Breast pump advice needed!

[Mummycherry2]

Hi all,

My DS is nearly 4 weeks old and I've been exclusively breast feeding. In the next month or so, they are some occasions when I need to leave a bottle for him so it's time to invest in a pump...
I desperately need some recommendations as I don't have a clue what I'm doing !!!
Was going to get a manual pump because I don't need to leave him apart from these two occasions in July (school prom - my tutor group are leaving and my cousins wedding- I'm a bridesmaid!) so I'd gratefully receive recommendations...
Thank you so much in advance!

I needed something urgently in the very early days to top up my DD and ended up with the manual tommee tippee one (I think because it was on offer or the cheapest) which was fine. In fact when I melted it because I forgot I was sterilising it on the hob I replaced with exactly the same thing.
I didn't do much expressing - maybe 2 or 3 times a week to just ensure I had a supply in the freezer for the odd times I needed a babysitter and found I was ok with a cheap hand pump. I mastered the art of baby on one boob, and using the other hand to express the other boob (For me was the only way to get a decent amount as if I wasn't feeding very little came out)
As I understand it if you think you might be doing alot of it in the future then its probably worth the expense of an electric and have the benefit of it in the early days, because your hand can get a bit achey with the manual one.

I used the Medula Swing electric pump, v easy to use, I could zone out in front of the tv with it on. It isn't cheap though and there are potential health issues I think with using certain types of pumps second hand (albeit low risk).

I had the mothercare innosense pump, I like it, it was comfortable and you could alter the position to at an angle you prefer which I often did.

Has different speed settings too which I found useful the first few times I used it. Also comes with a little travel bag too. :)

I hired a hospital standard (ie really good) pump from a pharmacy, and just bought my own attachments for it. In Australia it's not uncommon for large pharmacies (especially those near maternity hospitals) to hire breast pumps, but I don't know if this happens in UK. You could phone your nearest maternity hospital to ask.

You could also try posting your query on the breastfeeding and bottle-feeding thread under the Baby tab - you might get more response there.

I also used the Tommee Tippee manual. It got terrible reviews, but was significantly cheaper than the others and came with a bottle and a handy steriliser box. I wasn't sure how I'd get on with pumping, but it was cheap enough that I could always upgrade later if I'd wanted. I've only done the occasional pumping so far and found it fine.

Medela harmony manual pump was great for me. Think electric sposed to be easier if doing it a lot or if supply not so great.

I used phillips avent last time and tommee tippee this time. TT is fine but avent was much better. Both fine and work but just think tt feels a little less efficient but fine if just need a half decent electric one.

I used a Medela.

It was amazing.

Don't bother buying a pump until you've tried hand expressing. It's much more effective than mechanical pumping as you use your hand to imitate the natural milking action rather than the pump using suction... much better for your nipples as well! If you're not sure how to do it, you can PM me, I think I have sone resources somewhere.