Electric Breast Pump

[June1999]

Hi!

I was hoping for some recommendations on an electric breast pump that worked really well for them and any advice on exclusively pumping they might have ?
Thank you

---

This thread is a little old now so some of the suggestions may be out of date, but if you’ve landed here looking for a breast pump, we’ve recently updated our best breast pumps article with lots of great options, as tried and tested by Mumsnet users. We hope you find it useful.
MNHQ

Bumping and hoping someone has a recommendation for a wearable one that's good but cheaper than Elvie.

Hello! I exclusively pumped for about eight months then mixed for a further two. I got the Piaek electric pump on Amazon for £40 and used with a pumping bra. but I did also splurge on the Elvie double do I could move around more and not be attached to wires but also could longer in between washing up as had more bottles etc.

I also got the manual medela and the Haakka for when I couldn't face the machine or just needed a quick pump.

My advice is ... pump loads to start. Like every two/three hours as if you're breastfeeding. I would basically attach myself to the pump when he woke to feed and then give him that pumped feed at his next feed and so on.

You don't have to sterilise, just sterilise before you first use and then I used to do it once a week. Really hot soapy water and then really well rinsed is fine!

Pumping is much more commonplace in America and I found some great tips on YouTube. But it is hard. My baby refused his special formula so I had no choice but I did BF my two others and think that helped. Good luck!!!

Thank you so much for your advice!

You're welcome! Oh and I sold my Elvie and it technically only cost me £100 which when you total up the formula cost isn't that bad!

I pumped exclusively for 6 weeks due to a tongue tie, and now pump during the workday (baby is almost 7 months).

I have the spectra s double pump, which works brilliantly. It's powerful, quiet, and the pump cycle is customisable (strength, frequency). I dlso have an older avent single, which is not as powerful and has an annoyingly loud sound. And finally a handheld little Avent manual which I occasionally used when out and about - it d works well but you get pretty tired hands and it can be a little squeaky.

In terms of pumping: I pumped religiously 7 times a day, including at midnight and then 3/4 am. Had no problems getting production up to more then baby needed. It's a pain to try and manage a baby that wants attention and pump at the same time, and clean up bottles and pump parts. I always seemed to be doing at least one of those things, on an endless loop. A cordless pump would probably have helped with that. A hands free pumping bra was useful.

I did use a steam steriliser for the microwave pretty much every time I cleaned the pump - it was so quick and easy it didn't add much time compared to just cleaning the parts. The Avent one is roomy and doesn't cost much.

Check out the Kellymom website, it has excellent advice on breastfeeding and pumping.

Good luck OP!

I also used a spectra and it was a complete game changer for me, I tried two other pumps first and produced virtually nothing from them (one electric and one manual).

I didn’t pump all that much as it was for a freezer stash not every day feeding but the things that helped me were to really focus on my child (whether by cuddling her at the time or watching videos of her as I pumped) and to cover the bottle with a cloth so I couldn’t see how much I was producing).

Thank you all for taking the time to give me advice and recommendations I really appreciate it.

I pumped for about 4m with DS (albeit not exclusively) and hired a Medela double pump which is what I used in hospital with DD - it isnt portable but it was powerful and good and certainly worked for me. It costs about £40 pm to hire but is hundreds to buy. You can then buy the bra thing separately so that you can be hands free. I’d second looking at some of the American sites for advice as pumping longer term is much more common there I think. Pinterest also has some useful info and links. One thing that worked for me is power pumping once a day to increase supply - you basically do 20mins on/10min break/20 min on/10 min break/one final 10 min pump - it supposedly mimics cluster feeding. You also have to pump at least every 3 hours at the start to encourage your body to keep producing milk - inc. at night. It is brutal but I always rewarded myself with a chocolate treat after the particularly gruelling night-time pumping session (didn’t help with weight loss though ).

I've bitten the bullet and ordered the Elvie. Hope it lives up to the hype.