Planning to express so DP can bottle feed once a day - which pump?

[Naisy]

Hi, I'm currently pregnant and am planning to express so my partner can do one feed per day. Not sure how much milk is required for this and unsure of what pump to buy.

Was thinking electric might be best?

Advice appreciated!

I have the Spectra3 from Amazon, it's a lesser known brand but I've found it excellent and a bargain at £60 - it's very strong suction - you build up to the strongest setting! I can express around 100ml in 10 mins with it.

A lot of people rate the Ameda Lactaline as it's a closed system as opposed to the open system of the popular Medela Swing

This is an article about the pitfalls of open systems.

I know you're not planning to express exclusively but this thread contains some interesting points about expressing that you might want to bear in mind

Got a bit link-happy there- sorry!

I had this plan too OP and brought a basic Avent hand pump which has more than done the job. She had several bottles a week from about week 6.

We didn't end up doing a bottle a day though and stopped by week 8 or 9. I was doing it so DP could 'bond' with dd but it just really isn't necessary for this reason. He was involved in everything else anyway!

And it was just easier to feed dd myself think: sterilising, pumping, refrigerating, remembering how old milk was, heating milk up, feeding dd, washing and sterilising again etc was just more things to do when looking after a newborn. And it didn't really give me a break because if I didn't feed and she had a bottle I ended up leaking (my supply was good and didn't even out until quite late on compared to others)

Sorry gone off a bit there but I can recommend the avent pump it has done a great job and it's easy to dismantle and put together etc.

If you can borrow friends' pumps to try, that might be a good idea. Some women find electric is best, others (myself included) manual. And, as GodisaDj says, you might change your mind when the time comes. So not worth splashing out until you're really sure.

If you're planning to just express enough for one feed then you can probably do it by hand and save your money! There are some tips here and if you've got a breastfeeding group nearby then they should be able to show you how to do it (using a knitted boob, not a real one!)

There is some information here about supplementing a BF baby. Most experts recommend waiting until BF is established, usually around 6 weeks.

I like the Avent manual pump because it has that nice soft cushion bit that goes inside the cup. But I have found manual pumping to be a pain in the arse and with a baby that likes to be carried about in a sling, it is hard to get time to do enough.
I have now ordered a dual electric pump off ebay so that I can express more quickly and easily. The manual one is fine if you can be bothered to express a few times per day.

I found hand expressing was better than a pump, especially if you only need one bottle a day.