 Posted 9/30/2006 12:55:44 PM
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| I am wanting to breast feed, and I'm not sure if I should get an electric or manual pump. I was wondering if anyone knows which would be better.
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Posted 10/2/2006 4:36:19 PM
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| If you want to primarily breastfeed and just pump occasionally, a manual pump should be adequate. I liked my Avent Isis, and it worked well for occasional pumping. At one point I used it A LOT, and it was too hard on it, I guess, as a piece broke. But as I said, I was overusing it...it's not meant to be used 3-4 times a day, every day, for weeks on end!! I'd buy another one, if the need arose. If you plan on pumping and then bottlefeeding a lot of the time, then you might want to invest in a good electric pump. They can be several hundred dollars. Medela gets good reviews. Check out epinions.com for some reviews on these products. Just a little warning, though...if you pump a lot rather than breastfeeding, you may find your supply drops, and you may end up not breastfeeding at all. The process works best if you establish breastfeeding first before offering a bottle to the baby. Many sources say to wait at least six weeks. My experience is that by six weeks, your infant might well refuse a bottle! What I did was mostly breastfeed, but offer a bottle two or three times a week, right from the start. It worked for us.
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Posted 10/5/2006 12:04:24 AM
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| What tallgirl says is absolutely correct. One word of advice from a mother who took 9 weeks to get my breastfeeding established (I pumped and bottle fed until then) make sure you buy yourself SLOW RELEASE NIPPLES for your bottles. Bottle feeding is much easier on the baby and can get lazy and refuse the breast. It takes way longer to feed with the slow release nipples but it will frustrate the baby and make them appreciate breast feeding because the reward is way better. Don't let anyone convince you to switch either even if it is annoying to your husband or others who are feeding your baby...keep on the slow release nipples in the beginning! Best of luck.
Live life, love deeply, laugh often
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Posted 10/18/2006 12:20:32 AM
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| Electric all the way!! manual doesnt work half as fast and electric even though its more money is well worth the cost
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Posted 10/23/2006 5:21:04 PM
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| Actually, I got just as much milk, and in less time, with my Avent Isis manual pump than with the hospital grade Medela pump that the local LC lent me when I was having concerns. But, it really depends on how often you plan to use it, and for how long.
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Posted 11/2/2006 9:28:16 PM
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| I am an occasional pumper, and invested in the Medela mini-electric. It can be manual, battery operated or electric. I find that both the manual and electric seem to work the same. I definitely don't get as much from pumping as I would from bfeeding (babies are much more efficient than a pump) and I often don't get very much at a time. I would definitely recommend establishing bfeeding before pumping and bottle feeding. Good luck!
Shamara
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Posted 11/10/2006 2:31:09 PM
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| I have an electric pump that also goes battery powered if need be. It's a safety First, you can buy it at Wal-Mart for about $90. It does both breasts at once or you can do each side individually. I've been really happy with it. It works every bit as well as the one in the hospital. I used it after every attempt to BF for the first 3 weeks...so maybe 8-10 times a day! It still works well although I rarely use it anymore. As for nipples...I totally agree about the slow release. Try NUK brand size 2 (real nipples are bigger than a size 1) and I was told that although the latex nipples don't last as long they are more like the breast so less likely to cause problems with breastfeeding. Good Luck!
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