Should I buy a pump before baby arrives?

[luna_19]

Hey all, I'm really torn on whether I should get a pump now or just wait and see how much I really need it and therefore which type to get. I will be ebf and if all goes well plan to nurse for at least the first month, at that point I might want to occasionally pump so hubby can feed and give me some time off but that probably wouldn't be too often.

I will be home with the baby for at least the first year so I would assume that means that I don't need to build up a freezer stash or anything. I know that the hospital rents fancy pumps if I end up needing to do some serious pumping. Other than that is it unrealistic to think that I could just pop out to the store and pick up a pump when I need one?

Second part of my question, if you do recommend getting a pump now which type should I get? From what I've read electric seems to be the way to go but there is just such a huge range or products it's overwhelming just looking at them!

Thanks

 

[optimistic1]

Depends...if your baby has latch issues or just doesn't do well at breast feeding would you want to express and give your lo a bottle? I bought a manual one by Medela before I had my baby for emergencies luckily I never needed it (unless I want to pump a bottle for when we go out and leave her with a sitter. We were never comfortable taking her to the grocery store so for 2 hours a couple times a month she spends time with her aunt and takes a bottle.) If you get one for emergencies only id do the manual pumps there cheaper but if you end up needing to pump a lot or exclusively id get an electric and Medela seems to make pretty good pumps.

 

[luna_19]

Yeah I will definitely be feeding bm no matter what, maybe I should just pick up a manual one to have just in case...

 

[optimistic1]

That's what I did I figured if I ended up needing to exclusively express then a manual would hold me over until I could get an electric.

 

[MissCurly]

With my first, i was planning to go back to work so i expressed quite often with an electric pump- medela mini (i think!) and then medela swing. But dd didnt care for the expressed milk!

With my boy i have only ever expressed with my hand, as i couldnt be bothered to sterilise the pumps bits and pieces.
And he has never had a bottle, i have only fed him the expressed milk in bit of porridge or a cup.

So it really depends, if money is not an issue,and you're not missing out on a bargain of a pump i would just leave it. But i am sure you could find a manual one easy enough for peace of mind.

 

[RomaTomato]

In my opinion buy one after baby is here, I am EBF and I bought a manual one that I have only used a handful of times

 

[Berri]

I put one on lay-by around 38wks (they have 3mth hold where I got it from) and that way if my milk hadn't of come in, I could have just swapped the credit for something else and it also meant that when I needed it I just gave hubby the receipt and he dropped in and paid/picked it up. Easy I got the Grow Diana Dream pump. It was much much cheaper than Medela, motor could easily handle double pump and I had no issues pumping 6-8 times a week cause I started back at work early(ish).

 

[lily28]

I bought a pump before my baby arrived, the Avent manual one. I use it to relieve engorged boobs, have some back up milk in the fridge, and to be able to go shopping on my own and leave baby with DH. It was affordable and I didn't need the electric one, as I find it easy to use. It depends on how many times a day you plan to pump, some women pump all day. I only pump 2-3 times a week.

 

[iwantabub]

I bought a pump before my baby arrived, the Avent manual one. I use it to relieve engorged boobs, have some back up milk in the fridge, and to be able to go shopping on my own and leave baby with DH. It was affordable and I didn't need the electric one, as I find it easy to use. It depends on how many times a day you plan to pump, some women pump all day. I only pump 2-3 times a week.

Wss^^

I got the same one... Was cheap... And I pumped for so many different reasons...

If u have low supply ... If your engorged... If u have fast let down... If u get thrush if u wanna leave lo for a short time or even just to introduce a bottle earlyish so in an emergency they will take it rather than refuse it!

I've used my pump more for those issues than just pumping to build a stash...

However ATM I can't justify buying an electric one until I am closer to going back to work

 

[ThinkPositiv]

I have a Medea freestyle electric pump from a friend. Thought I needed one but honestly I would wait. It's one of those things you can get later if needed. I used mine for engorgment and while i didn't realize I had over supply, made it worse but regardless you can easily hand express for engorgment and is what I should have done, ESP in my situation. Currently unless I were to comit to a pumping session every day it's not worth it to me, ESP with my over supply. But I'm prob not the norm. As an aside, love my medela when I did use it - I had to rent a hospital pump and it was medela- same quality.