Please recommend an electric breastpump....

[mumtosp]

Hi all,

I have the Madela manual breastpump for occasional pumping, but I always find that I can only pump a good amount when my breasts are really really full. Otherwise, I can get more out using hand expression than the Madela pump ...
So now I'm looking to buy an electric pump as I need to build up a store before I get back to work...
Which one would you recommend? And should I get a double pump?

Thanks !
:)

Spectra 3 from amazon is fab. Can be converted to a double by buying an extra shield and tubing set for £7. I've recommended it tons and always get good reviews.

Look up closed and open systems if you are buying selling hand or planning on selling on.

I love my ameda lactaline double

I used a Medela double pump when I returned to work after DS1 was born. I was able to express in 1 session enough for roughly 1.5-2 feeds. I thought it worked really well.

I used a Mini Medela. It was great and I liked the fact it could run off batteries or the power lead. Also small enough to put in your bag if you need to express whilst out (always fun...). Would recommend.

Mini Medala here too - but get a cushion to stick it under if you're watching TV - it's not horrendously loud, but a cushion muffles it nicely if you're watching a programme with quiet bits!

I used mine and sold it on to my friend who also loved it.

I used Medela Swing & the Medela Mini (which packed up, hence the change to swing). Swing was effective to a degree but it was time consuming. If I was doing it again I'd either hire a hospital grade double pump or invest in Medela's double pump. It might have kept me bfing longer, which I had originally wanted to do.

I pumped exclusively for 12 months and used the Medela freestyle after some really rubbish ones supplied by the hospital - it worked great for me. HTH

I used the Tommie Topper one after dd1 which was ok. Now I have the Medala Swing which is the bomb.

Thanks all ! I'm sold on Madela Swing... I just wish I could hire it for a week to be absolutely sure it's the one for me (given the fact that I wasn't so impressed with my manual pump)...
Does anyone know if breast pumps can be hired? I've googled hiring breastpumps and all the results are for hiring hospital grade pumps...

Also, has anyone tried Madela's PersonalFir Breastshield in a size other than the standard 24mm? I'm quite big in size... massive nipple (sorry tmi ) and I have never found the 24mm shield very comfortable...

Thanks again :)

I used the Medela swing and would really recommend it. Also, if you are interested in hiring one, it might be worth asking your HV. In my area, HVs/children's centre had one available for hire.

I was an 'exclusive pumper', so I used my pump 8 times a day, 7 days a week for some months. I really rate the Ameda Lactaline. It is 'closed system' which means there is no chance of milk going the wrong way into the pump and making the motor go a bit mouldy - this happened to my friend who had a Swing. I found a double pump really worth it, I managed to awkwardly drop half of my pumping kit once on my kitchen floor, it cracked and having to single pump during the 2 days I was waiting for the new bit was awful! Being able to do 2 boobs at once is much easier! I feel I got good results in terms of milk volume with the Lactaline, which I was pleased with as I had thought about hiring a hospital one.

Medela do hire their hospital grade pumps. I currently have a Medela Symphony double pump on hire and it's fab. They are quite expensive to hire - £45 for the first fortnight, which covers delivery and courier return when you eventually want to send it back - and then £45 per month. I guess the cost of purchasing vs. hiring depends on how long you are likely to express for.

Not sure of your circumstances, but I'm hiring at a hefty discount on the price above because my twins were initially in SCBU. The hospital I was at gave mums of special care babies a code to quote over the phone to Medela to obtain the discount. I believe a lot of hospitals have the same arrangement.