anyone know where you can hire breast pumps from and how much they cost

[pregnantbabyelephant]

does anyon know where i can hire a breast pump from and how much that costs
my baby id 3 and a half weeks old and only bf
im finding it quite tiring and thought if expressed some my dh or other family and friends could help with the feeding
or is it best to buy one and if so what on do you recommend i think id prefer an electric one

[nearlythere]

i'd go and buy an electric one, and the more you spend the better they are, hiring one for a month costs about £50 iirc, the medela mini electric plus (double pump, electric etc) is only about £80- so well worth it! The avent isis IQ is supposed to be very good as well.

[archiespregnantmummy]

I would suggest buying one as they cost a lot to hire. I bought my Medela Swing for £89 and LOVE it.

Remember that it is not a good idea to introduce bottles this early so if you express you should try to feed from a cup (tiny little one), otherwise you risk nipple/teet confusion since bottles are much easier to suck from baby might become less interested in BF.

[archiespregnantmummy]

Oh and well done and good luck

[pregnantbabyelephant]

that makes sense if it cost so much to hire them
df dont fancy a manual one with all that pumping

what age should i try to introduce bottls of ebm ?

[krang]

Hi PBE. I started expressing with my LO when he was just a few days old as he had jaundice and had to be tube-fed. Never did him any harm! We gave him a few weeks to get used to the breast, then started giving him one bottle of EBM a day when he was around seven weeks - DH fed him so I could have a rest.

If I did it again, I would SO spend extra on buying an electric one! I went through three manual ones! Found the Avent to be the best, didn't get on with the medela, and don't even mention the rubbish Boots one which was agony to use!

[archiespregnantmummy]

Somewhere around 6-8 weeks (or when BFing is well established) is normally advised to introduce bottles pregnantbabyelephant.

All babies are different, some have no problems with bottles and BF from start whilst others loose interest in breast after bottle is introduced.

I went through a stage of DS not overkeen on boob after EBM had been given in bottle and we had waited til around 2 months

[yogimum]

my local midwife assistant who works in the community lent me an electric medala for just a deposit of £10 and I used it for several months. My local NCT group also hire them out.

[puppydavies]

our nct hires them out for around £8/wk plus one off fee of £10 for pack of sterile bits that actually touch the milk iyswim. might be worth a try to see how you get on with it.

[abismom]

I waited until six weeks to try my son with a bottle. He is 13 weeks now and still refusing a bottle, no matter who tries to give it to him, its not always worth while waiting, I know many parents who have sucessfully fed their babies with both from a very early age

[Jojay]

My ds took bottle and breast right from the start, very happily.

I've heard many more stories of babies who won't take the bottle because their parents have left it too late to introduce it, than I have of babies going off the breast once they've had a bottle.

I'd give him a bottle now. Cup feeding is a nightmare - you end up tipping most of your precious ebm down their fronts IIRC!!

[archiespregnantmummy]

Feel the need to defend cupfeeding a bit.

It's not as difficult as it may seem when you try it the first time, you just need to keep baby and cup steady and keep the EBM against babys lip all the time, not removing the cup when baby has taken a gulp.

Also, baby doesn't need very much EBM as it is very rich and filling, so don't need anywhere near the same quantities as formula..

Why don't you go along to a local breastfeeding support group and speak to other BFing mums and BF councellor, then you can get more advise. And maybe, like a previous poster said, they can arrange for you to hire a pump very cheaply.
If you can hire a hospital grade one, they are absolutely fab.