Electric Breast pumps

Karnam

So my baby is just over 3 weeks old and for the past 2 1/2 weeks I have been expressing both by hand and by manual breast pump (the avent isis one)

I'm quite good at this and can easily get around 100- 150 mls depending on what time/how soon after a feed etc etc. I've found that I can hand express easily on the right one and pump easily on the left one.

Out of curiosity i wanna try an electric breast pump. for 250pounds i dont think its reasonable to buy an electric breast pump since most of the time my baby goes straight onto the breast, ie milk via nipple. however my curiousity is intense and id like to hire/try one out. i'm going to the baby clinic tomorrow to ask my HV about hiring a pump, but i was curious to know...

- how much is reasonable to hire a breast pump? can you hire these cheaply even if you don't have a medical reason for using one ie. baby is SCBU but are just curious
- how does this feel comapred to normal breast pumps? do you feel like a cow all hooked up to a machine pumping?
- what make is quite good?

conradmum

I bought a Medela pump from eBay for about £20. I found this perfectly adequate for daily use for at least a year or so. There is a sucking sensation but you can adjust the strength to what is comfortable for you but still productive. Once I no longer needed it I then sold it on eBay again for about the same price if not more.
Much cheaper than hiring!

viktory

I have no real experience of breast pumps - except to say the one or two times I tried one I felt like a cow :rotfl: :rotfl: No offence intended, BTW. Just how I felt - must have been the hormones.

Congratuations on the baby.

fesdufun

Hi, I have used the Ameda Lactaline Personl Breast Pump with my two boys. It cost me about £60 from Ebay. It was great for using at work to cut down on expressing time. It is small (fits into my Avent Out and About bag) and effective. I must admit I do feel a little like a cow at the time but I have got over that now.

I have never used a hired one as they looked a bit large and as I have used one for nearly 2 years it would have costed me a small fortune.

In fact the pump is so effective that I have been able to donate lots of spare milk to my local milk bank.

Once I started using the electric pump I rarely used my manual Avent pump as it took so much longer. Also I find that I can read a magazine or book whilst pumping using the electric one.

HTH

Karnam

hm its all so confusing. this is my first baby so i could consider it an investment for future children, and although the medela is half the price of the avent uno, im used to using avent things and trust it as my mum used it!!

looking around though, i think you guys might be right, it might be cheaper to just buy an electric pump. i am slightly concerned about using a 2nd hand pump though...

CharleneUK

conradmum wrote:

I bought a Medela pump from eBay for about £20. I found this perfectly adequate for daily use for at least a year or so. There is a sucking sensation but you can adjust the strength to what is comfortable for you but still productive. Once I no longer needed it I then sold it on eBay again for about the same price if not more.
Much cheaper than hiring!

Me too. It was brand new as well.

Good luck.

Gingham_Ribbon

I share a breast pump with a friend. Not squeamish about it. She has it at the moment because I've stopped feeding my lad, but hopefully I'll need it back again next year...

fesdufun

Karnam wrote:

hm its all so confusing. this is my first baby so i could consider it an investment for future children, and although the medela is half the price of the avent uno, im used to using avent things and trust it as my mum used it!!

looking around though, i think you guys might be right, it might be cheaper to just buy an electric pump. i am slightly concerned about using a 2nd hand pump though...

If you were using one in a hospital the pump would have been used by lots of others first. There are a lot of bargains to be had on Ebay as a lot of mums buy a breast pump and then never use it or only use it a few times. They can all be sterilised so would be perfectly safe to use.

Hope you find what you are looking for.

conradmum

I second Fesdufun. If you're squeamish about using a second hand one, you can still get an unopened one on eBay cheaper than in the shops, as so many women buy one then end up never using it. The same thing goes for cloth nappies and other items that first time mums buy without really knowing whether it'll be realisitic for them to use it or not.

Jay-Jay_4

I used a hospital one when my eldest was having an operation. It was a huge thing but very effective. If those are the ones for hire then IMO it's too bulky.

For both of mine I mainly used an Isis hand pump but I once tried the Medela leccy pump and thought it was brilliant. It did feel a little strange at first but once you get used to the sensation you can just forget about it.

I wouldn't be put off by a second hand pump, after all it will be washed scrubbed and sterilised before you use it...... which is more than you can say for your nipples!

Gingham_Ribbon

Just remembered that the pump I'm sharing with a friend was second hand in the first place. The only thing we replaced was the cushion pad, because it had got damaged, but the replacement came with it.

I found it worked but was a bit of an effort. Would love to try an electric one.