Which electric breast pump??

[AveEldon]

I've read lots of reviews and I'm sure it's been done to death but still utterly confused about which pump is best
I had a manual avent pump before which was hard work on my wrists so I think electric would be better. It's only for occasional use so I don't want to spend loads

What would you recommend?

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Hello!

We've noticed this thread is quite old and some of the recommendations may be a little out of date. We've tested a whole host of products to find the best electric breast pump on the market right now.

Hope this helps!
MNHQ

[villainousbroodmare]

I had a Lansinoh double pump which was fiddly and rubbish, then bought a Philips Avent single, much nicer and sturdier.

[lastnightiwenttomanderley]

I had a medela swing - I was quite ill and in hospital for ten days after birth and ds was on donor milk whilst I pumped exclusively and transitioned him over to a mix of bf and ebm. It stood up to that intensive use as well as then once every so often if I was going some where without him.

Depending on when you're due, they're normally on amazon black Friday/prime days.

[SpaceDinosaur]

Thank you for starting this thread, I have the same question!

[amysmummy12345]

I have a medela mini for occasional pumping... Does the job 😊

[Marmite27]

I have a spectra S1, double pump with battery pack. You can only get them from Amazon. It fits avent bottles.

I exclusively express, and it's been running for 1-3 hours a day since December and it's never faltered. It has a light on it too.

[AveEldon]

Thanks everyone

[SpaceDinosaur]

I'm looking at an electric Medela thanks to this thread.

This is my first baby. Would you recommend a single or a double pump?

[ispymincepie]

Second the Medela mini, it's loud but brilliantly simple and effective, much better than my hospital grade double and considerably cheaper!

[amysmummy12345]

I think it depends on whether you are just pumping the occasional bottle or wanting to express larger amounts more regularly...

[TwoLittleBlooms]

I had an ameda lactaline double which was great (not as good as the hospital grade medela I hired!) - it was £120 though (I had to exclusively pump as we struggled with feeding and growth). I think they do a single version.

[SpaceDinosaur]

I just don't know.

I'm not sobbing about this yet. I desperately want to BF. I'm self employed so may need to return to working a few mornings a week when my baby is 3 months (owing to a lack of fecking staff... I have jobs, I pay well and no one fecking wants them)

All being well and good. I would like baby to have BM even when being cared for by family.
But I don't know if I'm going to be able to pump or if it will work for us. And pumps are so expensive.
Can a single pump be converted to a double or a double be used as a single?

[TwoLittleBlooms]

SpaceDinosaur, I know that you can use double pumps as a single pump - not sure if you can convert vice versa though. You can also buy them cheaper - you can buy second hand but check that the pump is what is called a closed system. It has some sort of diaphragm between milk collection area (bottle and breast flange)and pump tubes, so that milk can't get into the pump tubes/motor and go off and have mould growth.

[SpaceDinosaur]

Thank you so much. I've both hijacked this thread a bit (Sorry OP) and got myself into a bit of a tizz this evening

[ChipIn]

Good, long lasting pumps will generally be expensive unless you go second hand. It is worth it though because in my experience they tend to be more efficient as you can adjust the speed of them. I saw a lactation consultant when DD was tiny due to feeding issues and she advised only certain brands (I think Medela, spectra and one other) allow you to change the size of the flange that goes on the breast, which if it's the wrong size can cause discomfort, as I found with the avent one I started with. Moved to Medela and it's much better. I use it about 2 hours a day as I work FT and DD is still on breast milk with solids.
I live outside the uk and we can hire them from pharmacies here. Could you do that to begin with? Then you're not wasting money if it isn't right for you.

[TwoLittleBlooms]

ChipIn, the Ameda and Philips (electric) both have different sized flanges (I had the manual philips comfort which had a cushioned removable insert for the flange but couldn't change the size of it).

[TwoLittleBlooms]

I also had the tommee tippee manual which was a very small flange and caused me nipple trauma as it wasn't long enough (apparently that is a common issue with it if you are of large bust).