Which breast pump should I get?? Is the manual one sufficient?

Jenny - posted on 04/17/2009

Check to see if your Health Insurance will provide you w/ one. For a small deductible I received a Medela-Pump-In-Style, they even delivered it to my house after my C-Sec! Would recommend it hands down (hands free,lol)!

Miranda - posted on 04/14/2009

I got the Evenflo battery single pump & it works ok. I am a sahm & only pump twice a week or so. It's starting to sound funny though & I'm wondering if it's burning up or something. A manual one will work fine if you are ebfing & not planning to pump much.

Jocelyn - posted on 04/14/2009

Quoting Anne:

Quoting Jocelyn:

If you're wondering about which to buy a friend of mine & I have got it sussed!  We have quite different breasts (!), and I found the Avent pumps rubbish although she enjoys them.  So what we learned is this:

If you have big breasts, big areola and small nipples (a la me!) then the TTCTN pumps & Medela ones are good, if you have small breasts, long nipples and small areola (a la my friend!), then the Avent ones are good!

We reckon they should print that on the back of the boxes!

Hope that helps!

lol i bought a manual avent pump (sahm, pumped once or twice a week) and loved it.  i have huge boobs, big areola and normal nipples (ahh the conversations of a mom lol)  i bought a gerber pump as well, but my boobs didn't fit in it at all :P  you need tiny (but long and pointy ) boobs for that brand to work lol.  i used an electric medela pump when i was in the hosbital for a couple days (appendisituse 3 weeks post pardem, great fun) and really liked it.  i would have gotten one of those if i needed to pump more.

hope you can find one that works for you!

What are these 'normal nipples' you speak of???? I thought IIIII had normal nipples, but apparrently not! ;-)

lol :) not too big, not too small, they stick out ( not inverted :P ) but not overly long

i guess should have put normal in quotes haha

Jax - posted on 04/14/2009

I LOVE the Playtex Double Electric pump...$99.00 at Babies R Us and it was perfect for me! But everyone is different...I was able to stay at home, so I didn't need to pump much, but I easily got 6-8 ounces for 10-15 minute sessions...

Deveri - posted on 04/14/2009

if you are planning on going back to work I would say NO. I use the Medela double pump in style and it is a lifesaver! With my first I had a single electric and even had troubles with that and couldnt keep up and eventually had to stop bfing...

Anne - posted on 04/14/2009

Quoting Jocelyn:

If you're wondering about which to buy a friend of mine & I have got it sussed!  We have quite different breasts (!), and I found the Avent pumps rubbish although she enjoys them.  So what we learned is this:

If you have big breasts, big areola and small nipples (a la me!) then the TTCTN pumps & Medela ones are good, if you have small breasts, long nipples and small areola (a la my friend!), then the Avent ones are good!

We reckon they should print that on the back of the boxes!

Hope that helps!

lol i bought a manual avent pump (sahm, pumped once or twice a week) and loved it.  i have huge boobs, big areola and normal nipples (ahh the conversations of a mom lol)  i bought a gerber pump as well, but my boobs didn't fit in it at all :P  you need tiny (but long and pointy ) boobs for that brand to work lol.  i used an electric medela pump when i was in the hosbital for a couple days (appendisituse 3 weeks post pardem, great fun) and really liked it.  i would have gotten one of those if i needed to pump more.

hope you can find one that works for you!

What are these 'normal nipples' you speak of???? I thought IIIII had normal nipples, but apparrently not! ;-)

Rebecca - posted on 04/14/2009

I pumped with my first two (renting high-end double pumps) and learned hand expression with my third!!!  Hand expression is a million times better.  Once you get the hang of it, it is quicker and easier as you control it, not a machine!  It wasn't easy to learn at first, so in my opinion you would need to be comfortable asking a LLL leader or someone to come show you how to do it.  If I were you, I'd give that a try first and see what you think.  If you start pumping with a machine your body then might not respond to hand expression, so you should definitely try learning hand expression first if you are going to.  No machine to lug, no parts to sterilize. . . IMHO it's worth at try!

If you don't like hand expression and are going back to work, see if you can rent a hospital-grade pump.  I have used the Medela Symphony and the Lactina.  They are both fantastic, and I had no problem finding one to rent, in a different town each time.  The Symphony was from a breastfeeding resource center and the Lactina from the hospital gift shop (weird, huh?).  They keep plenty on hand and will let you know if someone else needs it more or something.  Anyway, I thought those were worth every penny to rent when I was working full-time.  Of course, this was before I learned hand expression.  And I would never pay for that if I wasn't working.

Simone - posted on 04/14/2009

i disagree. if you only need to pump once every couply of days or once a week... u still dont wanna be sittin there an hour later with 30 mls.



the best one is the medela swing. its sooooooo worth the money. if u havent had ur shower yet get everyone to chip in.



http://www.medela.com/ISBD/breastfeeding...



if u dont get this one jus make sure u get a 2 phase one... its jus like what the bubbas go quick sucks then long sucks.



dont waste ur money on crap cheepies.



good luck.

Autumn - posted on 04/13/2009

Quoting Lindsay:

It really depends on why you need to pump. If you are a stay-at-home mom and only need to pump once in a while when you need to leave a bottle, a manual pump is probably sufficient. If you have to return to work and will be pumping frequently, you'll want to rethink the manual pump. I work full time, and nurse exclusively, so I use the Medela Pump In Style double pump. It has a two-phase expression which works SOOOOO much better than the single phase pumps! I generally pump 2-3 times at work for about 10 minutes each time and the pump works great. I have friends who have used other brands, but also agree that a hospital grade pump with the two-phase is the one of choice for working mothers.

I agree.  I got a brand new Medela Pump in Style double phase pump (with "let-down" feature) when I was pregnant with my first.  After he was born I went back to work full time and it was awesome and works quickly!

With my daughter, I was a SAHM and reused my Medela.  I noticed the pump was not as strong as with my son and it worked much slower.  However since it was just for leaving bottels on rare occasions it worked.  Reason I say this is my SIL got a used Medela from a woman who used it with her 3 kids and SIL had the same problem I had with mine with my daughter...except she worked full time like I did with my son.  I talked her into buying a new one and she loved the fact that she invested the money in a new one.  Basically an old pump won't work as well as a new one.

Jocelyn - posted on 04/13/2009

If you're wondering about which to buy a friend of mine & I have got it sussed!  We have quite different breasts (!), and I found the Avent pumps rubbish although she enjoys them.  So what we learned is this:

If you have big breasts, big areola and small nipples (a la me!) then the TTCTN pumps & Medela ones are good, if you have small breasts, long nipples and small areola (a la my friend!), then the Avent ones are good!

We reckon they should print that on the back of the boxes!

Hope that helps!

lol i bought a manual avent pump (sahm, pumped once or twice a week) and loved it.  i have huge boobs, big areola and normal nipples (ahh the conversations of a mom lol)  i bought a gerber pump as well, but my boobs didn't fit in it at all :P  you need tiny (but long and pointy ) boobs for that brand to work lol.  i used an electric medela pump when i was in the hosbital for a couple days (appendisituse 3 weeks post pardem, great fun) and really liked it.  i would have gotten one of those if i needed to pump more.

hope you can find one that works for you!

Leslie - posted on 04/13/2009

i got a cheapy medela single pump, and it works good i stay at home and pump a few times for a lil me time and usully get 3-4 oz, but as i've come to find out the hard way make sure the shield fits your breast or youll get cracked nipples!! no fun.

Kathleen - posted on 04/13/2009

I am a stay-at-home mom, and I use a Lansinoh manual pump. I only use it to add milk to my son's oatmeal, so I don't worry about getting a lot each time. It works fine for what I need, but If I needed to pump to leave bottles, I would invest in an electric double pump.

Holly - posted on 04/13/2009

i am stay at home mom- so i got a manual one. DO NOT GET IT! not only does it hurt worse than regular feeding but it would take me forever to get 2 ounces. it was a waste of money- i got the Avent one. i ended up buying the Lansinoh one after double electic pump and it is so much better.i love it

Karissa - posted on 04/13/2009

If you are going back to work do not buy a manual one. If you just need to pump occasionally it will be fine. Cherub baby electric pump is WONDERFUL! My friend recomends the Medela pump. Good Luck!

Anne - posted on 04/13/2009

Hiya-,

as the other mums have said - it depends on how often you intend to pump and if you intend to continue pumping if/ when you go back to work.

I bought a hand-held Tommy Tippee closer to nature pump to begin with and it was great.  However, my daughter has a preference for the right side (she has reflux & I needed to 'even things up' on the other side!), so I invested in a Medela swing pump - an electric & battery operated one.  It's great.  If you'll need to express quite a lot (for example to make bottles for when you're away), then I'd buy an electric one as it does get a pain pumping by hand...

If you're wondering about which to buy a friend of mine & I have got it sussed!  We have quite different breasts (!), and I found the Avent pumps rubbish although she enjoys them.  So what we learned is this:

If you have big breasts, big areola and small nipples (a la me!) then the TTCTN pumps & Medela ones are good, if you have small breasts, long nipples and small areola (a la my friend!), then the Avent ones are good!

We reckon they should print that on the back of the boxes!

Hope that helps!

Rebecca - posted on 04/13/2009

I use the cherub baby electric pump which I bought online. It was delivered quickly at a reasonable price and its so quick and efficient. I have breastfed all of my babies and tried many pumps manual and electric and I have to say that this one is definately the best. It even comes with two free bottles and storage for breastmilk and a nice small carry case for travel which i love! High recommended!

Lindsay - posted on 04/12/2009

It really depends on why you need to pump. If you are a stay-at-home mom and only need to pump once in a while when you need to leave a bottle, a manual pump is probably sufficient. If you have to return to work and will be pumping frequently, you'll want to rethink the manual pump. I work full time, and nurse exclusively, so I use the Medela Pump In Style double pump. It has a two-phase expression which works SOOOOO much better than the single phase pumps! I generally pump 2-3 times at work for about 10 minutes each time and the pump works great. I have friends who have used other brands, but also agree that a hospital grade pump with the two-phase is the one of choice for working mothers.