What's the best breast pump? Is there one?

[lunavix]

It's only early days but I want to express for dd. Would rather buy a breast pump than hire one, are the electric/battery ones worth it? I had an avent one with ds which was hopeless but then bfing didn't really work full stop. Have very tender chest atm and rather munched nipples so need something a little gentle!

I used a hand one for dd1 and it was quite hard work I never quite found the right angle except being bent over nearly double ! which hurt my back I think it was an Avent one, I took this back to Boots after 2 months as the screw top bit became brittle and broke up, crumbling into the milk when I undid it once I guess it was through using myu steam steraliser on it.
For dd2 I hired an electric one which was great you can set the speed to where is comfortable and just sit back. Sorry I cant remember the make it was a big blue thing the sort they have in the hospitals.
Speaking from my experiences if you can breastfeed from the breast you are likely to do it for longer. I found the amount of time I spent expressing, steralising and feeding took up much of my day and this was one of the main reasons I switched to formula

LV,I had only limited success with an Avent the first time around.Second time,got a little electric Medela which was wonderful.

Definitely go electric. I used the Ameda Purely Yours which is very similar to the Medela Pump in Style. Both are quite good. I have heard the new Isis pump is also a good one.

i had a medela mini electric and it wasn't bad. Also had a tommee tippee hand pump as the electric was too noisy to do when I needed to be discreet. The TT one was alright too - basic but did the job. I beleive they've remodelled them (TT ones) so you can pick one up from boots or tesco for £5 or so. Worth it as a cak up to the electric.

I had a look at medela ones in mothercare, there's an electric one for £40 and one for £80, but I can't tell the difference, does anyone know?

Saw the Avent one too, I feel wary as I hated my manual avent one but is it just that price because of all the usual avent junk they throw in with it?

I am using the Avent Isis electric pump and its much easier and relaxing than the manual.
I had to express to monitor feeds as my baby wasn't gaining weight initially. I wouldn't have expressed that early on otherwise as I don't find it the easiest thing to do and with my first I felt like a production line, if I wasn't feeding I was expressing and I probably over did it to my detriment.
The advantage is that it mimics your speed/pressure of pumping and programs it in to the memory for next time. It has a mains supply and also a battery pack too for if you are out and about. One thing I like about it is that though you still have to sit in the right position and hold the bottle, you do have one free hand so I find myself eating breakfast or reading or cuddling the other children at the same time. Once its on you can forget about it.
Its very expensive at £85 but that has prompted me to carry on and she has a bottle every evening which gives me a break and is nice too for my husband. I also plan to stock up the freezer nearer the time I go back to work so she can have the benefits for longer.
Finally, just bought Lansinoh storage bags and they are brilliant. Very good double seal and much better and easier than the Avent ones where you have to buy the clips seperately. Got them in Mothercare

I found the Avent Manual really easy to use, better than the hospitals electric ones to be honest. But then I found the best time to get lots of milk was in the bath so not the best place for an electric pump

the ameda lactaline is the one nearest to the hospital grade machines, it was pricey but quiet and excellent. mini medela is fine, but noisy and i never got a drop out of a hand pump.

Hi, I expressed exclusively for 8.5 months and
I used both Medela mini (£40) it is not that hot in terms of time. In the beginning it is gentle on you as it doesn't hurt you when you pump, the draw back for me was that I had wide neck bottles and this one only comes with one 150ml narrow neck bottle. You can sterilise this with microwave and Milton. I went on holiday and ditched it because it was so noisy. I bought an Avent hand pump, although it can be hard on your breast in the beginning you can control the speed and "strength" at which you pump, it can only be sterilised in a microwave as the Milton deteriorates the plastic. I was so chuffed with it I've ended up using it for 7 months!

Expressing is hard work in the beginning and I found having baby near or a picture of him helped with the let down.

HTH

Have to (politely) disagree with the PP about expressing leading to shorter BFing. I found that having a few feeds stored in the freezer gave me some peace of mind if I had to be away from DD (which I did when I had to go into hospital and couldn't have her with me). As she got older it meant the odd night out with the girls while DH did the bedtime feed. Mind you,I am talking maybe 2 EBM feeds a week maximum. I think it's hard on women who have to go out to work (I mostly do paid work from home). I have the Medela electric £40 and it's not bad, a bit noisy tho' and I do have to lean over it a bit to encourage the flow which isn't comfortable. It really depends how much expressing you think you might actually do (hard to know in advance). I believe the double pumps (tho' expensive, very scary and weird looking are the most effective. A hands-free one which is relatively quiet would be good too then you can get on with something else. This is important if your supply decreases much once solids are established. Pumping has been great for us. I had to pump in hospital after DD was born because she wouldn't suck at first.

Good luck,

There's some great tips on the expressing clique thread. I exclusively expressed for 10 months with no problems. Not my first choice, but it did work!

I'm a fan of the Ameda Lactaline. It's portable, quiet and a double pump. Can be chemical or steam sterilised, and the best bit is, even though there are 2 funnels, there are only 4 bits you need to clean.

I exclusivley pumped with an ameda lactaline for 12 weeks, I found it very comfortable and thought it was great to be able to pump off both breasts at the same time as it meant I spent less time using it iyswim.

Several of my mum's have the Medela Mini Electric after finding the Avent Manual no use.

One mum had the new all singing Avent Electric Isis and itworked tho took a bit of practice to get it pumping in the right rhythum.

Medela do 2 other breast sheilds that are softer and said to be closer to a suckling effect.