manual or electric breast pump???

[bubble78]

thats it really i just wanted advice on which is best my baby is due in july and i want to bottle feed it with breast milk. and i just wondered would i be best spending that bit more and getting an electric pump?

electric definitely - I tried several sorts of both and the mini-medela was the best by miles.

Yes electric most deff!! manual ones are hard work and time consuming. Electirc ones do it all for you.

I would suggest hiring one from your hospital - put yourself on the waiting list, see how you go with it then buy one if you still decide to express, breastfeeding may not be for you and you will have spent out a fortune on a pump you cannot return. Try before you buy. The madela is the best model by far.

Electric. I had a little Medela (sp) one which cost about £45 - could be battery or mains. V v good!

electric

electric - hire from hospital

so how soon can i start expressing the milk to bottle feed it?

i ended up expressing in the hospital as DD refused to feed to start off with so they helped me feed her with a cup.
I brought a manual expresser the day after I got out of hospital as boobs were terrible, but all the HV's said no. I used that to feed her from a bottle when out and about in the first few weeks.

i had an electric one but found (mothercares own, cost 80 quid) but found that it didnt have very good suction and it was really heavy. I have gone back to using my avent manual one. Thing is though, it depends on your milk flow, i have a very fast let down with milk pouring our, i can manually pump 4-5ozs in about 3/4 mins. I would see if you could hire one, or a few to try them out first.Good luck with the expressing and feeding by bottle!!

I started expressing at about 4 weeks with all my dcs. Morning was definitely best for me.
At first it took me 3 or 4 days to express enough for a full feed (I froze the milk and combined it later).
Later, I could express enough for a feed at one sittng.

I expressed from day one as my dd was in ITU, I had to express at night too, I remember totally sympathising(sp?) with the cows waiting at the field gate to come in for milking You feel like a big spot waiting to be popped!!