Avent Isis IQ

My baby would not latch at all so I had to express milk from day 1. No pumps really worked for me until the milk started to come in about day 3 but since then I have no problems with the Philips pump. I have tried a few double pumps at the hospital (inc. medela mini) but I prefer the Philips. The double pumps make me feel so awkward that I get a slower flow, and I feel I need the flexibility of the manual to electric feature of the Philips. I use it manually for the let down and the first minute of pumping to get the vacuum and speed exactly right, then press the button and let it take over. You have to lean forwards slightly but I find it fairly comfortable lying down at the edge of the bed with the bottle resting on the bed frame, or sitting leaning slightly forward. Note I do not use the cushion thing as I found it difficult to get it centred on my nipple but the basic plastic is fine for comfort.

The major advantages of this pump:
- Small, portable, quick to assemble and clean
- The system of the electric pump copying your manual rhythm makes it extremely flexible and personal
- can express straight into the avent bottles
- good price (second hand on ebay)

The only disadvantages I can think of:
- slightly squeaky when on maximum vacuum
- sometimes gives less vacuum when switching to electric, but you just switch back to manual and try again and the second time it always works correctly
- I have only used the battery pack once so far and it didn't last for one whole pumping, but I assume this was my batteries and just haven't bothered trying again yet as I don't need it to be portable at the moment
- it is top heavy and will fall over if you don't take the 'head' off before putting it down. I haven't found this a problem

an excellent pump and given that the manual to electric mechanism seems to be unique to Phillips, the only pump I would want.

I spent ages comparing breast pump reviews before buying this because it was on offer. I have been really pleased with it. It's easy to put together and keep clean and does an effective Jon.

This pump is a life saver! I use it daily for an average of 6 hours a day as my baby has expressed breastmilk all the time. It does make a bit of a noise but my daughter seems to like it and dozes off. I have been using it for 14weeks and have had no problems. You have to be careful it doesn't topple over as the milk can go into the electrical part and ruin it. The silicone part at the top can let a bit of milk in, however, as long as you're careful you won't have any problems. I had the manual one before which was good but hard work if exclusively expressing, I have used the main part with the electrical one too and it gives me some time to sterilise the other one. The manual one can be found cheaply in the sale so I recomend buying one to adapt on the electrical part as it can be timeconsuming to wash, sterilise and have the same one ready all the time. Battery pack very useful for travelling too.

I had to express three times a day for three months due to tongue tie in my baby. This pump is great - compact, discreet and has a memory function which replicates your preferred stroke. The 'petals' on the cup make it really comfortable too and visibility is good, so you can see if your position is resulting in the maximum number of jets. I had no drips or leaking as with a the hand pump I tried. This is a great pump for women with medium sized breasts (C-D cup).

Pump not really great. Seems to drip milk back up into the insert between the rubber cover and funnel. Takes me ages to express 1/2 oz, so each drop counts!Boutght second hand from ebay, so cn't comment on cost. Am presntly using it with DD2, having failed miserably to get to grips with it first time around. Trying to research another pump to try at the moment. Oh, and it's really quite noisy and you have to lean into the pump forwards to get it to work properly.

I was started off on a hospital pump while my first was in Special Care, then got this pump when he was about three weeks old and taking two hours for a feed. I found it easy to use and more comfortable than the hospital pump. I used it for three months until baby decided he preferred a bottle all the time and again for my second baby 20 months later. I particularly like being able to set and keep my own rhythm no matter how often I turn the pump on and off. I also like the cover so I don't have to sterilise the pump between expressions.
I used the battery pack only once and was disappointed it used up the batteries in only about half an hour, but it's good for an emergency.

I was disappointed with this pump. When used with the electric pumping head there just wasn't enough pressure to extract anything, so I ended up just putting the manual handle on and using it that way - could have bought the manual Avent pump for a third the price! It will remember "your individual pumping rhythm" if you can actually get a let-down to occur, this is a little fiddly as you have to press a button while pumping the handle. When you have the pump head (manual or electric) attached to the collection bottle it is not a watertight seal - so be careful not to tip or knock the bottle as you'll lose milk.
The pump is easy to assemble and clean and I like the fact there's a cover for the breast shield so you can put the whole thing in the fridge between sessions and keep some semblance of cleanliness. If you're using the Avent bottles anyway at least you can pump straight into the bottle you'll feed from.
I ended up hiring a Medela double pump - costs more but does a much better job.

Brilliant, used this after using manual one. Went back to work full time at three months, and managed to use this at work and carried on feeding for another three. Bit fiddly to start with, but once I was used to it, it was nearly as good as the one I'd used in the NICU.

I used this breast-pump to express milk for my son to have almost exclusively expressed milk for 7 months- so very heavy duty use (approx 5 hours worth a day for 6 months)

I found it very comfortable to use, much more so than the medela hospital ones thanks to the petal cushion. I found it very effective too, although I had equal success with other pumps. I also like the fact that I could use it as a manual pump, which oddly seemed to yield more milk on occasion. It was quiet enough to use it when my husband was asleep next to me, even when used with the electric pack.

One the downside, it was quite heavy, which meant I had to hold it in place constantly. Also, with the electric unit on the top of the smaller Avent bottles, or the larger ones part-full, it was top heavy and so had to be held to avoid it toppling over and all the precious milk being spilt (it is not watertight).

But most importantly, I had 4 of these pumps during the 6 months, as the electric units kept stopping, which was very frustrating when you are expressing frequently. We believe this is due to milk splashing up into the electric unit, but it was a constant irritation returning it to the store, and in my opinion uite unsatisfactory. so perhaps okay for infrequent use, but not for the heavy-duty demands of exclusive expressing

Great. Having sweated with the manual version without much success, I bought the electric version and haven't looked back. Has made expressing less of an ordeal. I managed to get it on e-bay for less than half the price and just used all the accessories from the manual pump. Is pricey to buy new.

Brilliant. I've had mine for 5 months. Used it daily (several times a day) and works really well. I've been on several courses and had to pump in the loos (nice!) but luckily it's v. portable with the battery pack. We bought it in the US and got it 20 pounds cheaper.

Excellent pump, I was expressing enough milk to feed the whole street, and it comes with a battery pack, so you can take it out with you if you need to leave you baby with someone else for a day.

The down side, though, was that mine totally conked out after about 10 months, and I had to spend another

I found this works better without the massaging petal rubber bit. You set the pace then hit the button and it does the rest for you - easier if you're feeding your baby on your other breast whilst expressing.

A fabulous breast pump which has solved my expressing problems! The pump 'remembers' how fast you want to pump after you've done it manually once or twice for easy let down reflex. The petal shaped cup helps expressing and it's handy and portable - it's been a lifesaver for me!