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Original poster

Do I really need to spend £90 on a breast pump?

17 replies

BoogieWoo · 03/08/2009 20:26

Not got baby yet - will be here soon! Planning to breast feed and have no idea what I should be buying to express. HELP!

OP posts:
CMOTdibbler · 03/08/2009 20:30

Unless you will need to express routinely (ie for work), you don't need a breast pump. For the odd occasion, hand expressing is very efficient

jkklpu · 03/08/2009 20:31

Best to wait a few weeks of feeding till you try so your supply is more settled. Avent Isis hand pump worked much better for me than an electric one.

wem · 03/08/2009 20:33

Definitely don't go buying an expensive electric pump until you've had a go hand expressing first. I tried with dd and found a manual pump quite effective, but in the end she has never taken a bottle, so would have regretted buying an electric one.

Meglet · 03/08/2009 20:33

There's no need to buy one until you know what the score is. With a bit of luck bf will go well and expresssing will be more of a faff than it's worth for the first few weeks. If things go pear shaped the hospital will have breast pumps you can use, then you can either rent one (I think the nct does this) or get someone to pop to the shops for one.

Having said that I ended up with a baby that would not latch on so dp had to go to mothercare to get a breast pump when ds was 3 days old, we had the Medela swing which worked for me.

Yurtgirl · 03/08/2009 20:33

If I had my 'baby time' again I wouldnt spend any money on expressing kit at all

For my two I bought
Avent bottles,
Avent breast pump
cheap steriliser
breastfeeding tops!!!!!!
and more stuff!

If I could rewind 8 years I would buy nursing bras, breast pads, really comfy sling and not much else

These were useful during the first few days cos engorged boobies can REALLY hurt,

So can cracked nipples - best for that is lansinoh (ALL the other nipple creams are a waste of money imho)

Dont buy expressing stuff imho until baby is born and you know whether you actually need/want it - I almost never used mine, because I was rubbish at it - it was all to much of a faff

tutu100 · 03/08/2009 20:34

I had an avent hand pump which I used quite a bit with ds1 and found really efficient. With ds2 I haven't needed to express so haven't used a pump at all except when he was admitted to hospital and they had an electric one for me to use. I didn't get on with it very well and haven't had to bother since. Ds2 is 8 months now and I can't see me needing to express in the future either.

I'd wait until you have the baby before making a decision. And I would certainly say you don't need to spend £90 on one even if you do decide you need one.

MrsBadger · 03/08/2009 20:35

CMOT is spot on

I was fine with a cheapy TT one for the odd night-out bottle

but once I went back to work and was expressing every day and only then the double electric one was worth its weight in gold.

if somethign goes wrong eg babe ends up in scbu or summat you can borrow or rent hospital-grade pumps from local mws / NCT / la leche

missorinoco · 03/08/2009 20:35

As jkklpu. I bought an Avent electric pump and prefer the manual part.

halfwittowin · 03/08/2009 20:36

Not at all, you can have mine for £30.

thisisyesterday · 03/08/2009 20:36

no, you don't. there is no reason why you should need a pump at all.
if you do have problems feeding your baby and that results in you having to express then yes, a top-notch pump is a godsend. but the NCT hire them out so you'd be able to get one at short notice if you needed to.

all you need to breastfeed is your boobs :D

Original poster
BoogieWoo · 03/08/2009 20:43

Brilliant - all useful comments.Thanks a lot! I think I will just wait to see what happens when babe arrives (hopefully this week) and if possible save my pennies for something that feels a bit more like a treat!

OP posts:
tutu100 · 04/08/2009 12:37

Buy a really lovely changing bag. That you really will enjoy lugging around for the next 3 years!

MrsBadger · 04/08/2009 13:46

no no

buy a really lovely big handbag and a fold-up changing mat to put in it

LargeGlassofRed · 04/08/2009 13:54

can I be cheeky and jump in, which one are you selling for £30 halfwittowin

indiechick · 04/08/2009 21:56

Name changed, but it's an electric advent one, barely used, fully sterilisable. Yours for a mere £30.
Not sure I really agree with the statement that all you need to breast feed are breasts, it didn't work for me, baby in SCBU, got used to being fed by bottle and wouldn't take the breast so expressed. Bit of a sweeping statement thisisyesterday

LargeGlassofRed · 05/08/2009 17:20

thanks for getting back to me indiechick,
was after a medela one, found one in local paper today

indiechick · 06/08/2009 10:50

No probs, glad you found one. I borrowed one from the hospital that was great, ended up using that, hence the un-used advent one.

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