Why need this
Breast Feeding Issues
Breastfeeding is the most natural thing you can do to feed your baby, but it might not come as natural… Many women experience (start-up) issues with breastfeeding. Where some might resort to using formula to feed baby, there are benefits to feeding your baby breastmilk instead. Most important is to feed your baby, so there is nothing wrong with feeding your baby formula, but if you would like the additional benefits of breast milk, you might need a bit of help at times. Breastfeeding is a demand driven activity, so the more you stimulate it the better the supply should be. When there are issues with breastfeeding there are often solutions to make things better. You might experience that your milk might not come in as expected, your baby might not latch well or the milk supply might not be sufficient. Whatever the reason you are having difficulty with breastfeeding, most important is to get it fixed. There are many support options for you: your midwife might be able to help, your local child health nurse or a breastfeeding consultant can give you some pointers and the breast-feeding help line is a good option too. Many women find that at one stage they are in the need of a breast pump. A breast pump mimics the suction of a baby to draw out your milk.
Use it for
Get (More) Milk For Later
Breastfeeding can be the most convenient thing there is: milk is always available, at the right temperature and there is no need to carry bottles, warm water, formula etc. However breastfeeding requires mums to always be with their bubs. In those early days you might not ever want to part with your baby, not for a second, but over time that is likely to happen. You might have to go to an appointment, an event or work and not be able to feed your baby at the time required. It is also possible that your baby is not able to get the milk out themselves and a breast pump might be a good solution in those situations. It can be the way to stock up on some breastmilk for the moments that you are not with your baby and someone else will feed them. And a breast pump can also be useful in stimulating your supply.
Our Mum’s Tips
7 Tips For Buying A Breast Pump
When buying a breast pump our mums find that there are a couple of things to consider.
- Double or single pump – a double pump will pump both breasts at the same time, saving you half the time of a single pump. That might be worth the additional costs.
- Portable or plugged in – a plugged in pump might provide you with a stronger suction, but most portable pump will do just fine with the additional benefit of being able to be carried wherever you go. No need to sit down and wait for your pumping session to finish.
- With pumping bra – if you do not need to hold those breast shields, you will have your hands free to do something else. Whether that is browsing your phone, continuing your job or folding the wash, it will help you multitask. Never mind, the need to sit down and take a break, can be welcome too.
- Noise – if you are in the luxury position to continue to work while pumping, it might not be helpful when your breast pump is making a lot of noise. It can also be awkward opening the door for the delivery man, with your breast pump making suction noises. Consider the noise the breast pump is making, before you buy, to prevent disappointment.
- Soft (silicone) attachment to breast – your breast skin is probably the most sensitive skin you have. Pumping suction can be quite strong an nothing more uncomfortable than having that sensitive skin being rubbed against a rough edge of your pump. See if you can find soft, silicone breast shields, so you will be more comfortable pumping.
- Different sizes – no breast is the same and for optimal performance the right breast shield size is critical. Breast shields come in small, medium and large size. Too small will hurt your nipple and too large will be less effective.
- Closed or open system – not all systems are closed and milk might get in contact with parts of the pump that are harder to clean and sterilise.
Recommended Products
The Breast Pumps Our Mums Really Love
- The Spectra S2+ Hospital Grade Double Electric Breast Pump or Spectra S1+ Hospital Grade Double Electric Breast Pump is a very strong breast pump, like hospital grade. Some of our mums liked the plugged in ones, because of the slightly stronger suction and the need to sit down and rest. The Spectra breast pumps are only available online. Our mums found these pumps more comfortable than Medela but also a bit nosier. The Freemie hand free cups can be used with Spectra pumps to free up your hands while pumping.
- The Spectra 9 Plus Portable Double Electric Breast Pump is not a hospital grade breast pump, but still a pump with great suction that our mums loved. It has a double pump, so only half the time needed to pump both breasts. Cleaning is easy and you can keep your hands free for other things, using a pumping bra. The Spectra S9 is much smaller than the hospital grade Spectra breast pumps and with its built-in rechargeable battery it is a great pump to take with you.
- Our mums loved the Medela Swing Maxi Flex as an affordable and much better breast pump than some of the cheaper ones in the market. Our mums especially loved how quiet this pump is compared to other great brands. Medela has a pumping bra to that can be used with this (and other) pumps for handsfree pumping. Some of our mums have used this pump for multiple kids and it is still going strong after all those years. The breast attachment, especially when not chosen the right size, can be a bit rough on your breasts though.
- Medela also offers a Medela Symphony Breast Pump with better suction than the portable one. With all the benefits of the portable Medela this might be the breast pump for you, if you need that extra power to draw your milk out.
- The Philips Avent Manual Breast Pump or Philips Avent Electric Breast Pump is loved by some of our mums more than the other big brands. They especially loved the soft breast attachments that made pumping gentle on their sensitive breast skin.
- For optimal comfort consider the New Beginnings Single Electric Breast Pump. Our mums loved how comfortable this breast pump is.
- A great alternative to an electric breast pump, is the Haakaa Generation 1 100ml Silicone Breast Pump which works on suction and worked for some of our mums much better than the electric pumps.
- Not found what you are looking for yet, check out the ARDO Calypso Double Plus Breast Pump that was recommended by some of our mums too.
- Handsfree pumping sounds like the thing for you? Check out which pumping bras our mums used to make pumping time, a time to get some of those long awaiting chores done. Try the Cake Maternity Lotus Hands-free Pumping Bra if you do not want to invest in the more expensive pumping bras that are offered by the large breast pump brands. Our mums loved to pump handsfree but liked to keep that extra bit of cash in their pockets too and the Cake Maternity pumping bra has received a lot of positive feedback. An alternative is this Simple Wishes Signature Hands Free Pumping Bra or this cheap Ebay Pumping Bra. Some of our mums got their creativity hat on and made their own pumping bra; they easily cut some holes in a regular bra or top and used it for pumping.
