Electric breast pumps. Advice needed

[lockdownpregnancy]

To all current mommies out there, breast pumps.......🤯🤯
All I know is a want an electric double pump one, that is portable.
Can anyone recommend as good one, that does cost a fortune? (Less than £50)
I've been looking for ages and with all the mixed reviews I'm just totally lost!
My friends and family have either just breast or bottle fed, so they have no advice to give me!
Help! X

Sorry OP, but I don’t think you will find anything decent for less than £50. Is there a particular reason why you want a double? They are usually used by women who want to express exclusively. Is your baby here yet? It is worth talking to the infant feeding team. They will be able to lend or hire you a pump so you can try a few.

If £50 is your budget then just go with whichever one is top rated on Amazon (I saw a double pump for £30 from a Chinese brand which had 2k reviews).

If you can stretch to £130 Lanisoh do a great double pump set which is portable and comes with bottles and a nice case. I found it provided double the milk I would normally get from a single pump.

@EstebanTheMagnificent - double pumping is the only recommended way to pump if you want to express anything at all. It saves time and provides more milk than a single would. The only time singles should be used is if you want to increase supply on one side or have oversupply on one side.

I want a double just so I can express as much as I can and for speed.
Baby isn't here yet, but I'm trying to plan ahead.
Even the expensive ones have really mixed reviews.
It's all so confusing! 😩

As PP I have the Lansinoh one and it's been great, but is around £130

I would advise waiting until baby is here and you can hire or borrow from the infant feeding team, OP.

I really would wait until baby is here and see how you get on. Unless you are advised to do it by a HCP, there's really no need to express from the beginning and you'll have enough to do without trying to fit in pumping with a newborn

I would wait til baby is here too. I have the ardo calypso double which is fab, I bought my own after borrowing one from my breast feeding support group. You can pick up the pump unit second hand for a fairly reasonable price and just buy the brand new bottle, flanges etc direct from the manufacturer to keep the cost down too x

Normally I would go with the best but due to the pandemic, me and DH being placed on furlough with no guarantees we will have jobs at the end of all of this, which means no money coming in, we are trying desperately to budget, but still want the best for baby!
And with no one I know ever using a breast pump and being a first time mom to be, I'm somewhat lost, with what to buy! 😭

Just to add to my previous post, if I wait until
Baby is here then am I ok to just use formula until I can express? Baby won't mind changing between the two?
I know this is going to sound really weird, but I don't want to breast feed. I want DH to be involved with the feeding as much as possible and to help with routine. plus I've never liked the idea of breast feeding! Please don't judge me on my opinion. I've already been screamed at by various people for sharing my thoughts which made me break down in tears! 😢😢

Based on your update OP, please don't spend unnecessary money on a pump right now. A bad pump is worse than useless. You will be able to hire a hospital-grade double pump at a very reasonable price via your infant feeding team.

Mixed or combination feeding is a completely valid feeding option. Choosing not to breastfeed is very valid too. What you are describing is known as exclusive expressing. Many women do it but it is hard, hard work, and you will most definitely need a hospital grade double pump if you intend to do it long term.

Have you read up much on pumping or exclusively pumping?

It might be worth talking to a Breastfeeding Counsellor (BFC) on what your plans are and see if they have any tips, before you buy a pump.

Have you got the BFing Helpline Numbers?

@JiltedJohnsJulie didn't even know there were breast feeding counsellors, or helplines!
Like I said I'm new to all this so I really am lost!
I think I'll speak with my midwife when I see her at my next appointment in May and see what she says.
Whilst I appreciate you saying wait until after baby is born, I do want to buy a pump before having baby, as I want to be prepared.
What about the colostrum you're baby is supposed to have, right after they are born? How do I give that to baby if I don't have a pump and not breast feeding??
So sorry for all the questions, as you can tell I have no idea! 😬

OP, it is entirely your choice to breast feed or bottle feed so don't feel pressured to go one way or the other.

If you're planning to exclusively bottle feed though with no breast feeding then I wouldn't bother splashing out on an electric pump.
If it's just the colostrum you are thinking about you could just look for a cheap manual pump on Amazon or something? Not as convenient but if it's only going to be used a couple of times then I can't see the point in spending money unnecessarily.

You can hand express colostrum - especially because the volumes you’ll need to fill up a new born are tiny. We used a syringe to catch the colostrum and give it to our baby and it worked fine. It is a faff though.

It's a great idea to speak to your midwife. Ask her for the contact details for the infant feeding team, and if she knows of any lactation consultants or breastfeeding counsellors. The NCT breastfeeding helpline is really good and you don't have to be an NCT member to call.

It's very difficult to express colostrum with a pump as it is so thick and the quantities so tiny. It is best to hand-express it, and your midwife will be able to give you a kit with little syringes so that you can store it (it can be frozen). Some women are able to do this before birth.

In the meantime, have a read of the guidance on exclusive expressing / exclusive pumping on Kellymom and La Leche League. Particularly have a look at the schedules: a typical schedule to establish a milk supply means pumping every 2-3 hours around the clock, day and night. I don't want to scare you but it is very hard work alongside caring for a newborn and recovering from birth and the best way to be prepared and make an informed decision about how you want to feed your baby is to have all the facts.

You can't meaningfully pump colostrum, the quantities involved are too small. You hand express it instead.

It's obviously totally your choice what you would like to do, but please don't underestimate the sheer level of faff involved in pumping and then feeding the expressed milk. My baby is two weeks old and I had to pump one boob for a few days and I thought I was going to go mad with it, tbh.

Sorry the suggestion to wait was before I realised that you want to pump from the beginning and not feed directly. Just ignore that comment

Have a read of What to Expect When you are Pumping

Expressing by hand might be useful sometimes

On this one, ignore all of the blurb at the beginning and scroll down to "How Often & When" and read from there

The Breastfeeding Helpline numbers are here.

And to answer your question on the pump, with my second I bought an Ameda Lactaline secondhand on eBay and it was brilliant and it's hospital grade.

It also has a closed system so is fine to use secondhand

Not only can you express colostrum, you more or less have to, as in the first 48 hours before the milk comes in, the volumes are too small for a pump to be effective or comfortable.

Getting a pump before baby is born is fine as a plan but I would second others' recommendation to talk to breastfeeding counsellors and explore whether your feeding plan is going to work. I have exclusively expressed (for a premature baby) and it is absolutely exhausting, you will need to be doing 8-10 rounds of expressing in every 24 hour period including at least once overnight. You will have to sterilise pump equipment and bottles and actually feed baby on top of that - you will certainly get a 'routine' but from my experience it's not a pleasant one! (I also have experience of exclusively BFing, by comparison it's a breeze). Consider whether it might be better for your partner to help and bond in other ways - feeding some formula feeds, changing and bathing baby, and most importantly supporting you.

I agree with?PPs saying Don't underestimate the faff of pumping, feeding and having to wash/sterilise. Exclusive pumping really is the worst of all worlds. (been there for a week and it damn near killed me).

I'd see how you feel when baby is here. Breastfeeding might feel and seem OK then.

This is what I've gone for. Spent hours looking at loads of different independent reviews & blogs & this seemed to be the best one for the price. I've played around with it & it seems to be really good (I wasn't expecting it to be as good as it is tbf! Plus it arrived 6 weeks early!) & it's small & fits in handbags & nappy bags. I'm very pleasantly surprised! Definitely recommend this one!

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bellababy-Portable-Silicone-Breastfeeding-Discreet/dp/B081SL2W1L/ref=mpssa113?dchild=1&keywords=bellababy+dual+suction+electric+breast+pump&qid=1587213470&sprefix=bellab&sr=8-3

This is ridiculous.
If you don't like the idea of breastfeeding, just formula feed.
I expressed milk myself but only occasionally, I mainly just breastfed my baby.
Expressing milk is the worst of both worlds, you feel like a fucking dairy cow and there is lots of washing and sterilising to do.
Breastfeeding, on the other hand, is easy and lovely (once you and baby get the hang of it).
My DH was very involved, he did all the nappy changes in the beginning and bathtime was his job for ages, we share it more now.
However, if you don't want to breastfeed, don't breastfeed - but don't piss about with expressing either. Just use formula.

I used Bella baby double pump from amazon, i thought it was good, although only one I've used. It had different settings and I breastfed and expressed for when DS was staying with MIL

I bought a second hand Ameda Lactaline for £50 and replaced the contact parts (£10 per side so £20 in total) but I absolutely love it. I went on to buy an Evie, which I don't use! Have a look locally or if you have a local BFing support network x

I had to pump for the first few weeks with dc1 and it was soul destroying and exhausting. Having to set alarms to pump every 3 hours when all I wanted was sleep!

I only stuck with it so I could move to exclusively breastfeeding.

A cheap pump isn't going to yield a good volume of milk and it could make the experience worse.

I am extremely pro breastfeeding but I cant understand why you would put yourself through the stress of pumping only. Surely formula would be better for your sanity?

Hi OP. I ended up exclusively expressing and I wouldn't recommend it. You have double the work, all the washing and sterilising of bottle feeding but then hooked up like a cow to get the milk! Especially in those early days, just after OH had gone back to work, when he was still feeding every 2 hrs by the time he'd fed and I'd pumped and then he had a nap whilst I washed everything it was so stressful. And there's nothing more stressful than a crying baby whilst you're trying to express. I ended up doing it for 4 months, I was expressing 40oz a day at one point but when I look back I wish I'd either persevered with bf or just gone straight to formula. If its really what you want to do thats up to you but do not underestimate what hard work it is.