Breast pumps?

[Mugcake]

Hi everyone,

My little one is due in June and my plan is to breastfeed, if possible. However I would like to get a breast pump so I can express some milk so DP can do some feeds too.
I have read so many mixed reviews online about pumps and am completely lost! Does anyone have any recommendations for one that they've used?
Any advice welcome!

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My advice would be don’t get one until your baby is here and through the initial 6 or so weeks, breastfeeding is definitely working out and your supply is on the way to being settled. People tie themselves up in knots in the early weeks trying to pump for bottles when ideally the baby should be feeding directly from the breast to stimulate supply. If there is a medical reason your newborn needs expressed breast milk (breast milk from a bottle/syringe/feeding system as opposed to directly from the breast), your local hospital will have medical grade pumps that you can rent for free or at a tiny price.

If, after a few weeks, breastfeeding is working out and your baby is happy to be put down/sleep on their own (pumping is very time consuming and not all breastfed babies oblige!) you can assess your options then. If it’s for the odd bottle once or twice a week a cheap hand pump may be fine. If it’s for more an electric pump may be beneficial.

Don't get a pump yet. Or if you do get a Haakaa style. They are cheap and easy to use. Great for helping with engorgement in the early days as well.

No point spending lots of money in case breastfeeding doesn't work out.

I'll also be honest, dad giving a bottle of expressed milk isn't much help for mum in the early weeks. You still have to express the milk given and the feed you missed.

It's more help for him to take over all the household chores, keep you fed and watered, hold baby between feeds while you nap and / or shower.

Agree wait until LO is born to get a pump.
I love the combination of the haaka and then once LO was a few weeks old I bought a bellababy electric pump which I really like.
Look out for what's selling near you on Facebook Marketplace

I used a Medela pump the first time and loved it, you can get them second hand and just replace bottles and teats. I'm not going to bother getting one this time until I need it, you can always hire them if you need one quickly, worth looking up where to hire them from and relevant contact numbers so you have them to hand if needed.

I needed to use a pump right from the off as DD was premature and unable to suckle at first.

The hospital ones are great, but I bought the BellaBaby double electric pump from Amazon for £35 ish and honestly it was almost as good. Pumps have a reputation for being expensive but they don't have to be! Definitely get a double pump; halves the pumping time.

I also had a manual Tommee Tippee pump which I kept in the car for emergencies. It was fine for a manual but guaranteed to hurt your hand after a while, and obviously could only do one breast at a time.

I used a double electric breast pump from around week one...never gave any bottles...used it to help my supply and ease engorgement. I built up a freezer supply snd when he was around 5 months his dad started doing a bed time feed. Worked well for us

Great thanks guys! Lots of good advice, I think I'll wait till he's here and see how BF goes before buying one. Thanks for the suggestions!

Agree with lots of the advice above. I had a poor supply and was told that the retail pumps are not strong enough to boost supply, only to maintain. The one i had bought when pregnant was useless and I ended up hiring a hospital grade pump for £47 per month. It came within 2 days i think and was a million times more effective than my medela home pump. Saved our breastfeeding journey (DD was SGA and a poor feeder. She dropped to 0.4th centile and we ended up breastfeeding, pumping and doing formula top ups until she was 6months).

@GuidingSpirit

Agree with lots of the advice above. I had a poor supply and was told that the retail pumps are not strong enough to boost supply, only to maintain. The one i had bought when pregnant was useless and I ended up hiring a hospital grade pump for £47 per month. It came within 2 days i think and was a million times more effective than my medela home pump. Saved our breastfeeding journey (DD was SGA and a poor feeder. She dropped to 0.4th centile and we ended up breastfeeding, pumping and doing formula top ups until she was 6months).

The pump was medela symphony in case of interest!

I rented a double Medela pump, when my first DD had reflux so bad I struggled to breastfeed her. Determined- I pumped for 7 months.

When my second DD came along I was determined to breastfeed. But I sent my DH to get the pump at day 2. And reliving the breasts a bit bad actually made me more calmer and enabled me to really establish breastfeeding. The pump then sat there for a bit gathering dust.

I think it’s better to get a double pump than buy a single puny one. The power is better, it’s faster and not at all uncomfortable.

You can call medela and find out where the rental places are: the pump comes with new attachments which you keep.

When my DD1 was in hospital i got to try the hospital pump which was not a medela and I was not impressed - not sure what brand it was

Thanks! I heard pumping helps to increase milk supply so that was part of the attraction too. Good idea about getting a double pump! I will probably EBF for the first 6 weeks if I'm able but just wanted to get some recommendations ahead of time. I hadn't realised you could rent pumps so that might be something to look into, thamks for the tip!