EBF 5 month old - should I buy an electric pump or is it a waste of money now?

[LoathlyLady]

First mumsnet post so bare with me..

For context: my DS has just turned 5 months, he is EBF, feeds to sleep at bedtime and whenever he wakes up in the night (2-4 times a night). He will take a bottle - I had oversupply in first few months and used a Haakaa to catch let down, but we never really got into a routine and i got a bit disheartened by how much milk ended up being chucked after being contaminated or left out. I also felt like expressing was making oversupply worse so haven't done it regularly in the last couple months and it seems the supply and demand has balanced. I'm definitely not anti formula but if we can keep giving him breastmilk we'd like to try. And I'd like to keep BFing until he's atleast 1, maybe older, at which point he will be in nursery.

So the problem is: I'm starting to think I could really use a hand with a nightfeed or two, and we'd like to try leaving DS with his grandparents for a couple afternoons a week. I feel like the haakaa only works if we're in a really good routine, whereas a pump could allow us to express more on short notice, or at times when I'm not with DS. On the other hand it's a massive expense and we already have a handpump, haakaa, steriliser and a bunch of bottles which are currently barely used as we never got into a routine. So would this £100+ pump just be another piece of junk sitting on top of the microwave? Especially now that we are going to be introducing solids soon?

Simply put: how much did you use an electric pump after 6 months / introducing solids? Did it help you share night feeds / childcare with other carers? Is it easier to just start using formula? If a pump helped, which one would you recommend?

Thanks so much for your advice, really hoping you can help us make our minds up about this!

I switched to an electric pump from a manual one after 3 months having EBF and started to express to five top of feeds due to a weight issue with DS, omg it was life changing.

I really recommend them, so much easier

I have an electric pump but I actually prefer using a Hakaa and single manual hand pump combo if ad hoc pumping.

Anyway, the Bella Baby double electric pump is only £40 and actually really good for the price, so I’d suggest that rather than spending £100s, especially as it’s only for the odd bottle.

Ok Amazon says £50, I thought I only paid £40. My HV recommended it

www.amazon.co.uk/Suction-Breastfeeding-Function-Rechargeable-Breastmilk/dp/B081SL2W1L/ref=mp_s_a_1_1_sspa?dchild=1&psc=1&c=ts&s=baby&ts_id=60209031&keywords=Breast+Pumps+%26+Accessories&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUE5RjBXRjgyQkpNQ0ImZW5jcnlwdGVkSWQ9QTA1NTIwMDIyVEJGWUU1OUg0RTFEJmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTA5MzI4MzAxTTZZRDFXQVRZNUM0JndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfcGhvbmVfc2VhcmNoX2F0ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&qid=1619098135&refinements=p_89%3ABellababy&sr=1-1-spons

Thanks for the advice both! Will check out some cheaper options

The electric ones aren't any more efficient than hand pumps as I understand it, the only benefit of them is that they can be hands free. So useful if you're doing a lot of regular pumping.

Worth bearing in mind is that a lot of people find after 3/4 months you can't pump a huge amount in one go - about 20-30ml total from both sides is normal. If you have oversupply this shift may happen later, around 6-9 months. So I'm not sure that I would be investing loads of money into pumps at this point. I'd probably consider formula instead.

Might be worth seeing how well he takes a bottle first before you invest heavily in an electric pump. No point getting a pump if he refuses the bottle anyway.