Best Pump???

Hey ladies!
My sil is looking fora good pump that is not $1000 like the one I rented! It was a lactina select Medela and i LOVED it! I was a jersey cow with it But my brother doesn't want to spend the $200 which i may just buy it for them, but anyway, in your experience was the Medela Advanced or Pump in Style any good or do you have a favorite pump???

Thank you so much!! XXXX

I know the one you mean Ginny, I borrowed one from the health visitor as I could never afford to buy one. I did buy a tommee tippee manual and then a medela mini electric pump and the manual one was by far better. I think if you get an electric one it probably needs to be top or the range as I found the mini one crap myself, really slow and not very powerful. In the end I probably hand expressed more than anything anyway, I found it much more efficient and I think you can buy funnels to go in the top of bottles so you can do that. I think it also depends on how sensitive a persons breasts are as mine just never hurt so I could cope with the expressing being quite rough but then some people might not.

Ginny,
With Jadah, I got lucky and our local WIC office gave every breastfeeding mother one. But, seven years is a long time to hold onto a breastpump, so it got lost, thrown away, whatever. But, with Jayden we bought the Playtex double electric pump. It did the job, but nothing could ever beat the medela. So, if they could, or you're willing, the medela is a great electric pump, IMO of course

I'm interested in this thread too as I'll have to decide in the next few months about a pump. Ginny, I hope you don't mind if I butt into your thread with another question though? I'd like to know how much you ladies actually used your pumps. I know it's very possible there will be issues with BF-ing and I may need to pump a lot, and if that happens I think I would get a really good pump. But I don't want to spend a lot of money now on something I may not use ... keep in mind that I will be home after the baby is born (for a year) and plan to exclusively BF if I can for the first number of months. So I just don't know if I should bother getting something now or wait to see how the BF-ing goes??

Sapphire,
Then if you plan to breastfeed like 80-90% of the time, then I wouldn't get a really nice one(unless someone is willing to gift you one ). My friend breastfed almost exclusively, but had a manual pump for just to express every now and then to have some on reserve if someone was watching her son. She said that she liked the ability to control the flow. So whatever you think will work best for your situation.

Sapphire, I would agree with MSCherry, you may take to breastfeeding really well and not need to pump too much. If you aim to latch baby on almost hourly in the first day or so the stimulation will make sure your milk comes in and then regular feeding should help you avoid engorgement. It all sounds very simple pumping some milk to store for someone else to feed the baby occasionally bu when you miss a feed, you end up need to express so you are not so full so it kind of defeats the object. If I were you I would buy a cheap manual one, never mind the brand, to have in case you really need it and then invest in one later if you feel it would be used well. But that's just my opinion!

Thank you everyone!!!! Sapphire, when I had my pump, i didn't use it AT ALL Til i went back to work when he was 4 months old. Maybe you can wait until you have her and see how things go, if breastfeeding goes great, then unless you want to pump and let Clem feed her, there is no reason to pump...so you could save some money i didn't rent my pump until a few days after I brought Thane home I used it til he was one then i stopped pumping at work Good luck!!

thanks so much ladies! You've helped make this decision really easy. There are SO many things to make decisions about and I am happy to either buy a manual one before she's born or just wait until after and see how it all goes and what I'll need then. I'm also happy to have one less thing to worry about right now!!

Good tips too about BF-ing, thank you so much and I'm sure that I'll have many more questions in the next few months (and Ginny, thanks for letting me do a little hijacking here! )

Ugh I got rid of my pump, too many nightmares, lol!!! I was stuck to it for about 30 minutes every 3 hours. I can understand for those of you ladies going back to work sooo soon after having a baby and with my pump it was a Medela but the single one and it cost me about $150.

I also have the Medela Pump in Style Advanced. It was well worth the money. Someone in my area was selling them brand new for $200 vs $279 retail so I splurged before Isaac was born and bought it. I would definitely say if you are planning on pumping go for a double electric. Isaac bf well most of the time but he was never very patient to get the hindmilk so I had a fore/hindmilk balance issue that then became oversupply because of the way he was feeding. I also liked letting hubby feed him and when I traveled and didn't want to feed in public it was nice to have the option to give him a bottle. We bf until he was 12 months because he had a milk/soy sensitivity and I have no idea what I would have done if I could have built up a back suppy. Oh it also let me put him on a schedule when he was old enough to be on one. It kept my sanity. But everyone has really good points. My sister is borrowing mine until she has her little nugget just in case she cannot bf or it doesn't work out for her. It is a huge investment I wouldn't see a problem renting until you know how much you will use it. Also keep in mind some babies don't like to switch back and forth. I have a friend and her little girl will not take a bottle at all so it is is bf or drink from a regular cup.

oh i so much agree gutter! i HATED pumping sooo bad!!! BUT, I had no choice...and i was a milk machine But thane likes to drink his straight from the tap

And yes DEFINITELY come here to ask questions Sapphire, or anyone else for that matter...I am STILL nursing Thane and he will be 20 months in a couple of weeks :S I usually can fight him off for when its time for a nap or for night night, but he's just too dang smart! If I say no, not right now, he will look at me and say "nite nite!?" like he REALLY wants to go to bed at 6 pm But, yes, I would be more than happy to answer any questions XXX

My sister had a evenflo brand and a medela and I switched between the two for the first 2 months while still working on breastfeeding with Noah since he had jaundice pretty bad at the hospital they where not going to let him go home if we didn't get him eating right away and my milk was a bit delayed with the c section so I pumped rather then let them talk me into giving him formula and he kinda took a liking to the bottle so untill we could get him back on all breast which we did thankfully! I pumped like crazy ( I had mega over supply) and I now have well around or over 4 months of stored milk and he is only breastfeeding at this point and the only time I need to use the pump is if he sleeps through the night and I need relief or if he skips a meal. ( HA! have you seen my kid, lol!! )

Soo totally off topic, but Annsmith, your son is just absolutely gorgeous. I found myslef just staring into his eyes. Just precious.

lol!! Thanks so much honey!! I am trying to get on here a bit more as he leaves me more time being independent. These where just taken yesterday he is so huge!! You are so sweet!!

LOL.Bless his heart!it is all ou see in your siggy Ash! He is so sweet n chubby!Good job!

as for pumps for me,my very kind neighbour lent me hers,Medela something,think it cost about 3-400 bucks new,I was lucky to have it for the time I BF even though I didn't always use it a lot.It worked great.I had a small cheap,electric one with Teo and it made my nipples bleed,I quickly gave up Bfing coz ir was too painful the first time.With T-li I managed to last 10 monhts.Of curse I knew more and pujshed through any discomfort,but I think having a nicer pump make a ahuge difference if every you need to use one.I don't think it's gross to by a second hand on from ebay or anything,the actual electric part never touches the milk,or the tubes,just the bottles and breat funnel parts,but you can buy those brand new and know that you pretty much have a new pump by doing that for much less money!

I have the Avent Isis IQ Duo and absolutely love it! I like that I can control the speed and strength however I want, and am not limited to presets. I use it once every couple days, just enough for a bottle now and then so DH can feed and I get a break - although Wes almost never ends up eating it... I've wasted far more BM than he's taken from the bottle. Ahh well, I have plenty!

You should have your sister look into breast milk donation. I'm not sure how much you have to donate, obviously it can't be a ton because they know that a lactating mother has another mouth to feed! BUT.... if you donate, they GIVE YOU the best hospital grade pump out there while you are donating, at no charge, and they pick up the milk for free and everything once a week. They even give you the sterile bags to store it in.

If she decides to buy one, I have the pump in style advanced which I got off ebay, and it works great. I bought new breast horns and dispensers because the thought of used ones sounded gross to me, but it was a very cheap buy, nearly brand new, and I was so happy with it! If she plans to pump exclusively though.... I'd recommend a stronger pump. If it's just a few times a day while she's at work, then go for the pump in style advanced.

Hey Tiff what milk bank is this through? I have TONS of stored breastmilk and I don't know if I am going to save it and give it to him at a year or donate it ( I have a few months worth maybe 4 or so) and most of the ones I have looked into want me to pay for shipping and be reimbursed which I just think it sounds like more trouble. . . . Really I don't have tons of money laying around waiting for it to be mailed back to me and frozen breastmilk really adds up quick!

I'm not actually sure about what milk bank it is. My friend Trisha was telling me about it. I'll have to ask her and then let you guys know!!!!!!