Advantages: Help to prolong breastfeeding
Disadvantages: Occasionally tend to move

...I had my first daughter 6 weeks early and she had to be admitted to special care, due to the shape of me it was very hard to get a young baby to latch on to feed so the staff suggested a nipple shield. I tried the Medela Shaped Shields, they are shaped so the baby is still in contact with the skin so bonding and milk supply are hardly affected. They helped my daughter to latch on and stay on, there was no stopping and starting with the shields, once she was on she stayed there until she had finished. I fed her with the help of these shields until she was a bigger baby and able to latch on herself. I had the same problem with my youngest daughter and I used the shields again, and I am still feeding her. They are very flexible, the teat part of the shield is smaller than other brands, ie. Avent and Boots. They are easy to use... Read review

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Advantages: speaks to women, interesting story
Disadvantages: none

...'Unless' was Carol Shields last book before she sadly passed away, and her most striking. The story follows a woman who writes cheery romance-type novels, whose daughter decides to drop out of society and sit on a street corner in Toronto. Whilst trying to figure out what led her daughter to make such a radical life change, Rita thinks about her own role as a mother, a female writer, and the place women hold in western society. Shields wasn't an overtly feminist writer; her books looked at women through the banalities and simple acts of life, yet what she has to say in 'Unless' is powerful. Her writing is also at its sharpest here, with resoundng metaphors and simple sentences which strike directly into the heart of the reader. Above all, this is a fascinating story and character study, and Shields keeps us on our toes, guessing... Read review

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Advantages: None
Disadvantages: Very fiddly and time consuming

...I had desperately wanted to breast-feed my son and so bought a pair of these shields before he was born to protect against soreness. When Matthew was born he wasn't particularly keen on breast-feeding but I was willing to try anything I possibly could to make it better for him, even putting a bottle teat over my nipple to see if that made him latch on easier (I have been told this works by other people, honestly). I then remembered that I had bought the Mothercare nipple shields and since I was getting quite sore I thought that this too might help us both somewhat. I needn't have bothered. The instructions recommend that you attach the nipple shields with either a bit of lubricant or water to help them stick. I tried both and to be honest it was a complete waste of time cause neither method worked. I ended up having to hold... Read review

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Advantages: Can help to heal sore nipples
Disadvantages: may not work for everybody

...When my daughter was first born, she seemed to have no problems with breastfeeding, I was the one who had the problems. She would start off feeding properly and then would fall asleep and slightly off the breast so she would just be sucking on the nipple when she woke to carry on feeding. I didn't realise this was happening and before long my nipples were very cracked and sore. I carried on with the breast feeding as she was a good feeder but they were getting worse at every feed. As I was still in hospital after a caesarian (written up in different opinion) one of the midwives told me about nipple shields. Her very words were, 'use them for 48hrs at the most and your breasts should heal up enough to not have to use them again.' My mum found some in Sainsburys and as soon as they were sterilised I used them. Wow! What a difference. I... Read review

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Advantages: Helps to establish breastfeeding if you are having problems
Disadvantages: Constant sterilizing.

...to a breast pump! This was meant to only last 24 hours but after three days, she was still refusing to feed. This is when the nipple shield came into it's own. By this stage my daughter had lost a lot of weight - she was born at 5lb 10oz and had lost a lb. A breast feeding expert was called in to watch what was happening and try to advise me. To my relief she said that I wasn't doing anything wrong but that Holly had just become too lazy to feed. She gave me a nipple shield and within a few minutes my daughter was happily drinking milk. She advised me to try and wean her off the shield as soon as possible, because it may affect the amount of milk I was producing and was not as natural as breastfeeding without the shield. It took a few weeks to get her back in to breast feeding without the shield. I found that she would feed from one side okay... Read review

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Advantages: Quick and easy to use and instant results
Disadvantages: The gel doesn't taste too nice!

...£20 for a kit that gives you 45 applications, kit includes a gum shield, accelerator stick, whitening gel and whitening toothpaste. You can not use this for more than 14 days at a time. Using twice a day you wipe your teeth with the accelerator stick and place the gel in the gum shield, wear the shield for 5-10mins and then brush your teeth with the whitening toothpaste. It's that simple. I used it today for the first time and I was surprised to notice a difference straight away, so did my husband so it must be good!! They also do a 14 day kit which is £15, this is a much cheaper method of whitening your teeth than others on the market and I can honestly say it does improve the colour of your teeth although maybe not celeb white!!!... Read review

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Advantages: It is not a well known tourist place so the price of accomodation remains chea.
Disadvantages: It is a little cold, take some thick pullovers.

...I am from South Shields although I don't live there now! The true title of anyone from South Shields is a "Sand-dancer", I never did found out exactly where that title came from though. This is a town that gets forgotten in the North-East of England, which is a shame really as it has an awful lot to offer. It takes about 25 minutes on "The Metro, the northern Tube", from Newcastle, Central Station where all trains northern bound end up, it will cost about £2.50 to make that trip. alternatively you could get a taxi which will normally cost about £8.00 depending on the traffic in Newcastle. Once you are in South Shields you have a choice of hotels or guest houses to choose from unless like myself you are lucky and have family still living there in which case it's free. To be perfectly honest the hotels in South Shields are nothing... Read review

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Advantages: Playbility, Visuals, In-depth
Disadvantages: High spec graphics card recommended

...Tom Clancy's Raven Shield is the third instalment of the Rainbow Six family, produced by Red Storm Entertainment. Like it's predecessors, Raven Shield lets you take control of an elite counter-terrorist unit made up of the best soldiers from around the world. Each individual has their own specific skills and training, in a variety of areas including: Sniper, Demolition, Electronics, Assault and Recon. In addition to this, each team member can be equipped with a whole arsenal of weapons, armour, grenades, and many other useful items. In terms of game play, Raven Shield has so much to offer, sporting such features as the ability to control the opening and closing of doors using the mouse wheel, as well as the 'fluid posture' function which allows the user to adjust the angle of the head to peak around objects. With these new control... Read review

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Advantages: None
Disadvantages: Better ways of approahing problem

...I've spent the past 20 years working as a voluntary breastfeeding counsellor so I've had quite a lot of experience of mums being advised to use nipple shields. My own advice every time would be - don't. Nipple shields are generally adviced as short term help for sore nipples. The fact is there are other more helpful and natural ways to deal with this. Sore Nipples are often caused by the baby being in the wrong position at the breast and therefore not being able to suck in an appropiate way. A good, rule of thumb guide to positioning baby is to turn baby's whole body towards you so you are tummy to tummy, then make sure that baby's ear shoulder and hip are in a straight line. That way baby is not turning his/her head to feed and can suck and swallow effectively. Try turning your head across your shoulder and trying to swallow... Read review

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Advantages: The lot!!
Disadvantages: Slightly off the beaten track

...Just a 20 minute Metro journey from Newcastle is the sea-side town of South Shields. Shields used to have a thriving tourist industry with visitors from all over the country coming for the beach and hospitality. Nowadays, it’s for a completely different reason. The numerous bar, pubs and night clubs have made Shields one of the hottest night spots in the region, all within a half mile of each other. Just out side the main street you will find the newly opened Eivissa - Britain's first Ibizian theme bar. The decor is fantastic, the staff excellent and the entertainment system one of the best around at the minute. Every Bank Holiday Monday Eivissa holds a 12 hour dance party, with entertainers from Ibiza itself. Moving into the high street, the pick of the many bars are probably Kirkpatrick’s and Trader Jack’s, both very tidy... Read review

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