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July 2020 Moms
blaf322
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Product Spotlight Series: Breast Pumps and Accessories
blaf322
member
The Product Spotlight Series continues! Each week we'll spotlight a new category of product. If you discover something new or are new to the board, you're welcome to comment on threads like these throughout your time here, not just when it's their week in the spotlight. FTMs are encouraged to ask questions & STM/+s encouraged to share their knowledge based on experience. You can use any or all the prompts relevant to you below to share info in an easy-to-read format--or none of them. Pictures/screen grabs, if put in spoilers, are welcome! This week it's... Breast Pumps and Accessories!
S(+)TMs: Give us the pros and cons of what you have, or ask about what you want. What brand(s) have you used? Which one is best and why? Are you dreaming of any that are on the market now? Battery powered or outlet? Open or closed system? What are the best accessories? How did you go about getting one through your insurance?
FTMs: What brands are you interested in? What questions do you have?
***NOTE- I cannot be trusted to remember to post these on Fridays so they're moving to Mondays. Hope everyone's okay with that! I'm going to post this one now b/c I missed last week's Friday post and then also post, what should have been, this Friday's post to get us totally caught up. Sorry for any confusion this may cause***
***NOTE- I cannot be trusted to remember to post these on Fridays so they're moving to Mondays. Hope everyone's okay with that! I'm going to post this one now b/c I missed last week's Friday post and then also post, what should have been, this Friday's post to get us totally caught up. Sorry for any confusion this may cause***
Re: Product Spotlight Series: Breast Pumps and Accessories
My doctor wrote me a prescription for a breast pump and I think I had to scan it into the edgepark website to get the pump sent to me.
I have heard great things about the Spectra model, but at this point I have SO many medela accessories, I'll probably just get another one of those. I look forward to being able to leave one upstairs/downstairs or at work/at home. I dragged that dang thing everywhere!
Also Protip: You don't have to wash the parts EVERY time you pump. I would just put mine in a ziploc and put them in the fridge between uses and wash at the end of the day. This stops you from feeling totally crazy if you are pumping a lot.
Some people don't super love them, but for like $12 I recommend trying it out.
I used it for several months on the opposite breast while nursing, and ended up building a small stash, plus I find it helped with the mess in the beginning. Then I kept using it with my pump (because my pump was a single) pretty much until I finished breastfeeding. Mine accidentally got thrown out (with a bunch of my other pump parts) after a road trip weekend, I will 100% be replacing it.
- Medela PISA - I used this to EP for 9ish months and it was free through my insurance. I purchased a battery pack and plug adapter for the car for mobile pumping. It worked well for me and I feel like most people end up getting this or the Spectra.
- Medela Manual pump- I recommend getting a manual pump as well. They're pretty cheap, easy to take with you and good in a pinch. I also used it to switch things up a bit. I felt like this pump helped me increase supply for a while.
- Haaka- I didn't have one with DD but it comes highly recommended if you're nursing by lots of mamas I know so I'll have one this time. You use it to catch milk on the opposite side from the one you're nursing on. My friend catches an entire oz with each feed and her new LO is 1mo. That a LOT to lose into a nursing pad! Especially if you aren't making enough.
- Willow - take a look at it... I didn't know about it with DD, but will have one this go round. My friend pumped in the car when we were OTW to the beach and I couldn't even hear the pump over the sounds of the road. She put the inserts in her bra and that was it. My mind was blown!
- Hospital Grade Pumps- I'm not sure if this is a thing, but, if by some chance, your insurance covers this, I highly recommend getting it and just buying a more portable option out of pocket. I swear, I had SO much more output when I used the hospital grade Medela at the LC's office and when DD was admitted to the hospital at 3mo. If they weren't a gazillion dollars, I'd totally pay out of pocket for one. They're amazing.
AccessoriesI also got the Medela PISA through insurance for free (I paid a small upgrade fee for the backpack carrier which was great since it contained the pump and the cooler easily and had space for other shit like flanges, power cord, nipple cream, pumping bra, etc). Maybe a month or so after going back to work I decided to get a Spectra S2 so that I had one for home and one for work since I was pumping every night before bed, and sometimes would at other times to boost my supply. I found I got a slightly better output from the Spectra, but not enough to make me really prefer one over the other. Spectra is definitely quieter than the PISA.
YES to the hakaa - as @blaf322 and @mrsdrez said, it's helpful in those early weeks/months when you leak from the non-nursing side like crazy and if you aren't capturing it in something, it's just going into the nursing pad.
And agree with @blaf322 that if you're going to be pumping at work or ever on the go, the battery pack and car adapter are a must. AND yes it's good to have a manual pump. I think I have the medela one and the times I had to use it it was good.
If you plan to breastfeed and/or pump, it's good to invest in a good hands-free bra. The basic one is the Simple Wishes one you can order on amazon (I have two - one for work, one for home, because you never want to set up and realize you forgot your bra and have to hold the damn flanges on your boobs the whole time). The Kindred Bravely all in one nursing/pumping bra gets rave reviews so I may invest in that. Their stuff is not cheap but sometimes it's nice to treat yo self to something good quality and soft and comfy.
also, I had a pumping bra and hated it. I figured out I could just rest the pump in my normal bra and it worked just fine, although I haven’t heard of it working for most people, I think it’s worth giving a try if you also hate the pumping bra.
DD2 I got the medela sonata. It was partially covered by insurance but I had to pay a little extra. It’s modeled after their hospital grade pump, so had preprogrammed cycles. It also is battery charged, which was great and I could easily pump in the car. It also is Bluetooth connected, so an app saved my pump times and I just inputted the amount.
I also recommend the haaka! I would easily get an extra ounce or two. Just a heads up though because it suctions on to you it can increase your supply because it is considered a pump. They have other ones that simply catch let down and don’t suction.
Also, when you’re in the hospital if you mention you want to pump they may give you a handheld pump. I had to pump with DD2 right away and they gave me one to take home
Does anyone know anything about this pump? It's new-ish, so I doubt anyone has any personal experience, but it has me intrigued. My sister actually has it but hasn't used it much yet to really have an opinion. Anyone have friends who have used it? Link and pic in spoiler.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07NJQYCXM?colid=3MG17AO2AFN3S&coliid=IVXVTX654GZ0H&ref=br_ADD_TO_CART_title_link
Baby Bella Pump
Hygeia Q - really liked this one, got it free through my insurance. It had slightly fewer features than the Enjoye, which I think is the only one available now.
Pros: separate suction strength and speed and 100% customizable (unlike Spectra who locks out one of their settings for "massage mode") - biggest pro IMO; duckbill valves instead of the flimsy, easy to lose membranes; Medela parts will work with it; closed system so milk can't get anywhere inside and can "safely" be passed on to someone else (I don't know how often this is actually an issue with non-closed system pumps, but it's nice to know); the Enjoye is cordless but my Q wasn't so I don't know how well it does.
Cons: Hygeia parts aren't in stores, so you have to order them if you need to replace something (or swap out with Medela parts); not all bottles are compatible - I only ever pumped into the Hygeia bottles then froze the milk or transferred maybe 1 bottle's worth into a "drinking" bottle, but depending on your style it might matter
Spectra S2 - also really liked this one
Pros: quiet; separate suction strength and speed; duckbill valves
Cons: not cordless if that matters to you; some people don't like the "massage" feature that's supposed to help with letdown
Medela manual pump - nice to have on hand if I forgot to bring my pump to/from work. I kept the manual pump at the opposite place from where I forgot it sometimes (I cannot for the life of me remember if that was home or work). Also good if I just needed to pump one side or just didn't feel like setting up the electric pump. Also really handy if you're going out/away and you don't want to bring an electric pump for some reason. I used it quite a bit with DD2 because later on (maybe after the first year) I'd only need to pump one side before bed on work days and it wasn't worth dealing with the whole big contraption
Accessories and/or tips:
PUMPIN PALS FLANGES - these were way more comfortable than the basic flanges that came with the pumps. With the Hygeia, it said they weren't compatible but I just yanked the Hygeia ones out of the adaptor part and these fit in perfectly. With the Spectra, they needed an extra adaptor thing from Pumpin Pals and I never bothered to get it and ended up not using them except with the manual pump. I do prefer them strongly over the regular flanges.
Pumping bra - get one if you're ever going to pump both sides at once. It's not any fun to try to hold everything in place and get the machine going and get things adjusted and not spill any of the milk when you're done.
Duckbill valves - you can buy these and use them with Medela pumps. They're easier to wash than the little membranes that are standard, and they're easier to use, last longer, and are way harder to lose.
+1 to just rinsing and putting parts in the fridge between uses, but as a side note, that's officially NOT recommended by the AAP or some other big organization. If you pump a lot, it might also be helpful to get multiple sets of parts if you can.
Expecting again -- EDD 7/27/20
There are willow pump groups on FB so you could prob look through videos to see if you can hear... that said, from what I’ve heard, it’ll be a little louder when it first starts up but once it’s going, it’s super quiet.
and it’ll definitely stay in your bra.
I have my friend’s old one and can give you feedback on it once I’m pumping, if you still need it