Wow different pumps really matter

muffyvonmuff · November 2013

I have a Hygeia Enjoye pump I got from my insurance so far its the only one I use, and its awesome. I get 2-4 let downs in 10-20 minutes and can get 4 ounces after a feeding. Well I go back to work and wanted to try out my "travel pump" a medela in style that I was given from my sister in law. Its in a backpack and I thought "how convenient now I dont need to bring my pump with me everywhere" well I just went to try and use itand got NOTHING for 5 minutes. I gave up because I'm tired and went to use my Hygeia, 4 ounces in 10 minutes. I'll give this Medella another try but wow I didnt know the difference would be so drastic.

hartsl01 · November 2013

I've heard from several people that a different pump can make all the difference!

MangoMama82 · November 2013

My insurance gave me an Evenflo pump. I didn't get to choose. The LC at the hospital tells me it's horrible and wants me to jump through hoops to have BCBS retract the claim so I can get another brand. I haven't tried it yet, but spending all that time on the phone with an insurance company is not on my top 5 right now. Kinda bummed

Painterlady · November 2013

I've had my Medela pump and go for over 11 years and I love it! It's been my life saver...especially with this pregnancy since I can't bf due to my baby's cleft palate and have to ep. It's never let me down! I'm sure different pumps work better for different individuals...but I get a ton of milk from my Medela. Always have. Just make sure you have it on the correct settings. That can make a world of difference! Also, mine is an upgraded pump. Cost me almost 400 bucks and that was eleven years ago. So that might make a difference. Worth every penny!

norbert5 · November 2013

Wow, a Medela instyle is a nice pump. I would agree that maybe the flanges were wrong or the setting was off.

The pump my insurance offered was terrible and the LC said unless I need it I shouldn't use it. It was a crappy hand pump

BebeOnBoard · November 2013

awwwpuddin said:
Not trying to hijack your thread, but if anyone can answer this question I'll love you forever: I have an Ameda pump and I do NOT understand where to set cycles/vacuum. Is there a good place to start, or do I need to just mess with it until I find a good flow? I don't get much out, but I also have only tried pumping after BF.

This exactly.

Shortie24 · November 2013

awwwpuddin said:
Not trying to hijack your thread, but if anyone can answer this question I'll love you forever: I have an Ameda pump and I do NOT understand where to set cycles/vacuum. Is there a good place to start, or do I need to just mess with it until I find a good flow? I don't get much out, but I also have only tried pumping after BF.

I have this pump and I hate it! I try to pump at least twice a day and the total I get from both boobs is MAYBE 2 ounces!

I'm seriously on the fence about just paying out of pocket for the Medela.

Anyone have any luck with getting their insurance to change pumps?

SweetCFly · November 2013

awwwpuddin said:
Not trying to hijack your thread, but if anyone can answer this question I'll love you forever: I have an Ameda pump and I do NOT understand where to set cycles/vacuum. Is there a good place to start, or do I need to just mess with it until I find a good flow? I don't get much out, but I also have only tried pumping after BF.

I have the Ameda Purely Yours as well. Wasn't my first choice but was free thru ins. I read in the instructions to turn the speed on high initially to trigger a let down but then once your milk is flowing turn the speed down and your milk will actually flow
out faster. Suction doesn't matter, whatever is most comfortable. This is working for me so far... Usually getting about 4 oz total per pumping session (15-20 mins, per kellymom.com). Also, my LC recommended pumping about 30 min to an hour after feeding baby in AM or early afternoon cause your milk supply goes down thru out the day, so the earlier in the day you pump the more you'll get. I'm just pumping to build a stash, not an EP'er.

SnoopyLuv · November 2013

awwwpuddin said:

Not trying to hijack your thread, but if anyone can answer this question I'll love you forever: I have an Ameda pump and I do NOT understand where to set cycles/vacuum. Is there a good place to start, or do I need to just mess with it until I find a good flow? I don't get much out, but I also have only tried pumping after BF.

You need to be on the quickest cycle for a let down. Once the milk starts flowing, you can lower it. I lower it all the way until I notice there's no flow, then I do a short cycle at the highest setting. It's designed to allow you to mimic baby's normal eating patterns. They suck really fast to get a let down, then slow, then fast to get another let down, etc.

Painterlady · November 2013

Shortie24 said:

awwwpuddin said:
Not trying to hijack your thread, but if anyone can answer this question I'll love you forever: I have an Ameda pump and I do NOT understand where to set cycles/vacuum. Is there a good place to start, or do I need to just mess with it until I find a good flow? I don't get much out, but I also have only tried pumping after BF.
I have this pump and I hate it! I try to pump at least twice a day and the total I get from both boobs is MAYBE 2 ounces!

I'm seriously on the fence about just paying out of pocket for the Medela.

Anyone have any luck with getting their insurance to change pumps?

If u plan on having more children I would suggest buying your own. Like I said before, my Medela pump in style (I said pump and go but it's the pump in style) has saved my life through three kids and is still going strong after 11years. It was the best purchase I have ever made regarding my pregnancy/babies. I like the fact that it's mine and I can take it with me easily if I need to. It's also consistent. I know which settings to use and how to use them. I'm not worried about which brand of pump I'm going to get next time around. I feel it's definitely worth the investment!

SnoopyLuv · November 2013

Shortie24 said:

Not trying to hijack your thread, but if anyone can answer this question I'll love you forever: I have an Ameda pump and I do NOT understand where to set cycles/vacuum. Is there a good place to start, or do I need to just mess with it until I find a good flow? I don't get much out, but I also have only tried pumping after BF.
I have this pump and I hate it! I try to pump at least twice a day and the total I get from both boobs is MAYBE 2 ounces! I'm seriously on the fence about just paying out of pocket for the Medela. Anyone have any luck with getting their insurance to change pumps?

Is that in addition to nursing? If so, that's normal. Some people also don't respond well to the pump, or you could need a bigger flange. There's a million different things to adjust (flanges, time of day, etc), but the pumps are not very different from one another.

Ameda and Medela are comparable pumps. The Medela is just more popular. If anything, the Ameda is slightly better because you can control how quickly it suctions, rather than just the strength of suction.

Christine&Chris · November 2013

Did you get it as a gift from your sister? Or did she use it and pass it on? If it's been previously used, you can have it recalibrated - depending on age and level of use, pumps need to be checked and recalibrated to get back to factory standards. Also, I'd try calling Medela and working it through with them - tell them the difference you're getting between pumps.

Painterlady · November 2013

@Snoopyluv
My Medela controls the speed of suction as well as the strength. Just thought I'd let you know! Oh, it's the pump in style!

SnoopyLuv · November 2013

Painterlady said:

@Snoopyluv My Medela controls the speed of suction as well as the strength. Just thought I'd let you know! Oh, it's the pump in style!

Isn't yours older? All the new Medela's just have the "let down" button, I thought (maybe the Freestyle allows more control?). Even the hospital grade Symphony I had didn't allow me to control the speed. I was annoyed.

Painterlady · November 2013

SnoopyLuv said:

Painterlady said:

@Snoopyluv
My Medela controls the speed of suction as well as the strength. Just thought I'd let you know! Oh, it's the pump in style!

Isn't yours older? All the new Medela's just have the "let down" button, I thought (maybe the Freestyle allows more control?). Even the hospital grade Symphony I had didn't allow me to control the speed. I was annoyed.

Yeah mine is older...that would suck if they got rid of the speed control! That's just ridiculous! That's a very convenient feature...definitely something to look for when purchasing a pump IMO!

muffyvonmuff · November 2013

Painterlady said:

Painterlady said:

@Snoopyluv My Medela controls the speed of suction as well as the strength. Just thought I'd let you know! Oh, it's the pump in style!

Isn't yours older? All the new Medela's just have the "let down" button, I thought (maybe the Freestyle allows more control?). Even the hospital grade Symphony I had didn't allow me to control the speed. I was annoyed.
Yeah mine is older...that would suck if they got rid of the speed control! That's just ridiculous! That's a very convenient feature...definitely something to look for when purchasing a pump IMO!

Yea the Medella one I have has only one control knob and a button to press to let down. It is no where near as efficient as the Hygeia which has a speed and strength control.

Painterlady · November 2013

@has615
That really sucks! Oh well, glad I bought mine when I did lol! I guess older is better in this case

blondolphn · November 2013

i also have the ameda i know i get more when i am hydratted so make sure to be drinking plenty of water.

kimbo1216 · November 2013

Depending on how used the Medela is, it may also be a little weak compared to a new one.

I was tempted to get the Hygeia from insurance. But since I already had a bet used Medela with plenty if good parts, I opted for another Medela.

Inn2 · November 2013

Pumping seriously makes me cry every day. I hate it and I get a half ounce if I'm lucky. I have the back pack Medela and I've played with flanges, boob massaged, held him/thought about him, hydrated, you name it. The only time I've had success was in the hospital, last week, with the hospital grade one and only then because I was engorged from not being able to feed him for so long. Even with that, still having to work on getting my supply back up to keep up with him, again.

I'm thinking of just seeing if I can rent the hospital grade, but afraid even that won't work in normal circumstances. No idea how I'll feed him BM when I have to return to work in Jan. at this rate.

Painterlady · November 2013

Inn2 said:
Pumping seriously makes me cry every day. I hate it and I get a half ounce if I'm lucky. I have the back pack Medela and I've played with flanges, boob massaged, held him/thought about him, hydrated, you name it. The only time I've had success was in the hospital, last week, with the hospital grade one and only then because I was engorged from not being able to feed him for so long. Even with that, still having to work on getting my supply back up to keep up with him, again.

I'm thinking of just seeing if I can rent the hospital grade, but afraid even that won't work in normal circumstances. No idea how I'll feed him BM when I have to return to work in Jan. at this rate.

I feel for you. I ebf with my first two but because of my son's cleft palate, I can't this time around. I'm pumping, but also supplementing. I have to return to work next week so I'm trying to dry my supply up. It's just too much work with my two other kids, a baby with special needs and going back to work full time. I'm still pumping once at night...getting about 8 ounces combined...but I'm just done with the whole thing. It's exhausting. I can't even imagine pumping alone without supplementing. Kudos to moms who can do that. Keep at it, but if it gets to be too much don't feel bad for stopping. I was riddled with guilt for wanting to stop, but it's the right thing to do for me and I'm ok with it now. Good luck!

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