Manual v Electric

[ap1984]

I am pregnant with my first baby and I really want to give breastfeeding a go

Firstly I underwent a breast enlargement operation in 2007 but the position d the implants will not affect my ability to breastfeed

Secondly, I have bought a lit of the TT range but after reading reviews about their breast pumps I am not sure whether they are very successful

Would I buy a manual first or am I better off investing in electric, and if I bought another brand would I have to change my bottles or could I transfer the expressed milk over easily?

Thanks ladies x

I had both and used the manual once. I found it tiring on the hands. I had a TT electric pump and found it no bother at all. The only reason I bought the manual was because the electric one was a little bit noisy and I felt guilty pumping in bed while dh was sleeping. After one go, I gave up and went back to electric. I 'adapted' a bra to keep it in place to my hands were free as well.

I had the TT manual pump and it was a breeze, really easy for sterilising as well. If I was expressing lots, I'd want an electric pump but the manual was fine for me.
I tended to freeze my expressed milk rather than use it quickly, so used to pour it straight into the pre-sterilised plastic bags, so haven't got any useful comments about switching bottles etc.
Unless money's no object it might be worth waiting until feeding's established before you choose a pump, based on how much you're going to use it. (and don't fall into the trap of expressing to relieve early engorgement - it makes it worse!)

Generally speaking you don't store the milk in the bottles you fed the baby from.

So that isn't an issue if you have one bottle that you pump into then transfer to storage bags/tubs (you can get bags you pump directly into as well) then freeze/refridgerate and then feed the baby with another brand of bottle altogether.

If you plan on expressing a lot, then an electric pump is a good investment (say if you were going back to work quite early) or if you are planning on exclusively expressing then a double electric is practically a requirement (cuts pumping time in half).

If you are only planning on pumping once in a while then a good hand pump is ideal (or as a back up if you are a big pumper in case of breaking the pump/leaving it at work).

If you are planning on buying an electric pump second hand (or selling on afterwards) then getting a closed pump system is best. With an open pump milk can get drawn back into the motor and you cannot clean it out - this can lead to mould growing in the motor and the mould spores could contaminate the milk you express.

Unfortunately unless you buy a hospital grade Medela (Symphony/Lactina) any Medela pump, even the Pump in Style double electric is an open pump system. Ardo and Ameda have closed pumps for their electric models (there may be other brands that are closed too but I'm not aware of them).

You can also get sized breast shields for Medela, Ardo and Ameda which is good as if you have smaller or larger than average nipples the standard sized shield may cause problems (chaffing/cracking/lower yields/pain). As bizarre as it sounds it might be worthwhile measuring your nipples to see if they would fit the standard size breastshield or if you would need a differently sized one.

Wow thank you, very informative!!

I plan on breast feeding for the first 2 months and was wanting to express so my partner could be involved in the night time feeds

Perhaps a manual to start with may be the sensible option and then go on from there. Not to worried about selling it afterwards - I just want a simple effective system that works

X

I have 3 breast pumps

a lansinoh manual
a medala swing
and the super duper medala free style

I have to say, regardless of which pump i use i get the same amount of milk out.
My freestyle is by far the quickest (8mins does both breasts)

The swing is much less effort than the manual and is a bit quicker. It takes about 30 - 40mins to express what my freestlye expresses in 8mins. (Freestyle is a double pump)

I rarely get more than 2oz per breast and often much less.

Also bear in mind in the early days / months it is the NIGHT feeds that are so important in establising supply, so not the best idea to replace one of those feeds with a bottle. I think its recommended to avoid expressing until milk is well established so at least 4 - 6 weeks, so if you only plan to BF for a 2 months then not much oppertunity to get going with bottles.
(however you may love BFing and want to carry on longer )

As for a pump that works.... what works for someone may not work as well for others... i have a friend who gets 9oz per boob with her freestyle (I dont) and several friends who get 4 - 6oz plus with their manual pumps.. again the same doesnt happen to me.
My aunt could never express a drop with a pump, though could pour milk out while leaning forward.... you wont really know how your breasts work until the time comes

Yes Yes to Nannyl - not all pumps work for all women. I get loads (of me anyway) with a Symphony but it takes 28 'sucks' to get 1 drop with a Lactina. Both are hospital grade electric pumps .

Also, agree with not skipping the night feeds though if you only plan to bf for two months then keeping your supply level calibrated high in the early days may not be a consideration. Though it might lead to bfing finishing earlier than planned if you add in bottles from the first few days/weeks as the longer you leave it between feeds/pumping the less milk is made. That's not to say you shouldn't pump and have OH do feeds but it's something to be aware of.