Hands free breast pumps? And general pumping advice

[Greenknees]

Pregnant with baby no 2. When I had DD, I tried lots of different pumps- manual, electric and silicone. I found that I didn’t get much out with any of them and had to ‘save up’ small amounts of milk over a week or so just to get a few hours away. So this time I want to start pumping right from the beginning in the hope this will get my flow going. Has anyone tried this approach?

I spent lots of time sitting in an undignified fashion with a breast pump poking out from under my top. So I’ve seen these elvie pumps that you can keep in your bra and wander around while pumping. They look ideal and I’d like to buy one but they cost £249 and I might end up with the same rubbish flow as last time. There is a cheaper £60ish version on Amazon. Anyone had any experience with either of these?

Anyone?

I have an elvie, but not as my main pump, more for just when I'll be out for the day. It is good but not as efficient as my hospital grade plug in one unfortunately. I do like the fact that it is hands free and tucked away in your bra rather than having to have both breasts exposed, I do worry about moving about too much with it though because of spilling the milk out of the bottle.

As for pumping to get flow going, I pumped from the beginning as we couldn't establish a latch and I have continued, we are now at 14 weeks. I now manage to pump a couple of feeds extra on top of what I use in a day so it is possible to get a good supply from pumping despite what people say.

We were told at NCT to wait to use bottles and pump until 6 weeks. I didn't because I needed to have a medical procedure meaning I couldn't feed for 48 hours. Best decision we made - my now 2 year old was happy with breast milk, expressed, formula, cows milk regardless of whether it was cold or warm. I had to stop breast feeding at 10 months, again for essential medical procedures that are incompatible with breast feeding. However I'd frozen enough milk for him to have one bottle a day until 13 months. Given I didn't even set out to breast feed due to said medical issues, I that that's pretty good. I drink loads of water just as a matter of course and that's important for pumping.

Pumps wise, I had a manual MAM pump which I used when I was away from him and also borrowed an electric one from a friend (which I gave up on) then a Hakka style pump that I used to collect the let down at every feed/pumping session. By the end I could get about 100ml of letdown from one feed, although in the beginning it was harder with a manual/electric pump so don't let that put you off! My best friend had an Elvie hands free pump which initially she thought was going to be her saving grace as she went back to work early, but it actually just leaked everywhere because the pump didn't register when it was full so she ended up changing clothes a lot and giving up on it. She did complain and was told that it just happens sometimes - for £249 I'd have expected better!! It also wasn't that discreet as it made a noise and there's no real way you could sit in a professional meeting etc with it in your bra. When she used it she went off to the pumping room/toilets anyway. I'd just stick with a manual one and do it that way...!

I went to John Lewis last year to ask about the Elvie pump as I wanted to take it to work and use it ‘discretely’ on my lunchtime walks. One of the managers there had already tried it this way and said it was much louder than a lot of hospital grade pumps. She recommended the lanisoh double pump to me as it came in a travel bag - I just ensured I wore a pumping bra and then pumped in the nursing room at the shopping centre near work.

I pumped from day 2 as DS had a tongue tie and wasn’t feeding efficiently - he needed to be topped up regularly and I stopped when it was fixed at the 12 week mark.