Looking for honest options on handsfree pumps

[Seryse]

Currently 37 weeks pregnant and looking to buy a breast pump but feeling quite overwhelmed by all the choice if I'm honest 😅. I didn't have much luck breastfeeding my son (he's 14 months now) and the pump I had then wasn't the best in hindsight. With him being still so young I was looking at the handsfree pumps like Momcozy for example, I did look at Elvie but that's just a wee bit out of price range for me unfortunately (the ones I saw were like 250-300 ish). I looked at some cheaper ones on amazon but the reviews were quite mixed so thought might have better luck asking for opinions and recommendations on here.

Handsfree seems like the better option as I can still do things while juggling 14 month old and newborn (hubby helping too ofc).

Thank you in advance for reading through that waffle and for any replies, all welcome!

[MuddaUdders]

Congrats on your pregnancy! I felt the same way too, bamboozled by too many choices. I made a quick purchase, it was MAM single pump, one that you plug into a mains adaptor and non hands free. I also bought a medela pumping bra to go with it, a workaround to make it feel more like a hands free. It was ok but a bit of a faff with the tube and wires and all.

Later on I bought a single Elvie unit out of curiosity. I haven't used the MAM ever since. The Elvie is convenient for my needs (exclusively breastfeeding but want to introduce baby to the odd expressed milk feed). The Elvie allows me to be truly hands free, it does need charging after 2/3 uses, but seems to charge quickly (it is a small unit, hence holding a small charge).

I don't regret buying it. Appreciate that this is what works for me and not necessarily for anyone else. It's very subjective!

[CurlsLDN]

Hi op, for my first pregnancy quite a few years ago I had a medela pump with wires. This time I have a Fraupow hands free pump and it’s much better! It’s just nice not feeling pinned to one spot all the time.
I think when I was researching it was quite similar to Elvie but much cheaper (about £80) so that’s why I gave it a go

[Mummy08m]

Did you use a pump with your first? My opinion is... don't bother expressing, it's uncomfortable and (for me) never yields much. I borrowed a friend's Elvie once and it wasn't much more comfortable than a cheapo manual and still only got me 15 ml or so.

I did use a couple of cheap manuals for expressing once a day when I went back to work (between about 9m-15m) but that was just to prevent engorgement. They gave me a quicker let down than electric (or the Elvie i borrowed): I could get about 30-50ml in 7 min and then would stop and get back to work. We gave the milk to nursery to have in a sippy cup and I'm not sure she ever took it.

I don't understand how mums manage to express to feed - another friend of mine exclusively expressed-fed - I'd have been pumping about 8h a day to make that work!

In conclusion, I honestly wouldn't bother till your baby is older and you have to go back to work (if applicable)

[mercibucketedyeo]

Fraupow here

Reasonably quiet and allowed me to get on with working from home and breastfeeding my daughter for one year

Wonderful wee thing, best purchase ever

[Seryse]

Thank you for all your helpful replies! My reasoning behind pumping is with a 14 month old already, it might make life a little easier/allow hubby to do some feeds here and there too, also to get milk supply flowing more (hopefully). The thing that put me off is as Mummy08m said about the insane amount of time it can take, hence the looking at handsfree ones so I can still get things done. With my 14 month old I had one of the pumps you had to hold onto, wasn't fun holding them for ages with carpal tunnel from pregnancy will quite prominent 😅

It's such a minefield all these different pumps, flanges etc, very overwhelming.

[Seryse]

Ironically, I just bought the same one, I had an amazon voucher from the girls at work so manged to get a good deal! I've heard lots of good things about it. I just need to get some good bras to support it as the ones I have now I'm not sure will do too well with the stretch of full boobs plus the pump. How do you find it noise wise?