Questions & Answers

thanks ladies for all the answers. I will wait on getting a pump, like one of the ladies said, I don't know if I will be able to pump because shortage of milk supply, and pumps are very pricy, I will definitely look more into the manual pump and ask my insurance if they cover it. Thanks again ladies!

Also, check with your insurance company to see if they cover breast pumps. Although I have to wait until baby is born before they will send it out, my insurance (United Healthcare) covers a hospital grade double electric breast pump 100%. This way I don't feel bad spending $300-$400 of my own money on a pump if I don't wind up using it all the time. I have had 2 other kids but never used a breast pump before so this is all new to me :)

First check with your OB/GYN, some haver very nice medela ones you can use/rent. If not, I'd totally wait. Your body may not even produce milk (it happens). You may produce less milk than others. Or you could be like most and make plenty and need one to keep up. But like others have said, if its just for engorment, you can get a cheap manual one to help with that. Either way, I'd totally wait till after the baby is born and your milk comes in to decide what you should do.

Oh, and yes, like looney said, if engorgement is your main concern, the much less expensive manual pump is probably the way to go! You can always upgrade to the electric later if you feel you need it.

A breast pump can be a really useful tool, but you are probably fine with waiting to buy one for a little bit. Most doctors recommend waiting until you have established a good nursing pattern with the baby (about a month of breastfeeding usually) before trying to transition to bottle feeding too. The baby can get nipple confusion if you try to bottle feed too early. This happened to me because my first baby was preterm and couldn't latch very well. We had to feed her from a bottle from the beginning and then she wouldn't eat any other way! As great as a breast pump is for giving you a break now and then and letting someone else feed the baby, it is very inefficient for full-time feeding because you have to pump first and then feed the baby - takes twice as long!

That being said, I know many people who have successfully transitioned to both bottle and breast feeding after a month of exclusive nursing. This is my plan (hopefully it will work) for this next baby!

Get a Medela Harmony manual! SO much better then an electric if you are only getting it to help with engorgement/increasing supply in the initial weeks. It sounds like a pain in the ass, but noooo, electrics are a pain in the ass unless you need it to pump constantly because you work or cannot breastfeed naturally.

The manual is great because you get to manipulate the "suck" and "draw", etc. it's quiet as a mouse, you dont need to be hooked up to a silly outlet, you can easily nurse and pump, watch a movie, and in my experience, i got 2x as much milk out of the manual as i did the pump in style, in HALF the time.

Your husband is right. Why spend $300 on something u might not use or need much? Spend $30 on a manual, and if it doesnt cut it, and u need something more, then splurge.

2x around, and this time, i used my manual 5x to ease engorgement and to strengthen my supply in the first 2 weeks. Havent used it since. I'm glad i didnt buy get another $300

I cant answer your question yet as Im in the same situation! However, I can share what me and DH have decided to do. Im going to wait to buy a breast pump because I am planning on breastfeeding exclusively for the first 3 months and then I want to try expressing some into a bottle to get baby used to feeding from a bottle. I didn't see the point in spending money on a breast pump right now when I wont need it for another few months. However, if the situation occurs where I cant breastfeed for some reason it will just have to be a mad rush around the shops to get what we need for expressing! (lets hope that doesn't happen)
Sorry I cant be of more help hehe! X