Breast pump - comparing Medela Swing & Medela Mini Electric

[suhfyera]

Hi to all out there,

I'm torn between the two breastpumps from Medela, the Swing or the Mini Electric. the Swing's about 90pounds while the Mini Electric is about 50, i'm leaning toward the latter for it's price, but the Swing has that two-speed sucking feature thing. Also, reviews seem balanced between the two, both are apparently great in the UK. However, being asian and after looking at some forums from southeast asia, the big gargantuan ones seem more popular/effective (Medela Pump in Style and Pump in Style Advanced), which I can't afford anyway!! I don't know if i'm going to have probs with expressing, i'm only a C-cup now while pregnant, i'm ordinarily an A-cup, but i understand it's got nothing to do with milk production....

groan..any suggestions? think the Mini Electric would be okay? :P

Thanks!

I had the mini medela and it worked well ish but was a bit noisy and fiddly to clean. I think if i were in the position to need one again i'd hire a hospital grade one.

I usedthis when dd was in scbu and it worked so much better than the Medela.

I had the Medela mini electtric at first, and did all right, but of course you can only pump one breast at a time. I sometimes found it a bit difficult to get a good let-down only pumping one side at a time (and I have a jersey cow milk supply - MOOOOO)so I tried putting the baby on the other breast, which worked well. It took him a bit to get used to the noise, as the mini electric is a bit loud, but he did. Then I bought the Medela Pump In Style, and I have to say, even though we did fine with the mini electric, that there is no comparison. It's much quieter, and with the two-stage sucking feature, you can pump massive amounts of milk in a very short time. And do both breasts at the same time if you're away from baby. It's really worth it. I didn't buy mine new, though, I bought it from someone on Craigslist (I live in Canada, and I don't know if you have Craigslist in the UK, but maybe you could try E-Bay?). I looked at E-Bay first and found some good deals. I know some people get grossed out at the idea of buying a used breast pump, but I don't see why - I took everything that could come in contact with either skin or breast milk (tubing, breast shields - the plastic thingies that go on your breasts), membranes and bottles) and sterilized it all by soaking it in very hot water (not boiling, the tubing would probably melt) with a couple of drops of bleach, and then washed with hot soapy water and rinsed really well.
Anyway, sorry about the massively long post, but that's what I'd recommend, go with a high-efficiency pump. If you have to pump because of going back to work, it's really worth it.
Also, if you want to freeze your breast milk, don't bother paying through the nose for those really expensive "breast milk storage bags" - just buy those sturdy Ziploc freezer bags, put about 10 ounces of breast milk in them, make sure all the air is out of them and freeze them flat. That way you can stack them easily in your freezer. I was told you shouldn't re-use them though because it's impossible to get them clean enough.
Let me know if you have any more questions, I went back to work when DS was almost three months so I've had to pump lots.

Oh and cup size has nothing to do with milk production, you're right about that! I was very small-breasted before I got pregnant, and like you, went up a couple of cup sizes while pregnant, and a couple more when my milk came in. I was surprised by my enormous milk supply because I'm otherwise quite thin - I didn't know how much milk I'd have. However, DS is almost 9 months old and is exclusively breast-fed, and weighs over 22 lbs and is 29" long... so he's clearly getting what he needs regardless of my shape.
Congratulations, BTW, and best of luck!!!

My medela swing is on its last legs... The motor is struggling, and wish I had gotten a top of the range one....

But think that zip lock bags are not great for EBM as several have split... There is nothing worse than wasted ebm....

Thanks Jacksmama! Long posts are great, makes more sense lol

I won't be working and will probably experiment with the whole expressing while feeding simultaneously thing. The reason I want to express is really so that daddy can have a go at feeding as well, and in case of any situations that don't allow me to breastfeed directly...

Safe to say, the mini electric doesn't have the greatest results, huh? Hmm.. maybe the Swing then.... the Pump in Style just seems so... professional for me, i don't know how cow like i can be! hahaha ;) but i'll have a look at ebay anyway (ebay in the UK is amazing!! can find just about anything..!)

I used the proper bags with clips on, the kind of clips you use for bags of peas and the like.. that worked well

yeah obama!!! Was up at 4am waiting for the results in London, such excitement...!

ilovemydog, how long have you had the swing?