Breast Pump Reccomendations Please

[Choc2022]

Please could I have breast pump reccomendations? Thats it really, also any reccomendations on what additions to buy (let down milk collector, nipple shields - are these necessary?)

Budget is £150 - so thinking if Medela it'd be Medela single but if Nuby they do double for the price. Also should I purchase post birth or pre birth? I basically want the best for the budget.

Tia x

I can’t recommend a pump as I only tried the Elvie stride before opting to hire a hospital grade pump, but I would say definitely get a double pump rather than a single. Not only is it a lot more time efficient (which you’ll appreciate when juggling a newborn and all that comes with that), but there’s also studies that suggest you increase your milk yield by double pumping rather than single pumping.

In terms of what else you need, in the weeks pp I bought nipple shields (super useful in the bleak early days when my nipples were hanging off), milk collector shells (vaguely useful when single pumping but never really collected much so haven’t used them in ages), haakaa pump (love it, but don’t go overboard on the suction or you’ll end up bruised!) and the thing I couldn’t live without are the multi-mam compresses which are amazing at soothing sore nipples, I always have a box or two in the house.

Ooh this is very helpful. Thank you hadnt considered the mam compresses. What do you mean by the Haaka pump btw? The hand pump?

Hi OP - just from my own experience, I tried a pump once or twice and absolutely hated it and only got a few drips out. I found the haakaa pump worked MUCH better for me. It's not a manual pump, it's sort of suctions onto one nipple while you feed from the other and the gentle suction catches the let down. I much preferred it because you just do it at the same time as feeding baby so not wasting extra time pumping, and I got about 30-60ml per feed which allowed me to build up a freezer stash.

I also got the 'shells' but hated them as I kept forgetting they were there and would bend over to do laundry or something and spill everywhere!

I'm using the Ardo Calypso, really happy with it, hired initially from the hospital and then bought one second hand from Vinted, preferred it to the Medela I had last time, it's so much quieter