nurse.I don't feel this way.
I don't think women should be forced to nurse anymore than they should be forced to have sex or forced to stay home with their children.

To me feminism equals choice, freedom, being proud to be a WOMAN.
I believe women should have choice and if you choose to exercise choice by formula feeding your baby please do so with pride.

For me though,

I found becoming a mother changed me, my views on feminism were clarified.
I felt more of a woman when I nursed my baby, when I labored without medication, I felt connected with generations of women mothers everywhere.I felt powerful. I felt like more of a woman after I had children.I felt that instead of wanting equality with men, I wanted to celebrate all that being a woman meant.To me this meant motherhood, breastfeeding, being round and beautiful.

What everyone needs to remember is that these are my feelings and my experiences.
I am proud of the lengths I went to in order to do what was important to me. I nursed my son with ease my second child, a daughter with great difficulty, I pumped and fed her by bottle for two months while battling PPD. She went on to nurse until the age of three.
I am very proud of what I accomplished, I spent hours researching, finding support groups and getting help...I wanted to nurse and I knew that it could be done, no matter what doctors and lactation consultants told me.

I am a woman, a mother, a lactivist, a feminist.

Gerber/Nestle

2009-08-01T09:30:00.000-07:00

I don't know where I have been living, under a proverbial rock perhaps because it turns out Gerber's parent company is Nestle.How did I not know this?The Lactavist part of my is embarrased....really embarrassed.On the plus side not knowing this hasn't made me more likely to buy Gerber products and break the boycott of Nestle.I personally have little interest in non sustainable , non fairtrade baby onesies or factory-made baby..um.. food .

I just don't have the financial resources, time or energy to devote to a few years of going face to face with an infamous megacorp and it's minions. If I want to win it has to be done a little differently, a little more sly and cunning.I intend to beat them at their own game.

I am planning on starting a fundraiser to trademark a new alternative word for onezee/onesies that keeps with the boycott of Nestle and I have a great one!I will raise funds, trademark it and release it for use to anyone who would like permission to do so, with the obvious exception of large corporations.

If you are interested in getting involved with Little Inkers in fighting back against the multinational giants Gerber and Nestle?Please contact me direct info@littleinkers.ca

Airiane Rogers-Baribeau

A local writer and owner of the Blog P2P Net picks up our Gerber Infringment Story

2009-07-28T09:46:00.000-07:00

Gerber Onesies vs Airiane and Doug

Davida and Goliath written by Jon Newton P2P Net

p2pnet news view Advertising | P2P:- Airiane Rogers-Baribeau and her husband, Doug, are friends of ours, here in Lake Cowichan on Vancouver Island, BC.

Our daughter, Emma, baby-sits their kids, Solomon (six) and O’Carra (three), and Airiane’s dad helped us renovate our house, which is a gentle stroll from theirs.

Helped us? He did 90% of the work.

Airiane and Doug are, like us, home-schoolers and, also like us, they’re self-employed, Airiane as a designer and Doug as a graphic artist and t-shirt printer.

Together, they run Little Inkers, a clothing company for kids which specialises in organic cotton tees, printed with PVC phathalate-free inks on sustainable cloth.

Eco-friendly, in other words. And they do everything themselves by hand from design to print.

Now they’re looking for a pro bono lawyer. And it’s all because of Onesies, a “registered trademark often used in the United States as if it were generic,” says the Wikipedia.

However, it’s a registered trademark of Gerber Childrenswear, “which objects to both the usage of the term as a generic name and the usage of the singular form ‘Onesie’,” says the post, stating, “Gerber Childrenswear continues to aggressively enforce and defend its trademark.”

Which is why Airiane and Doug are looking for legal help.

Proprietary trademarked name

A couple of days back Airiane opened her email found a nasty missive from Gerber, once a giant of the US baby food industry, but owned by the Swiss drug company, Sandoz.

She’d used the word ‘onesies’ to describe one of her clothing items for kids, a one-piece body suit for babies — just like the one worn by O’Carra on the right.

Until then, Airiane had believed ‘onesies’ was just a casual generic term, never suspecting for one instant it was a proprietary trademarked name owned, and jealously guarded by, the Gerber baby food company whose busines, not at all incidentally, rests on being nice to mummies and daddies and their children.

Once she’d recovered from the shock, she did a search and found well over a million references to onezies, and various spellings thereof.

So what was Gerber doing, picking on her?

One of the scores of lawyers employed by Gerber to trawl the net looking for problems had come across Airiane’s post on Etsy, which advertises itself online as, “Your place to buy and sell all things handmade”.

“I woke up one morning to find a message from Etsy saying it’d deactivated some of my listings in because of a letter it’d received from a lawyer at Gerber Childrenswear,” she says.

On her Little Inkers blog, “I was dumbfounded,” she says, “and a little flattered … really Little Inkers?I had only four items listed, only two of which were listed under the term ONEZEE !”

She goes on »»»

When I do a Google search for Onesies I come up with “Results 1 - 10 of about 1,630,000 for onesie “and “Results 1 - 10 of about 17,500 for onezee”.
Are all these boutiques, stores and designers also receiving cease and desist letters?
That’s a lot of letters and a hefty lawyer bill Gerber, especially to protect something that appears to be a lost cause.
I understand the need for Gerber to protect their trademark, but I didn’t know onesie was a trademark and I had no idea that all variations of it including onezee were also trademarked.
I have some research to do in order to further educate myself on this topic.
I think onesie should fall under a generalized trademark, in today’s day and age onesies are a household name, a google search word, a word used to describe an article of baby apparel on almost every online store I have ever come across.
Why oh why is Gerber so worried about our little business anyways?

Why indeed?

Has Gerber adopted a policy made popular by Hollywood and the Big 4 record labels under which they go after very ordinary people with very ordinary incomes, knowing full well they won’t be able to mount adequate legal defences?

They’re probably arguing that if they let Airiane use the name without nailing her, lots of other people will do the same, to the detriment of their ‘product’.

But how is it a detriment? Does Gerber seriously claim because people such as her use the name the company will consequently suffer a significant loss in sales?

In reality, rather than detracting from Gerber onesies, the useage of the term by Airiane and others is more likely a valuable form of viral marketing which would have cost Gerber hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars in concept and other fees if it’d deliberately tried to implement it in a PR campaign.

A mean-minded foreign conglomerate

If Gerber tried this on 10 years ago, it might have gotten away with it. But this is the 21st digital century when people communicate with each other directly via blogs, web pages,email, cellphones, IM, chat, and so on.

What Gerber should have done was write a nice letter to Airiane thanking her for the free publicity.

Instead, it’s presented a picture of itself as a petty and mean-minded foreign conglomerate whose only interest is in its bottom line and which believes the customer comes last.

Canada’s Watoto, founded by Senior Pastors Gary and Marilyn Skinner and with an outlet in Victoria, BC’s capital on Vancouver Island, says it’s a, “response to the cry of the orphaned and vulnerable children of Africa, whose lives have been ravaged by war and disease.

It advertises organic cotton onezees online.

Will Gerber now go after Watoto?

Across the border, “FunZees, a newly launched company solely dedicated to fun and funny and founded by veterans in the retail industry, will officially launch its line of OneZees, featuring 50 of the funniest one liners and phrases, at New York’s ENK Children’s Club, August 3-5,” said a press release last year, going on, ” While onesies are ubiquitous, OneZees’ funny quips are anything but.”

Did FunZees pay Gerber some kind of copyright fee to be able to market OneZees?

Do a search on your favourite engine and you’ ll find all kinds of mentions of onesies.

Is Gerber going after them all? If not, why are they bullying Airiane and Doug?

If you’re a lawyer somewhere on the island, or in BC, and you’d like to help them make Gerber realise it can’ t do this kind of thing, please get in touch with me at p2pnet @ shaw dot ca, and I’ll pass your message along.

Definitely stay tuned.

Cheers! And thanks …

Jon Newton - p2pnet

Trademark Infringment Notice From Etsy on Behalf Of Gerber

2009-07-23T19:59:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday morning I awoke to find Etsy had sent me a message stating that they had deactivated some of my listings in regards to a letter from a lawyer at Gerber Childrenswear LLC.Please see the below exert;

" Neil Jones (neil.jones@nelsonmullins.com ), attorney for Gerber Childrenswear LLC (â€œGerberâ€), contacted Etsy. According to the notice, Gerber owns U.S. federal trademark registration numbers 1,292,981, 2,549,557, and 3,488,401 for the ONESIES mark. According to the notice, certain uses of the term ONESIES are not authorized.
The notice drew attention to 2 listing(s) in your Etsy Shop including: 21587749 and 21588772.
The letter stated that these listing(s) incorporate designs or symbols or language or images or photographs that infringe upon the concerned partyâ€™s copyright or other intellectual property right.
Etsy removed the listing(s) based on Etsyâ€™s Copyright and Intellectual Property Policy: http://www.etsy.com/copyright_policy.php . If you have any duplicate listings, please remove them."

I was dumbfounded, and a little flattered...really Little Inkers?I had only four items listed, only two of which were listed under the term ONEZEE !

Here is what I find interesting-

When I do a Google search for Onesies I come up with "Results 1 - 10 of about 1,630,000 for onesie "and "Results 1 - 10 of about 17,500 for onezee".
Are all these boutiques, stores and designers also receiving cease and desist letters?
That's allot of letters and a hefty lawyer bill Gerber, especially to protect something that appears to be a lost cause.
I understand the need for Gerber to protect their trademark, but I didn't know onesie was a trademark and I had no idea that all variations of it including onezee were also trademarked.
I have some research to do in order to further educate myself on this topic.
I think onesie should fall under a generalized trademark, in today's day and age onesies are a household name, a google search word, a word used to describe an article of baby apparel on almost every online store I have ever come across.
Why oh why is Gerber so worried about our little business anyways?

In the coming weeks I will be brainstorming to come up with a new term, hopefully one equally as catchy and original to replace the word onezee on my website. I only hope retailers will still be able to find my products in a search engine for the time being while they are being referred to as non-descript-leggless-snapping-baby-onepiece-bodysuits

Inspiration

2009-07-02T11:28:00.000-07:00

My inspiration in business comes from my children, my incredibly supportive partner, and my Vancouver Island home. I am a woman, thirty years old, a mother of a beautiful, spirited, intelligent, unschooled six year old boy and a gorgeous artistic, co-sleeping, three year old daughter. The mother part of me wanted to stay home with my children, keep house, cook from scratch and have a giant garden, but the independent woman I was before my children were born wanted to explore my passions, while encouraging my children to do the same.I decided I wanted to do both

After having children I noticed that options in naturals (organic cotton, bamboo & hemp)were limited, especially printed garments free of PVC’s and phthalates. I started coming up with designs that reflected our lifestyle, beliefs, and promoted causes close to my heart. We started printing them for our children to wear; everywhere we went people asked us where we bought them. With that Little Inkers was born.

I spend my days learning about my children, wondering how to accomplish more in a day (while still getting a few hours of sleep), folding and sorting Little Inkers orders in my basement studio, then folding and sorting our laundry. I answer emails while spelling out words with my son and returning business calls while pacifing my three year old daughter. I do a lot of balancing business and life. The point of working from home is, after all, to be with my children. At the end of the day I attempt to make time for myself by cooking, gardening, reading, doing yoga or meditating. Usually I fall asleep in our family bed, curled with my co-sleeping daughter.

Airiane Rogers - Baribeau Little Inkers Alternative Naturals Owner

Canada finally bans phthalates in children's toys....

2009-06-21T09:19:00.000-07:00

I was thrilled to discover, upon reading The Times Columnist on Saturday June 20th 2009, the article below outlining Canada's recent ban on Phthalates in children's toys.I am proud that Canada has finally followed the lead of the EU though I am disappointed that it has taken ten years.
I am left wondering, what about children's clothing,what about adults clothing?
Is noone concerned about the chemicals in printed garments leaching into our body's largest organ, the skin.
Our little print studio will continue to grow as the number of people informed of the dangers of PVC's and Phthalates increases.I am proud that our studio is one of the first studios in Canada to use the PVC/Phthalate free alternative to the industry standard for production screen printing.

Conceding a decade-old voluntary ban on hormone-disrupting chemicals in children's toys hasn't worked, Health Canada yesterday announced new regulations requiring companies to get phthalates out of soft vinyl toys.

The proposed ban will prevent the use of six phthalates in bath toys, teethers, rattles and other children's products, such as vinyl bibs. The chemical additive, used to soften toys, can cause reproductive problems.

Health Canada is taking the step after its own market survey last year found the widespread presence of phthalates in toys and other items for young children that are likely to be mouthed, such as rubber ducks.

The results, released to Canwest News Service under access to information laws, found elevated levels of phthalates ranging from 0.2 to 39.9 per cent by weight of the plastic known as polyvinyl chloride in three-quarters of the items -- or 54 of 72 of the products tested.

A similar phthalates ban has been in place in the European Union since 1999, where concentration levels cannot exceed 0.1 per cent in children's products. A ban in the United States came into effect last year.

"These regulations are yet another measure this government is taking to help ensure that products intended for children are safe," Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq said in a statement.

The government won praise from nearly all corners yesterday.

"This is great news for parents," said Aaron Freeman, policy director for Environmental Defence, which has been lobbying for a ban for years.

Judy Wasylycia-Leis, health critic for the New Democrats, first raised the issue back in 1997.

"It's good news. Finally, the government has acted. It's been a long, hard struggle. I think the science has been in for a long time. Other countries have acted, even the United States has acted."

The American Chemistry Council argues that "there is no scientific basis" for the ban.
© Copyright (c) The Victoria Times Colonist

Radway Cowichan Bay is our featured Boutique

2009-06-04T22:26:00.000-07:00

Little Inkers is now available for purchase at Radway in Cowichan Bay.
Radway is a cheery little seaside store, jam packed with the highest quality and hardest to find eco fashions.With helpful staff and a great layout, Radway is a store you don't want to miss when you visit the charming seaside community of Cowichan Bay.Radway also has a boutique in Duncan's historic and trendy downtown core, while you won't find any Little Inkers at this location it is certainly worth stopping by to check out the bright and airy shop and thier new eco consignment corner.

http://www.radway.ca

Organic Islands Festival 2009

2009-06-04T22:16:00.000-07:00

You are invited to come out and say hello to Little Inkers at the Organic Islands Festival July 4th and 5th on Vancouver Island.We are excited to be returning to the festival that we sold our first hand printed onezee at.
Please visit http;//www.organicislands.ca for more information.We are looking forward to seeing familiar faces and meeting new like minded friends and associates.

Ina May Gaskin

2009-04-17T20:31:00.000-07:00

Our friends from The Vesta Center and Under The Moon (www.vesta.ca, www.utmcatalogue.ca)
recently visited "The Farm" .During there stay they gave midwife, author Ina May Gaskin one of our born@home onezees.We just could not be more excited, she is a truly amazing and inspiring woman...a celebrity in our opinion.

Bullfrog Powered

2009-04-17T20:20:00.001-07:00

Little Inkers is now powered by bullfrog www.bullfrog.com.
We are thrilled to be among the first in B.C to sign on and make our commitment to renewable energy.

Boutique Of The Week...

2009-03-22T11:08:00.000-07:00

This week I decided to write Hemp and Company Victoria.
Little Inkers can currently be purchased at Hemp and Company on Craigflower in Victoria B.C
When you enter the The Craigflower location you will be greeted with light aromas of incense, body care products and bees wax...it's heavenly.They have an incredible selection of hemp and organic cotton adult and children's products.
If I had to pick my favorite Victoria clothing store to shop in, it would be close since Victoria has so much to offer in the way of natural retail locations...but Hemp and Company Craigflower would be it.The staff are always friendly and the store just has a very welcoming feel.

Airiane Rogers- Little Inkers

Our Newest Retailer...

2009-03-18T13:45:00.001-07:00

This last couple of months we have picked up some great new stores, we are particularly excited about the interest from the East Coast.We wanted to let everyone know we are now being sold in both St.Johns and Fredericton at Stylin Mama Baby and Tot http://www.stylinmama.ca/

Retailer of The Week....

2009-03-18T13:33:00.000-07:00

Evey week Little Inkers will highlight a retailer who sells our adorable teez and zees.This week it's Izzy and Olliez in our "new" hometown on Vancouver Island.
www.izzyandolliez.com

Izzy and Olliez is owned by a couple of mama's and their adorable little bambinos.
They have a great selection of new and used gifts, clothing, baby essentials, natural products...plus they love our clothing...and we cannot get enough of their little store.

PVC'S and Phthalates...

2009-03-12T15:07:00.000-07:00

PVC and Phthalates The Facts
PVC, polyvinyl chloride, has been in the news quite a lot in recent years because of its impact on the environment. Pressure groups have been campaigning against its use, and there is also a trend among large, environmentally sensitive companies to reduce its use where possible.

Little Inkers and Greenprint Studio use PVC/Phthalate free inks as well as soy and orange oil processing products.

Where is PVC used?
PVC is a very popular plastic. Most people will be aware of unplasticised PVC (uPVC) for building purposes which is a high volume use of this plastic. As well as construction, other users of large quantities include
transport, packaging, medical and the electrical industries; all of these have borne the brunt of pressure to replace it with alternatives. The same will apply to printers.
One area where PVC resins are very common (along with phthalates) is in plastisol textile inks. This is an area where the reduction in the popularity of PVC as a substrate will not have an impact on the inks but there is pressure from end-users to move away from both PVC and phthalates.The Environmental Health and Safety Issues
The issues related to PVC are numerous, they relate to the manufacturing process, the additives used with the plastic and the final disposal.
Differently from other plastics, PVC has a number of negative aspects related to its manufacture. They include the use of chlorine (given that other chlorine containing chemicals have been reduced e.g. CFCs and PCBs), the production of hydrogen chloride and chemicals like dioxins as by-products. Dioxins and similar chemicals have been associated with adverse effects on the human body and more evidence to back this up is continually being discovered.
Dioxins are also a problem if PVC is not disposed of correctly; if an inefficient incinerator is used then these chemicals can result.
Other disposal issues are that PVC is difficult to recycle and, is not biodegradable.
The most common concern raised about PVC relates to the additives that are used with it. Additives are an essential aspect to PVC as it is the additives that often make it so versatile. Such additives include stabilisers, plasticisers, pigments and fire retardants. Many of these additives have adverse safety and
environmental impacts, although over the years this has been recognised and lower toxicity additives have become the standards. The main concern over the additives used in PVC has centered on the plasticisers used, typically phthalates, to allow the plastic more flexibility. The more that is included in the
mix the more flexible it is.
What are phthalates?
In textile printing, they are used in plastisols as the carrier for the resin and pigment etc. They are essentially a non-volatile equivalent to the solvent in solvent-based inks and paints. Phthalates are claimed
to be endocrine disruptors. These are chemicals that have been linked with generating either sex
changes, or unbalanced levels of certain sexes within the marine environment. Phthalates, when ingested into the body, are under investigation as they could potentially be harmful. It is because of this that phthalates are currently being removed from childrens toys as a precautionary measure, in particular
from dummies or pacifiers. It is also currently recommended that garments for children under 2 years old (e.g. Öko-Tex Standard class 1 ‘Baby wear 0-2 years’) should not be printed with phthalate based plastisols for the same reasons.

Credit for this well written and useful information page goes to www.dogbog.com

Little Inkers and Greenprint Studio use PVC/Phthalate free inks as well as soy and orange oil processing products.

2009-03-12T12:04:00.000-07:00

Just added the ultra cute organic cotton "Booby" parody tee to the Inkers store on Etsy .

2009-03-12T11:51:00.001-07:00

Recently Little Inkers was written about in the Salts Organic blog http://salts-organic.blogspot.com/ check it out.I just want to give a big shout out of thanks to everyone supporting our business out there.

While your there check out the beautiful clothing made by the talented Jennifer Graham of Salts Organic Clothing Most of her clothing is for sale in her online boutique or on her Etsy site.

Find us on Facebook...

2009-03-12T11:48:00.000-07:00

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/pages/Little-Inkers-Alternative-Naturals/70025921557

Facebook Group http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/group.php?gid=6938496219

little Inkers on Sweet Mama

2009-03-12T11:40:00.000-07:00

Recently some wonderful writer posted an article about us on Sweetmama.ca check it out

http://sweetmama.ca/national/fashion/7306/fashion_statement/

We are so thrilled to be getting press, now if we can just finish our websites we will be set ...thanks a million to Nadine at sweetmama.ca