If you plan on BFing, are you buying a pump before or after birth?

rachellaura86 · June 2011

Hi all! I am planning on trying to breastfeed, but I know sometimes things dont always work according to plan. I keep debating whether I'd like to have the pump ready at home now or wait until after the baby comes to make sure I am going to BF. A friend who is a new BFing mom said she did without the pump for a bit.

It's an expensive purchase! Otherwise I probably would have bought one already to be prepared. Just wondering what others are doing......

mcatmay · June 2011

I have a pump that i got at my baby shower but one point that was made by our childbirth class teacher was that the warranty on the pump starts ticking from the moment you have it. She recommended that you wait until the arrival of your LO as you may not need it for a while - she said most women considered getting one at around week 3. Hope that helps!

tiffyspiffy1012 · June 2011

I plan on waiting until LO is born. The way I see it, having the skin-to-skin direct contact is so critical early on, that I only want Baby to latch onto my breast. I can only envision needing a pump immediately after the birth if I have trouble expressing milk, or if Baby is unable to properly latch. If that is the case, the hospital will lend me one of their hospital-grade pumps, so all my bases should be covered. Plus, when it's time to buy a pump on my own, it will only take 2 days to arrive via Amazon Mom shipping Big Smile

BetsyDavis · June 2011

With DD I got it before I had her and I'm glad did I had to pump at first due to her being in the NICU then not latching till 5 months old.

HappyKlamb10 · June 2011

I got the one I registered for as a gift at my shower. I didn't get a super expensive one because I'm not going back to work until 7 mos after the birth (and hoping to wean around 6 mos) so I don't anticipate needing to pump often, but I want one for times that I might not be around for feedings (ex. we are going to a wedding about 6 weeks after my due date, so I will need to pump for that). If I hadn't gotten it as a gift I might have waited, but now that I have it it's one less thing I have to purchase later.

JaysonandKristin · June 2011

In the hospital I will use their pumps, after we are discharged I will rent one of their hospital grade Medela pumps. It's what I did last time, and it was fabulous.

I also have a Medela Swing, it's not realistic to use as a primary pump, but it was great to have on the go.

jetskreemr · June 2011

I am waiting until after LO is born. I am having a c-section at 36 weeks, so there is a possibility my doc will write a prescription for the pump and my insurance would then cover the entire cost. So I will wait to see if that happens! I figure it's not a rush because if I need it right away, they will let me use one in the hospital, and if not, you are supposed to wait a month to introduce bottles if you are BFing.

twohniyt · June 2011

I already got mine only because it a great deal. I haven't opened it and don't plan on opening it until after my little one is here. A suggestion a friend of mine gave me is to call your insurance company and find out if they will cover any of the cost since they are expensive. Mine actually will cover the cost 90/10, but I wasn't able to find one on their distributors list. It didn't want to miss the sale, so I went ahead and bought it. I do plan on calling back this week to find out if they will reimburse me for the one I bought or allow me to purchase it from somewhere else (this case I can return the one I've already purchased). It's worth a try, you might be surprised. I sure was.

tink7227 · June 2011

With my first I didn't recieve my pump as a gift. I got a small handpump to relieve pressure while engorged and to have just incase. Once DD was about 3 weeks and we knew nursing was working for us I invested in a pump. I already had it when DD2 was born, obviously, and I didn't use it until at least 3 weeks. But I am a sahm and didn't need to pump to build up a supply either.

Stellar1 · June 2011

I got my pump before my DD was born from my mom at my baby shower. I am due in 3 weeks with my DS and I will probably start to pump within the first week so I can start saving bm for when I am not home and when I go back to work.

P0upette · June 2011

I bought one when my insurance was offering a discount on madela ones. I figured it hasn't been opened so if for whatever reason I don't use, I will sell on craigslist. But I want to have something at home, since you never know. I am also planning on starting baby on a bottle a day after week 3 and don't want to have to worry with buying anything in the first few weeks...

jennytsk · June 2011

My insurance will cover 100% of the cost (Medela PISA) with a prescription from my OB - the only catch is that it has to be prescribed after the baby is born, which makes sense because the diagnosis has to be something like "trouble latching" or whatever your issue may be. We know I will have an issue already (physical) so I have no problem taking advantage of this benefit. The hospital where I am delivering has a lactation boutique that is authorized to issue pumps for my insurance carrier, so they will just bring it to me right before we are discharged, no paperwork. I definitely second the recommendation to call your insurance co and ask if they cover pumps if they are medically necessary - mine is covered under "durable medical equipment". I got one when I had DS 3 years ago but it is making weird noises so I called to make sure I'm eligible for a replacement with this baby and they said yes.

laurasuzanne2006 · June 2011

Stellar1:
I got my pump before my DD was born from my mom at my baby shower. I am due in 3 weeks with my DS and I will probably start to pump within the first week so I can start saving bm for when I am not home and when I go back to work.

This is my situation as well. Already bought my pump since BRU had a special coupon so i got a good deal on it. I'm also going to start building a stash as soon as my milk comes in as i will be going back to work after about 10 weeks.

Ryan&Kristin062009 · June 2011

I am trying to decide on this as well. I put one on my registry, but it's very expensive and I am assuming no one will buy it, which is fine. I have my BFing class in July so I'm hoping to learn more then and then I can decide whether I want to purchase it before or after.

dairygirl19 · June 2011

I have one already. But it's from my SIL and I just spent $25.00 on replacement parts, so it's no big deal if I get home and find out Bfing isn't for me.

If you have to buy one though, I'd also wait a bit. My dr. also suggested renting one from the hospital until you're sure. That'd have been my next option.

chloephoebecali · June 2011

Wait! Make sure it is working out for both you and LO.

Pookie's_Girl · June 2011

jennytsk:
My insurance will cover 100% of the cost (Medela PISA) with a prescription from my OB - the only catch is that it has to be prescribed after the baby is born, which makes sense because the diagnosis has to be something like "trouble latching" or whatever your issue may be. We know I will have an issue already (physical) so I have no problem taking advantage of this benefit. The hospital where I am delivering has a lactation boutique that is authorized to issue pumps for my insurance carrier, so they will just bring it to me right before we are discharged, no paperwork. I definitely second the recommendation to call your insurance co and ask if they cover pumps if they are medically necessary - mine is covered under "durable medical equipment". I got one when I had DS 3 years ago but it is making weird noises so I called to make sure I'm eligible for a replacement with this baby and they said yes.

This is my case as well. I was planning on getting one before LO was born, but after looking into what my insurance will cover, I decided to wait. If I'm having trouble expressing milk right away, then my hospital will give me one of their pumps to use while I'm there, and I'll get to take it home with me too. After that, if he's still having problems, I can get a nicer pump on my insurance company's dime.

kristennd · June 2011

The LC at my breastfeeding class recommended waiting, so I did. I ended up needing to start pumping much sooner than expected because of supply issues and a related NICU stay, but I used the hospital pump during that time and had the Amazon Mom for the fast/cheap shipping when we were discharged. (Along with free 2-day, it's only $3.99 to upgrade to overnight.)

Manual pumps are $20-$30 if you want insurance. My $30 Medela works great.

TheLastCall · June 2011

I bought a Medela Harmony to see me through the early bits, because the baby will be with me at first. If I need a better pump later on, which I probably will - I'll be willing to fork out the extra.

CactusGirl · June 2011

I was going to wait until LO was born, but SMIL offered to buy it for me so I jumped all over that

I just hope everything goes good with BF and that I can pump and it works when I am ready to use it!

DarrenAndMelissa · June 2011

I'm going to get a small manual pump in case of emergency, but I will wait to purchase the big one until later. With DD#1 I depended on my pump too much and it hurt my ability to successfully nurse her. I'm also a stay-at-home mom this time around (I worked FT with DD) so I don't need to stress about being able to go back to work and pumping etc.

pinkpigeon · June 2011

I don't know of anyone has mentioned this yet but pumps are tax deductable, so no matter what you pay for it you'll get that reembursment if you save the receipt.

x0stephanie · June 2011

I bought one for before, I don't want to give LO a bottle for at least 4-6 weeks to make sure breastfeeding is going well, but I know it'll help with engorgement so I can pump and freeze or pump and dump.

Monsieur_et_Madame_Ha · June 2011

I was in the same boat as you were when I had DD: i wanted to try BFing but had no idea if I would stick with it or not and so I didn't want spend money on a pump that I wasn't even sure to use. SO. I bought a manual pump just so that I would have something I could use if I needed to right away. Then I rented one for a few weeks. It was like $3 a day, so I thought it was really worth it. And then I bought a Medela PIS.

lisamoe · June 2011

I'm planning on waiting til a week, 2 at most, to make sure all goes well with BFing. The pump I would like to get is at least $250 so I wanna make sure I'm physically able to BF. Its my first baby, so I don't know what to expect as far as that goes.

bellethebride · June 2011

I wish I had read up on this 3 years ago! When I had DS #1, he was almost 4 weeks early and my milk supply didn't come in. I used and rented a hospital grade pump (after opening and using my Pump In Style which I was told was only for mothers already producing). Despite pumping, fenugreek and some prescription grade stuff, my milk never came in and I was stuck with a very expensive used breast pump.

I'm hoping that my milk comes in with DS #2.

So, I would see what the return policy is like and have it handy if you want to use it but not open it and time it so that you can return it if you have to.

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If you plan on BFing, are you buying a pump before or after birth?

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