Breast Pump, is it worth it?

[zenaa]

Hey ladies I'm currently drawing up a list of things I need to purchase for the baby. I'm stuck and not sure if I should buy a breast pump, are they useful and worth the money? If so which brand were you happy/not happy with?

 

[Kitters]

A few women have told me that one of their top bits of advice would be to invest in a good quality electronic pump, Medela is a brand that comes up a lot.

 

[Mrsturner]

I would highly recommend an electric pump. I have a medela one. I started with a cheapy hand pump but soon realised that spending 2 hours pumping 5oz of milk was stressful! So I bought te electric one and had it pumped within 10 minutes.

 

[cazi77]

I had a Medela swing and loved it

 

[RoxieHart]

I found I needed one, not just for storing milk etc but I literally had so much milk I needed to pump it out a lot to make sure it didn't get blocked up! I remember being in the hospital they were shocked at how much I was leaking haha and they got me their own hospital electric pumps and advised me that I should pump some out often. So it was quite important for me. (Probably because I have the most massive boobs )

 

[banana07]

I have bought but not yet used a medela electric pump. I remember bfing DS (7 years ago) and mammy minding him while I went to the shop just to do the grocery shopping and child would be hysterical by time I got back for milk. I would only be gone 60-90 mins, had no comfort Bfing I felt.

My Friend managed to go to college and keep breastfeeding her baby with the help of the Breastpump for over 6 months something she could not have done without. So hopefully this time I will be able to do it for longer (only 5 weeks with DS).

Both my friend and I bought on amazon it was way cheaper for us. Hers broke down one day she phoned them and had a whole new one in the post 2 days later no questions asked and wasn't even asked to return the old one!

Oh with DS1 I bought a hand one and after 2 hours i was in agony and only had 2-3oz. Nearly cried. It went directly in the bin!!

 

[ajlj1126]

I didn't think I would need one, since my plan was to exclusively BF, but DD was born with a short tongue, which is different than being tongue-tied, so she couldn't really latch on too well. I ended up exclusively pumping and a friend had a medela she gave to me. I just bought all new tubing and accessories. It was a life saver!!

 

[zenaa]

Thank you ladies it looks like I will be investing in one. I have a large bust so I dont know if thats going to make milk supplies better or worse but I will still buy one it sounds convenient

 

[odouglass]

Since I am returning to work I definitely need one. I have an Avent Double Electric Comfort and then my insurance supplies one to me (not sure if it is Ameda or Medela)!

 

[ParisJeTadore]

I think the best thing you can do is wait until baby is born and decide then. I breastfed my son for 20 months and due to a tongue tie my pump became a lifesaver for the first few months of his life. I am so happy to this day that I purchased one and had it on hand for whenever I needed it.

The only problem is...you don't know how you will take to breastfeeding or how often you will use your pump (some ladies have a really hard time pumping much of anything despite having great supply). You may want to rent one for a bit and if you feel you are using it lot consider investing in something more long term.

 

[babe2ooo]

I think they are not a hand one they are rubbish I would definitely get an electric one. I know there more expensive but they are better amd quicker then a hand one.

 

[junbait]

Not sure where you are from, but if you're in US you might want to check with your insurance. You might be eligible to get a breast pump for free or at a discounted price that won't blow your budget. I just checked mine and I'm covered 100% on Ameda and Medela brands (electric, not manual, although manual is also available).

 

[RcdM]

I ended up exclusively pumping so I may be a little biased but I say a pump is absolutely necessary. If you have trouble breastfeeding you can always just pump to keep your supply up and then go back to trying the breast again. You can also start building a bit of a stock pile in the freezer too, which can help when you want to have someone else feed the baby. Lastly, if you are a working mom, but want your baby to be on breast milk when they go to daycare, this is the only way you'd be able to continue to feed them breastmilk. And then you can pump at work on your lunch break or something so you don't get super engorged.

I highly recommend the medela brand as well. If you have insurance, check with them to see if they cover it. I just found out mine does and I'm super excited. If not, you can always rent one for a monthly payment which is pretty low, I think like 20 bucks a month.

As far as the large bust... I'm right there with ya lol. I'm a 34G right now! Normally a 34DD when not pregnant. Anyway, you don't have to do a single thing different other than order the larger size flages. Flanges are the cone shaped things that go over your boobs. It also depends on nipple size, so you may want to test out a few sizes. But I was able to get mine in the hospital from the lactation consultant after I had my dd so I didn't have to order them. I started off using the small ones and it was painful, so they looked at the size and had me go up 2 sizes and it made a big difference.

 

[kimmy04]

I have the medela electric pump and I used it all the time. It allowed me a bit of freedom to leave hubby with our son so I could go out for a bit as I was only breast feeding not using formula!

 

[BigAl]

Hmm i would consider renting before you spend all that money on an electric one. I had a cheap hand pump (£10), and it was great for clearing blocked ducts and engorgement. But my lo never took a bottle so an electic one would have been a waste for me.

 

[Gnomer]

Out of everything I bought for my son, the only thing I couldn't have lived without was my electric pump. He was born via emcs, I couldn't breastfeed for the first 12 hours, since I promptly passed out pretty much as soon as I got onto the ward. The nurses fed him bottles rather than wake me, so latching on was a serious issue. He's also slightly tongue tied, and that caused us a few issues. I tried to exclusively breastfeed for 3 weeks, got myself into a right state, and pumped for 6 months. He preferred bottles, pumping gave me freedom, helped regulate our feeding schedule and made us both much happier. This time, I'll try the latching thing, but I will pump and store too.

 

[Laylagirl]

Thank you ladies it looks like I will be investing in one. I have a large bust so I dont know if thats going to make milk supplies better or worse but I will still buy one it sounds convenient

Bust size has nothing to do with it. Its all about how much you have you baby at the breast. If you previously nursed a little one, that also makes a difference. I was completely flat chested with my first two children (I've since had surgery) and with my first, i didn't have much milk in the beginning. And pumping was hard. With my second, since i ebf i had soooo much milk and pumped so much out just to relieve the pain. I had so much milk in the freezer i had to throw it out. So it all depends on how well you and your baby get on with the nursing relationship.