Advice appreciated Breast pump manual or electric? and which make???

[Moomin1000]

Looking at all the pumps im lost which one to get advice appreciated
Thanks :-)

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Hello!

We've noticed this thread is quite old and some of the product recommendations are a little out of date. We've spent weeks speaking to parents and testing out breast pumps. Read our breast pump reviews for a list of the best products on the market.

Hope this helps!

MNHQ

[Santiagosmama]

I'd say neither! I got a manual one and it was one of many things I tried once and then abandoned... Each to their own of course! Good luck :-)

[madmomma]

phone the national NCT line & hire an electric one. Much much quicker. Good Luck.

[Moomin1000]

i need to express for when i go to work etc! Really dont fancy hiring one thanks anyway

[edwinbear]

Electric, without a doubt. I had an Avent and it was excellent.

[shuckleberryfinn]

I say wait. You don't need it straight away and I discovered that our local support group gave away manual pumps, sold electric ones at cost and had a fair few hospital grades for loan. I've tried them all and discovered that not only is each person better suited to some pumps than others but so is each mother/baby pair. What worked for me with my 6 year old son doesn't work with this baby.

[fatandknackered]

Second the electric choice, also had Avent, and used their bottles too so it was easy from that perspective. Be warned you may feel like a cow being milked, but it serves an important purpose (did for me anyway). Good luck!!

[BeeMyBaby]

I used a manual (avent) at work and it was great, meant I could do it at my own speed etc. I also bought a tommee tippee electric and have to say it was very poor and I used it about three times (more difficult to sterilise and poor suction).

[TrinaLuciusMalfoy]

I used the Medela mini electric, excellent little unit. Just one piece of advice with any pump though: always check it's on the lowest setting before switching it on. Bit of a shock to the system to find out the hard way that you hadn't turned it down from the day before...

[AmaraDresden]

Seconding the Medela electric pump. I had a manual one too but it just wasn't as effective or quick. Mind you I soon got fed up with pumping, lol, but if I were to need to ever again I'd go with the Medela.

[AmaraDresden]

Seconding the Medela electric pump. I had a manual one too but it just wasn't as effective or quick. Mind you I soon got fed up with pumping, lol, but if I were to need to ever again I'd go with the Medela.

[nannyl]

I have 2.

I have a lansinoh manual pump (that i won in a raffel, bit of a joke as it was 3 years ago and i wast pg or even thinking about being pg then!)
A friend has kindly given me her medala swing breast pump too.

but i am really really hoping to donate my excess milk (assuming like my mum , both grandmothers and all aunts i will have LOADS of spare milk) and in which case my local hospital who does the breast milk bank will let me borrow a super duper hospital grade one, and all the stuff etc for free

[idlevice]

All pumps are not equal as all boobs are not equal! You may get better results with a different pump. I couldn't get on at all with one pump I tried - it was stupid of me to buy it as I had already hired one which I knew worked, had to fork out to buy another one of the first brand, so it is a good idea to hire one first to check you can use it ok as it is quite an investment for a decent one, even if you don't mind a secondhand one.

Electric definitely & double if poss, as it obviously halves total pumping time. Some electric ones can be used manually as well if you are caught without power, for example. If you have large boobs I think it is Avent who do a specific cup that is supposed to be more comfortable.

[trixymalixy]

I would get a manual to start with and if needs be get an electric if you find you are expressing a lot.

I tried a few, the medela mini was utter shite, I much preferred the Avent, manual and electric pumps to any others.

[ninedragons]

My electric Avent is a workhorse. Had a Medela Swing last time and it was rubbish - didn't realise how rubbish it was until I got the Avent.

[MelanieWiggles]

I had the avent electric double - it was great. Would definitely recommend.

[LisMcA]

I'm exclusively expressing for 11 wo ds and have hired a hospital grade medela symphony which is great for high usage. I also have a medela swing for mobile use which is also very good. Picked the swing up on eBay for £40.if you want to you can buy new bottles and stuff I know some people find it weird using booties other have used I had the bottles from the symphony that fit so didn't need to.

If you are going to be expressing regularly then I would sat go electric unless you have hands/wrists of steel.

[LoveBeingAbleToNamechange]

I've had three.

The advent manual was ok but it broke so got a tommee tippeeanual which I did prefer but decided to upgrade to an electric and got a medela swing and loved it. No more hand ache plus it had two types of 'suck', so it's like a baby a fast one which you can then change to a slower longer one once the milk starts coming out.

[LoveBeingAbleToNamechange]

Erm tippee one..... Bloody iPhone

[LoveBeingAbleToNamechange]

Btw I liked the shape of the boob bit on the tommee tippee one as have big norks and it had less bits than the advent.

[Moomin1000]

cool thanks so much i think i'll wait but may go for a manual first and see how i get on thanks so much x

[Catsycat]

My daughter just would not latch on, (no probs with DD2 who came out with her mouth open!!). I expressed every feed for 5 1/2 months for DD1, by which time I had enough surplus milk frozen to last till just over 6 months, so I was using the pump very heavily.

I started with a manual pump, having intended to breast feed and only express if going out on occasion, and seriously after 1 day my hands were in agony!

My DH then bought me a Medela Swing, but it was very slow, especially once DD's milk intake started to increase after the first couple of weeks.

We then went for a Medela Lactaline double pump, coupled with a hands free bra, see www.expressyourselfmums.co.uk/Expressing-Bra (the most appalling piece of underwear one could ever own, but useful!!!) and I was amazed at how much easier and faster it made things - less than half the time of my previous pump. It was fantastic, also the bra meant I could read a book, hold a cup etc while expressing :). Ameda make many of the hospital pumps, so it is very solid and good quality, though admittedly not as pretty as the Medela pumps, for example. I have huge boobs, and the Ameda pump had inserts you can buy to cater for different sizes and shapes, which made it much more comfortable! The current version of my pump is www.expressyourselfmums.co.uk/Expressing-breastmilk/ameda-lactaline-breast-pump.htm

The Express Yourself Mums site was really useful in helping to select products, has various articles about feeding and expressing, plus product reviews. They have a very comprehensive range of pumps to buy, plus rental ones (I know you want to buy one *Moomin, just mentioning it in case anyone reading is looking to hire), and accessories such as spare bottles and insulated bags for taking the pump out and about.

Good luck choosing!

[LisMcA]

Oh yeah I double pump, but just cut holes in an old bra rather than buy a specific one!

Great website there. Thanks for linking.

[Mole007]

Medela swing - and look at Ebay!

[Haribolicious]

Another vote for Medela electric.....definitely go electric to save achy hands! An expensive purchase but well worth it IMO and glad I had it ready from the beginning as boobs got very full when milk kicked in but baby was sleeping unaware so the relief from expressing was great(!)

[Catsycat]

Sorry, my post above should say Ameda Lactaline, not Medela!!! Why do they have to have such similar names!!!!!