which breast pump would you get

Re: which breast pump would you get

• SnoopyLuv member

  January 2014

  I'd get the Medela or Hygeia. I used to always rec the Ameda, but it's gotten terrible and even I am having issues with crappy suction.
  
  The hygeia is much more like a hospital grade, IIRC. The Medela would be easier to get parts for, though.
  
  All the models of the same company are essentially similar, they just market them with different names depending on the provider.
  

  
    Francesca Pearl is here!             Josephine Hope is almost 3!
  

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• surpriseaddition member

  January 2014 edited January 2014

  I have the Medela Advanced Personal Double Electric pictured here. https://www.amazon.com/Medela-Advanced-Personal-Breastpump-57065/dp/B00BM9MJNE I also got it through my insurance. I love it, and work full time. It has a built in cooler pack, and comes with the ice packs included. I can pump, and then just place the bottles in the cooler portion and it stays cool all day. Everything is in the one bag (pump itself, cooler, and storage compartments for extra bottles and the electric plug). It also had a manual pump in the storage area too. It doesn't have a battery pack, but I never use it like that. I have used it in a car, by using a standard car adapter that allows you to plug things in. I can't speak about the others, but I can say I am personally satisfied with my pump. It's reliable, not too loud, and gets the job done. ETA: my LO is 8.5 months. Agree with PP that I was told it was the same pump (just with a canvas bag) as the PIS. I used a PIS for my older 2 kids and it lasted through 28 months of nursing between the two of them. We thought we were done, so I had gotten rid of it and needed to get a new one for our new LO. The pumps are exactly the same IMO.

  
  **DD1 - 7/9/98**

  **DS - 11/9/00**

  **DD2 - 4/30/13**
  

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• musicalsilver member

  January 2014

  This is copied and pasted from an earlier post of mine, but hopefully it's still helpful!

  
  

  I haven't tried the medela - but I did choose the Hygeia (insurance model).  I like it - it's super powerful to where I've never needed to use the highest settings even double pumping (I generally only use half strength).  I do enjoy that I can control speed and suction strength independent of one another, so it's a really customizable system that you can alter from day to day if you feel like it.  I also really like that it's a closed system and that Hygeia is such an environmentally friendly company.  I also figured it didn't hurt that it had LLLI's endorsement.

  
  

  A couple kind of negative things to consider:

  
  

  1) It seems a bit noisier than the medela.  I pump in lactation rooms at work, and mine always seems the loudest.  I don't care about this because it's not like I'm trying to be stealthy, but this could bother some people.

  
  

  2) it has wide mouth bottle connections on the flanges.  You can buy an adapter, but I didn't realize this going into it.  It also doesn't connect to all wide-mouth bottles well, so that could be a pain.  I always pump into the collection bottles it came with and then dump that into a larger container for storage at work.  Or directly into the Hygeia freezer bags.

  
  

  3)I said this earlier as a bit of a plus - you control suction/speed on your own.  This could be seen as a negative as well, since you have to set up the "letdown" phase and then turn down the speed/up the suction for the rest of the sustained bit of the pump.  So you do have to keep an eye on things, not just set it and forget it.  I don't mind though, it just means I have to pay attention for the first couple minutes, then I can space and forget about it.

  
  

  Hope this helps!

  
  DS born 6/2013
  

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• tammura member

  January 2014

  I have the Ameda Purely Yours® Electric Breast Pump and have no major issues with it. Then again, I have only been using it for 2 months. I have noticed that the section is not as strong as it was at first but i am still able to get what I need. That may change when I am not BF as much and relying on pumped milk when I go back to work. Mine came with a hand pump as well. I have been told that the manual pump helps some ladies get more than the electric. I have yet to use it though. 
  

  
  

  I would have preferred the Medela but insurance only covered the Ameda. 

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• amief member

  January 2014

  I have the Hygiea and love it.  My thoughts: 

  
  

  It has great suction and I love controlling the speed/strength. 

  
  

  Although it does connect to wide mouth bottles, the adaptors are cheap and easy to make it work with regular mouth. So I view it as a positive that you can easily have it either way. 

  
  

  Although you don't find its parts everywhere... the flanges, battery packs and power sources seem to be interchangable with medela so those parts are easy to replace. 

  
  

  The membrane part on this is much bigger and easier to keep track of than medela.  

  
  

  The tubing is much more flexible than the medela which makes it a bit less cumbersome.  

  

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