Best electric breast pump?

[DaniX91]

Hi 😊 I'm almost 23 weeks pregnant with my first baby and trying to get everything sorted ready for her arrival!
I'm just wondering if anyone can recommend a good electric breast pump?
I would like my partner to be involved as much as possible so I'll be trying to express as soon as possible.
Thanks!

Anyone?x

Have a look on Google for some reviews where testers have reviewed several. From individual posters here you will only get a recommend/do not recommend for one or maybe 2 brands.

It's not what you asked, but there are so many ways that your can be involved without you expressing. They can change nappies (this isn't actually gross!), bathe the baby, dress the baby, wear the baby in a sling when you go out. Expressing takes up your time and then one of you has to sterilise pumps and bottles etc - it can be an additional burden for you to have your partner involved!

I also planned to express etc but as PP said it was such a faff and also very depressing in between breastfeeding, sterilising/washing bottles and everything else- siting there at 1am expressing for 45 mins when I could be sleeping got very annoying quickly. A baby also drinks milk much more effectively than it’s possible to express - so something to bear in mind.

Therefore It might be worth seeing how you get on before investing in one - if you can easily breastfeed you might not need to express and as Pp said your other half can be involved in other ways.

I bought an electric medela pump and that was great for the handful of times I’ve used it when I had a wedding, long car journeys etc (to prevent me leaking/pain)

If you do need to pump a lot then the elvie looks good as you can place it in your bra whilst out.

But they are all so expensive so you might want to just wait until you have your baby to see what you want/need to do as you might not use it at all.

I wouldn't start expressing unless you absolutely need to. I had to when DC1 was born and it was bloody hard work. I had a medela swing.
It's also recommended not to start expressing for at least 6 weeks unless absolutely necessary, as it can affect supply and/or cause nipple confusion.

This time round I have a haka pump that I attach to the breast I'm not feeding from. It is fantastic!

Ps Just to clarify as I didn’t know this either - but I Expressed at 1am because they tell you to do so after midnight to increase your supply for the next days. So my early days involved feeding and putting baby to sleep (in between 12 nappies a day and 12 feeds) then having to express and sterilise bottles and pumping equipment at 1/2am. The appeal of doing that daily wears thin very quickly!

Also a pump only sucks whereas a baby also massages and sucks - so it would take me 30 mins to produce eg 50ml whereas baby would drink that amount in 10 mins.

Yep, best milk is in the middle of the night! It's why babies love to cluster feed all night. They aren't daft, they know what they are doing

Expressing is a skill in itself to master. Took a long time before my body would respond well to the pump.

I have Tommee Tippee closer to nature, just pump after feeds when I find time on MW advice - have never been told pumping at night is necessary although I understand the milk is better etc. I also have it ready to pump in the morning following the nights where my partner gets up to do feeds using my expressed milk :)

I don't think the type of pump makes a difference as much as each individual woman's supply/flow does. I'm lucky that I can easily pump over 100ml in 5-10mins.

I started pumping and partner doing some feeds by week 3 because breastfeeding was getting me down and I needed a break but wasn't ready to introduce formula yet. Luckily my baby never had any issues with breastfeeding so there was no "nipple confusion" (whether this is a real thing I don't actually know, depends who's research you look at as with anything.) But MWs HAVE to press breastfeeding so take any advice they give you on the subject with a pinch of salt. I decided to stop blindly following their guidance on BF when I told them I was struggling to deal with the frequency of the feeding and all they could say was "it's normal"

Good luck!!

6 days postpartum here and currently pumping while we get DS assessed for tongue tie tomorrow. I suggest you wait until the baby is here before you do anything with pumps. I was using a Medela hospital grade pump before we came home and thought about hiring one ( you can do this for approx £60 where I am for a month), but have gone for the Ardo Calypso instead which was £120 on Amazon. It's closed system so I plan to sell on afterwards. I seem to be lucky with supply ( wasn't expecting this!) So the calypso is as effective for me was the Medela one, but as PP said, the pump doesn't massage the tissue so from my limited experience, one side at a time while massaging works best for me.

DH is doing a lot of the bottle feeds at the moment ( because I'm having to pump) and I will say that I feel a little left out on that the last few days. He's done the majority of the nappy changes since DS arrived by c-section and they were bonding absolutely fine across the changing mat 😁

Thanks for that everyone ☺️ think I'll take your advice and wait til she's here then decide if I need a breast pump or not. I know my partner will be an amazing dad regardless of being able to feel her or not!
This might be a silly question ha but do we need to get a tub of formula in just in case I can't breastfeed? X

@DaniX91

I wouldn't, if you want to BF the hospital will make sure you've got the hang of it before letting you out. If there are any medical issues that mean you can't BF then the hospital will provide suitable formula :)

Thanks for that @BonnieSeptember with it being our first baby I'm a little bit clueless! Haha

Breast pumps and bottles/ teats do not need to be sterilised just washed in hot soapy water. I had twins in NICU and they had us just washing. The bacteria is very different to formula.
I have the Medela swing maxi ( double pump)