Can anyone recommend a good breast pump and steriliser please?

[AC786]

Hello Ladies!

Could anyone please recommend a good breast pump and steriliser please? Thank you!

A brilliant pump is the Ameda Lactaline personal. They use a bigger version in maternity units. Can't advise on the steriliser I'm afraid. I used a very cheap Lindam one and it was fine.

I haven't bought a breast pump yet but I have bought the Tommee Tippee microwave steam steriliser. It was on offer for £10. As I will be mainly bf I just wanted something simple that didn't cost the earth. This can do 4 bottles at a time, you add 200ml cold water to it and then microwave for 6 minutes. No chemicals, easy to clean (as it can all be submerged unlike electric ones) and no worktop space sacrificed!
:)

The Medela Swing breast pump gets fab reviews - expensive though.

I second the medala swing one

I used Avent manual breast pump, it is not expensive, easy to use and clean, small enough. Re steriliser, tablets to dilute in cold water were perfect, user friendly, cheap.

I use the basic medela manual pump which is great for occasional or light use- I tend to express a couple of ounces every few days to build up a freezer stock.

It all fits in the tommee tippee single bottle steriliser too which is pretty handy

I have the Medela. It is very good. Works every time,easy to use and was very quick. I expressed a bottle in ten minutes.
I have also given it to friends to use, and just bought new filters for each new baby. Due DC3 in 3 weeks, and it is still working.
I would recommend it. I know it is expensive, but anyone I know who had a manual pump, simply stopped using it, as it was so much hassle. Worth every penny I'd say.

I bought the Ameda Lactaline double electric pump. The reviews are great.

I am going to use 2 sterilisers (one for breast milk bottles and one for the breast pump). Friends gave me theirs, one is Tommee Tipee and the other is Avent, both steam sterilisers.

I used an Avent Manual pump that a friend gave us and had no problems with it. I have heard a lot of people say that they didn't get on with manual pumps though. Also used the Avent microwave steam steriliser. You can fit the pump and 3 bottles in it.

I think it's a personal thing; some pumps suit some people and not others. It's difficult, as you can't exactly try a few before the baby arrives (unless you wait a while and BF at first, but it's hard to know how that'll go too).

Another vote for the Ameda Lactaline double pump. I initially had a Tommee Tippee manual, then Tommee Tippee electric but had issues with both Tommee Tippee ones; manual gave me massive cramp in hand but not much milk, electric kept losing suction and didn't get much milk.

The Ameda lactaline is amazing, you feel like a cow being milked if using it on both breasts but it gets far more than Tommee Tippee even if you just use it on one breast. It also didn't have any reliability issues in the twelve months I used it (once per day) and I didn't have to use the spare rubber teats (for inside the bottles) that it came with.

A hint though for if you are expressing from both breasts at once - don't buy an expensive expressing top (they're like crop tops with two holes where your nipples are!) instead use a cheap, tight vest top and cut a hole the size of a £2 coin where each nipple is. That way you can express hands-free without paying £20 for the privilege of a crop top with nipple holes!