best breast pump?cheap one or medela??

[Clarabumps]

I used my manual pump without any sucess with ds1 and gave up. have been told by friends that an electric one works much better so thought about trying this with ds2 who is due in 9 weeks. However i am confused over what one to buy? anyone have any preferences on what one worked for them? do you buy cheap and buy twice? am i as well investing in an expensive one?thanks.

Hi Clara

I think it depends on you and your supply. I had a manual pump, which was good although a pita, I got a medela electric one (just battery powered) from a friend and it was crap!

I hired a hospital grade pump from nct when I had ds, which was great, it was about £25 a month I think, but if your on any kind of benefits its much cheaper and it is def the best pump I ever used.

Good luck!

The avent electric one is really good.

don't buy medela mini it is crap.

I used manual one for DD1 and DD2 and 'treated' myself to a medula swing this time

I don't like it, its far too noisey - my hoover makes less noise!!! I plug it in as I use it rather than battery though

another MNer swears by her electric avent though, I just can't justify the expense after buying the medula!

Hi

With DD I had a Mini Medula (battery or mains powered) but found it too sore for little milk expressed then had good success with the Avent Isis manual but that was really hard work and made my hands sore. With DS I was recommended the Medula swing pump time and time again and I have been so pleased with it. I know everyone is different but it made expressing a breeze and was so light to hold.

cross posted with Dizzy, I didnt think the medula swing was that noisy compared to other electric pumps but yes compared to a manual it is a lot more noisy!

The swing is very portable, easy to clean etc as well.

I used a Medula double pump when I was in hospital with DS and used it for 5 or 6 days to maintain supply whilst DS was tube fed, that was good too

With DS I used Medela Mini which worked well for me (although I wore it out and it stopped working properly after 6 months daily use).

So when I had DD in Jan 08 I bought a Avent Isis Manual (not much money after 2 years FTM) which I have to say I thought was fantastic. It was quiet and comfortable to use, and worked much better than the Medela Mini and cost me £18 from Asda! The Medela one cost about £60 - no contest if you ask me.

I did use the Medela hospital pump for 2 weeks whilst DD was in SCBU - this was incredible and you could do both at the same time! You can hire these from the nct but they are rather big.

Good Luck!

I had a medela which was fab, and also a manual one (isis) which was also okay. My electric one would work better but the manual one was good once I'd gotten used to how I needed to pump to get the flow going iyswim.