Helios Heater Review

Now that I am older, I am starting to experience a sore back occasionally. My son is old enough where I don’t have to carry him around, but I do occasionally pick him up if he is hurt. He weighs 76 pounds, so I definitely hurt after picking him up. I also have to carry in groceries and move things around. Needless to say I hurt quite a bit. When you are in pain, it can rob you of some of the enjoyment of the activity you are doing. Sometimes it even prevents you from doing those things all together. There are many different things you can do for pain. You can take over the counter pain medicine or apply heat to the sore spot. I am not a stranger to heating pads. I have probably owned every heating pad on the market. Traditional heating pads are not safe because they are plugged in and they get so hot that it can burn you. It’s pretty common to fall asleep while laying down with a heating pad. You also have to have an outlet and that isn’t really an option when you are in the car or on a plane. We don’t have an electricity pack that we can carry around like on Ghost Busters. There’s also heat packs that you can microwave. Again they only work if you have a microwave with you. If you have cramps, you have to get up, put it in the microwave, wait for the heating pack to warm up and then go lay back down. I know it’s only two minutes but with cramps it can feel like ten!

I learned about an amazing product called Helios Heater. It comes in different sizes and if you aren’t in pain it will also keep you warm.  You don’t need an outlet or a microwave! You just snap the metal coin and it starts heating to 130 degrees in less than 30 seconds. Helios Heating Pads are filled with non-toxic safe materials. They are also non-hypoallergenic. Your Helios Heating Pad starts out as a liquid and once you press the button, it turns in to a solid as it heats up. They are filled with sodium acetate which is basically water, salt and vinegar. It’s totally reusable too. You can use it for forever! 

It has a life time guarantee so if anything happens to your Helios Heating pad you can get a replacement.  Recharging your Helios Heating pads is easy, you just boil a pot of water and carefully place the heating pad in with a cloth underneath. You boil it for 5-15 minutes depending on the size of the heating pad. The back and shoulder pads take 15 minutes and the pocket size takes 5 minutes. It’s important to boil them long enough or they will re-solidify. It’s just like making spaghetti. Be very careful when you remove the pad and let it cool completely before re use. I used a cookie sheet to cool mine. It’s a great idea to recharge them when you are boiling other things. I recharged my Helios Heating Pads when I was making Jello.  If your Helios Heating pad breaks, cleanup is really easy and safe. Save the packaging of course so you can get a new one. Just wipe it up with a towel and wash it. It’s like spilling salad dressing. They are also safe for kids but are not toys!

Helios Heating Pads are great for staying warm. If you are in a cold grocery store, restaurant, at the movies, fishing, at sporting events, ice skating, or on a plane Helios will keep you warm and toasty. You can definitely fly with Helios Heating pads, I always get so cold on planes and I can’t ask people to turn off their air vent. I never want to carry a blanket because it takes up too much space.  Most TSA agents know what they are so you can pack them in your carry on. It’s great to have a couple though or your family might fight over who gets to use them.  I have started carrying the pocket warmers in my purse for when I go to the grocery store and it’s cold. After my surgery, I seem to get cold a lot easier.  You can also use a Helios Heater to warm up a baby bottle. They are also good for your kids practices to stay warm or if your kids are sore. Noah loves Helios Heating pads too!

The Heating Pads work for pain and sore muscles. I had really bad cramps and I activated my Helios heating pad and the cramps went away! It was the perfect temperature too. It was warm but I didn’t have to worry about burning my skin. I have also used the back heating pad on my legs. I just put it between my legs and rolled on my side so both legs were getting the benefits.  Helios Heating Pads will replace all of the other heating pads I have.

If you didn’t think Helios Heater could get any cooler…think again. You can also use them as a cool pack. If you put them in the REFRIGERATOR not the freezer, the liquid gets really cold and will be great as a boo-boo pack for bumps and burns, or to just cool off during the summer. You don’t even have to activate it.  I think that the round pocket size would be the perfect breastfeeding soothers. I know that cold packs are supposed to work great after a feeding. They are the right size and shape to help your sore breasts after breastfeeding.  If your child is teething or likes to bite, this can help give you some relief.

Helios Heaters come in the following sizes:

The Helios Neck & Shoulder heating pad is designed to give comfort to the upper back muscles, reducing tension that builds up during the day in the lower neck and shoulder area. It comes with a shoulder pouch that is specially designed to fit the heating pad, increase heat time, and provide comfort to the upper back muscles.

The Lower back heating pad is the perfect solution for stressed back muscles, providing constant heat waves to the hard to reach inner group of muscles of the lower back. The pad can also be used for treatment of upper back muscles when placed across the upper back. The lower back pad is accompanied by a fitted lower back waist belt which holds the heating pad tight around the body and allows you to freely move while treating your body. The belt has two sides – each provides different level of heat and is only available with Helios heating pads. The first, made of fleece heats up to 90 degrees F, and the second, made of a net that allows maximum heat transfer at 130 degrees F. 

Helios Heater Pocket Heat Packs are lightweight and compact, stylish and in bright colors, they are a wonderful showcase for the innovative Helios Heater product range. Helios Pocket Warmers have multiple-uses to keep your hands and body warm while outdoors or at home. They come in both square and round.

I have a very special deal for you:

 
 Use the code Bogo at check out and you will get buy one get one free of the same model of heating pad. This is a great deal! It will not show up in your cart but if you use the code Helios Heater will send you an extra one!  You can keep one at home and one in your car or keep one cold!

For more information and to order, please visit the Helios Heater Website. Don’t forget to use the coupon code for a free heater when you buy one!

Ameda Purely Yours – A Hygienic Breast Pump

For new breastfeeding moms out there looking for a quality breast pump, the Ameda Purely Yours offers patented technology that makes pumping much safer than competing brands.

All breast pumps provide the same basic function nursing moms are looking for, but one of the most important factors that many new moms do not consider is the hygienic qualities of their breast pump.

In years past, all breast pumps worked on the same basic principle of suction cycles, which were intended to express their breast milk quickly. Needless to say, newer, more efficient breast pumps began branching out with their own proprietary technologies to provide higher levels of customization, making them more effective, efficient and easier to use. However, one factor that was left overlooked by many manufacturers for many years was the prevention of contamination.

After various research had been completed, it was determined that most breast pumps on the market did not prevent milk and other contaminants from entering the pump mechanism itself. Over time this issue could develop mold on the interior of the pump, leaving it contaminated and impossible to clean. Any milk expressed by a breast pump with this level of contamination could be rendered unsafe for consumption, thereby making the use of the breast pump a health risk for your child.

Certain breast pumps manufacturers like Ameda took this research very seriously and in turn developed what they call a closed-system milk collection kit for their line of Ameda Purely Yours breast pumps. The resulting product eliminates the risk of milk contamination and also makes cleaning their breast pumps much simpler than other manufacturer’s models. This technology has become standard on all hospital breast pumps, but has yet to become the norm for many personal-use breast pumps in today’s market.

Taking all this into consideration, if you are thinking of purchasing a breast pump you may want to seriously consider investing in a closed system breast pump like any of the Ameda Purely Yours breast pumps. Ameda offers 4 different models of their Purely Yours breast pump, each containing different accessories depending on your pumping needs. These include the Ameda Purely Yours, Ameda Purely Yours with Carry All, Ameda Purely Yours with Backpack, and the more robust Ameda Purely Yours Ultra Breast Pump.

I formula fed MY child, that doesn't make me a monster

First and foremost, I want to say that I have nothing against women who breastfeed their children. That is great if that was the choice you made for your family. The great part of being a mother is making choices for your children. I decided not to breastfeed my son, and that was my personal choice. I know there are a lot of women that feel strongly about breastfeeding and that is fine. What is not fine is how some advocates make women who formula feed out to be bad mothers or monsters.

This is the mentality I have seen over and over again in the blogging world and frankly, I am getting quite sick of it. I keep hearing that formula companies kill babies in foreign countries; babies that co-sleep and tragically pass away are only formula fed babies. Really? Let’s just not sit there and be like oh and by the way if you would have fed your child the “right” way you wouldn’t have had this tragedy happen. That is just heartless and cruel. I personally think co-sleeping is not for my family, I personally think that co-sleeping is dangerous no matter what your child drinks. I am not saying that people who chose to co-sleep are bad parents or monsters; it is just not for my family. How is it that some breastfeeding advocates can sit there and make outrageous claims and make other mothers feel like crap because they don’t share the same opinions as you? Since when did it become YOUR business how I fed MY child?

My son is three and a half and is perfectly healthy and he has only been sick a couple times since birth. He is smart and very talkative. Guess what he guzzled down his formula. I decided I didn’t want to breastfeed him which was my choice. Thankfully, I didn’t feel any pressure from the hospital I gave birth in to breastfeed. I had already been there for two weeks, they knew I would bite back. I had to wait a while before I got to hold Noah too because they took forever with my recovery and to bathe him. Oh, I had a C-Section, which means I had drugs. I didn’t have a choice with the way I gave birth, so he would have had to wait to be fed.

You are not a better mother than I am, because you breastfed. You don’t have the right to make me feel like I am a monster or I don’t care as much about my child. You chose your breast, I chose a bottle. I think what we should do is embrace each other as fellow mothers and not let it come between us. No one is right or wrong. The judgments need to stop. We are just doing what is best for our own families and children and that is all we can do.