Breast pump advice

[Hazelnut89]

Apologies if there is already a thread on this, I have had a quick look and don't seem to be able to find one.

I have no idea where to start with breast pumps, I have just had a look at the tommee tippee reviews for both the manual and electric on here but people seem to have written about the manual on the electric and vice versa. Just wondering if anyone has any advice about the tommee tippee, or others if you think they are better.

This is my first child so I have no idea whether the manual or electric is better, regardless of the brand

Thanks

I guess it depends on how often you want to express. I think people find the manual pumps a bit much for frequent regular expressing.

I've got an electric Medela Swing which was fine for expressing once or twice a day. I know that some people don't rate it though.

I have a tommee tippee manual and I love it, easy to use and clean, I pumped most days from 2 weeks until about 8 weeks when lo decided she no longer liked a bottle!!! Still use it occasionally now. I tried an electric medla one one in hospital which was easy to use tho its VERY expensive. As previous post said depends on how much u are wanting to express but also how much u can physically express. I have no problems as seem to have endless milk sometimes and can get 4oz in about 5 mins but I don't think that's normal!! Hope it helps a little! X

I have an avent manual. Used it for DD for a year for nearly daily expressing. It was quick & easy.

I'm now using it again for DS but am also donating to the milk bank & so hospital lent me a medela electric pump to try.

I definitely prefer the manual as it's quieter, I think it's quicker & I like being able to express anywhere without needing a power point! I think a double electric might be good but pretty pricey.

It's probably just a personal thing - I'm sure plenty of people prefer electric. I also had a different manual one that I tried (it was a very basic one from boots) & it was rubbish!

HTH.

I use the Tommee Tippee manual for dd to have expressed milk once every day or so and for that level of use I find it fine. I decided it was worth a go as it was very cheap so no big loss if I didn't like it or if dd refused bottles in the end. I had an electric one on loan, it was easier on the hand as no squeezing required but I got about the same amount in the same time so decided it wasn't worth me paying the extra for an electric one. Have been using it most days for 3 months now and I still think it does the job.

I got a medela swing too and found it good for once a day or so. It was expensive though and when I went back to work though I ended up renting a hospital grade pump (medela symphony double pump) as it was just so much more efficient for the amounts I needed in the time I had.

I was always a bit slow with the expressing and was sometimes depressed at the amounts I was producing (not because that reflects supply I know, just it took so long!). The symphony is fantastic in that respect- 4 ounces in ten minutes. But it's €80 a month so I wouldn't be renting it for recreational pumping as it were!

Again, that was just for me though- I couldn't manage hand expressing at all. My boobs are fairly small and I just couldn't get a proper handful IYSWIM.

Might be worth trying a cheap and cheerful manual first though as at least you won't regret it if you need to upgrade! Again, depends on what you need it for- if just the odd feed to get a bit of a time out then I would have stuck with the swing or possibly tried a manual one first.

Spectre dew breast pump. I have expressed for over 8 months as I went back to work ft when ds was 5 months. I was expressing 5 times a day initially, plus feeding my boob monster 4/5 times myself! At my peak it could express 7 ounces in 15 mins. It cost approx £100. But enabled me to breastfeed or give expressed milk, I haven't bought any formula, so weighed up against the cost of formula it's pretty reasonable I think.

With dd had a hand pump, I couldn't use it, nothing would come out!

I started with a tommee tippee manual. It was cheap enough (£20 I think on offer in Tesco at the time) for an emergency purchase - DS was born prematurely, was still in SCBU and I needed something to pump overnight at home to take into hospital for him.
However manual pumping soon got too much for me to be doing so often. I bought an Ameda Lactaline double pump (c £100) which was amazing. I possibly wouldn't have spent that much if I didn't know I'd get a lot of use out of it (I used it pretty much daily until 6 months, then continued using it slightly less often until about 14 months).

Thank you for all the help! At the moment my plan is to breast feed and pump now and again so my partner can do some feeds or when I go out I can use a bottle to make it easier.
I'm still looking into options and what there is out there but it's good to have some advice from people who have been through it before.
I assume I'll get some information when I start going to classes or from the midwife further down the line as well.

A friend gave me a Medela Swing before DS was born and I
So glad as we had a panic stations weight drop at 5 days and I immediately started expressing and bottle feeding so we could monitor his feeding and build him up. I've used it since and can get 4-5oz out of each boob in 30 mins, so I'm very happy. I would however love to double pump and can't see how I could do this as I can't see an attachment to allow it. However in my area (Essex) the special breast feeding team do rent out or lend breast pumps so perhaps you could try one? I'm thinking of borrowing a hospital grade double pump as I still can't pump enough for my greedy boy as he's eating more.

If you are planning to just do it every now and again and manual pump is probably the way to go to start with. I got a medela harmony for about £25 . I've been really pleased with it and use it most days. It's also good because it comes with a calma teat . We had some Phillips avent bottles but my DS just wouldn't take them so we tried the expressing bottle with the calma teat and he guzzled it down!