Breast Pump Question

andycarmi

I have bought a hand breast pump for £21,00 from Asda. Its an Avent pump. But I can not work it at all. I have read the instructions, used the troubleshooting guide and still no luck.

I m guessing you can't take the pump back as I have tried to use it?

So now I m thinking of buying a electric pump.

Is it easier to use?
Can anyone recomend one?

My baby is now 6 weeks old and I have read if I wait pass 8 weeks that baby may not accept a teats of a bottle?

Thanks for any info.

MissSunshine

I used the Avent manual pump and at the start it took a while to get going, but once I'd sussed it was quite easy.

You literally need to put the breast in the shell part, don't do what I did and let your nipple go into the tube when pumping, made myself very sore!!!!!!

andycarmi

MissSunshine wrote:

, don't do what I did and let your nipple go into the tube when pumping, made myself very sore!!!!!!

Mmm, did that too!

Snaggles

Is there actually something wrong with the pump (can you feel suction), or are you just struggling to use it?

If it doesnt work, you should be fine taking it back (you HAVE to use it to find out if it works, so this shouldn't go against you).

If you are struggling to express though, this might not necessarily be helped by an electric pump (although I know some people do find them easier). I struggled to get any milk out at all at first - I ended up holding the baby (asleep) in my lap while I was doing it - having the baby nearby seemed to help trigger the let-down reflex. I didn't start expressing until my son was nearly 6 months by the way, and he accepted teats after a few tries (you can get ones that are big and chunky, that are specially designed for breast fed babies).

andycarmi

Snaggles wrote:

Is there actually something wrong with the pump (can you feel suction), or are you just struggling to use it?

If it doesnt work, you should be fine taking it back (you HAVE to use it to find out if it works, so this shouldn't go against you).

If you are struggling to express though, this might not necessarily be helped by an electric pump (although I know some people do find them easier). I struggled to get any milk out at all at first - I ended up holding the baby (asleep) in my lap while I was doing it - having the baby nearby seemed to help trigger the let-down reflex. I didn't start expressing until my son was nearly 6 months by the way, and he accepted teats after a few tries (you can get ones that are big and chunky, that are specially designed for breast fed babies).

There is suction so I guess the pump is ok. I have tried expressing holding baby and while feeding too.

I have bought teats designed for breast feed babies. Thats handy to know about your babys' age. As I was worrying I would miss the "window".

sooz

i've been having real probs with the new avent pump too - it has very very poor suction compared to the old avent design [i still have the old one, just needed 2, so i wouldn't have such a mad rush to wash and sterilise].

you cannot return it once it's been opened, as they have a hygiene seal on them - so i emailed avent, and they fobbed me off twice with the trouble shooting guide, and then refused to answer any further emails, and are refusing to give a refund. i am totally furious with them, but with a new baby, finding it hard to find the time to take my complaint further...[got so annoyed trying to pump last night it nearly flew out of the window..]

anyway, tommee tippee pumps are half price at the mo, since they brought out the new closer to nature range, so i'm off to get one of those. shame i'll have to decant it all into avent bottles though.

Snaggles

My midwife/health visitor all told me he wouldn't accept the teats and I should carry on breast feeding (ummm.....don't think they would have let me take him into work and breast-fed at my desk)! But he accepted them without too much fuss.

One thing I did was I gave him some cooled boiled water from a bottle - because it was completely different from the milk he was quite happy to drink it from the bottle, then after a couple of tries, he started accepting the milk from the bottle too. I think giving him something other than milk broke the cycle of 'Drinks only taste of milk and only come from Mummy', which might have been why he didn't reject the teat like I'd been warned.

Becles

I never got on with a breastpump at all. No matter how I tried, I just made my nippes sore and my hand hurt from all the pumping! I gave up in the end, and just continued to breast feed.

Aoife's_mum

Hello

Just to support what pp have said - I don't think there are any rules about when babies will accept teats - I gave both mine the occasional bottle from 3 weeks, and while one was fine with either, my second only really took to bottles when I stopped breast feeding last week.

I can't comment on the new avent one I'm afraid - I used a medela electric pump - bit noisy but I found it easy and would def recommend it. Have you any friends with different pumps that you could try before you buy?? If you are having trouble getting the let down reflex while expressing, try at different times of the day - I found it easiest at first to do it early morning, and you can try it either before or after feeding or even while your baby is feeding from the other side.

It does get so much easier when your body has had a little while to get used to 'letting down', so if you are finding it hard even with a different pump leave it for a week or so and try again.

Congratulations on the baby by the way! :beer:

Snaggles

Thanks for that Aoife's mum - would you mind if I ask how to pronounce Aoife? It's a pretty name but I don't know how to say it - could you sort of spell it phonetically? (sorry, I know I'm being a bit thick)!

rjh090384

EE-FA is how u pronuounce ir