Well, I've been trying to decide whether or not to treat myself to a brand new breast pump before our new baby is born in November but I just can't make up my mind! Initially I was thinking I'd like to try a double pump as I always had a bit of an oversupply issue. However, upon further thinking about it, I remembered that the method that I found best when expressing was to feed the baby on one side whilst expressing on the other. For me, this meant I expressed two or three times as much milk as just expressing on its own and furthermore this method was especially beneficial during horrible bouts of engorgement or when I suffered mastitis.
So then I started thinking that maybe the Medela Swing Pump would suit me better as apparently it's much quieter than the Medela Mini Electric Pump that I used previously. Although it was a great little pump, it was incredibly loud and despite the fact that I only ever used it at home or in the privacy of a hotel room on the occasional night away, it wasn't the most relaxing experience in the world. Think of a cow in a dairy and that's a bit how I felt!
On the plus side however, aside from the noise, the Medela Mini Electric Breast Pump worked well for me and having already purchased a few new Medela bottles and a fancy new teat which mimics breastfeeding, I'm actually tempted to just save the money and put up with the noise again. I've also discovered that there's a softfit breastshield available for the breastpump meaning I could replace the old hard plastic breastshield that came with my original pump. In effect, for the price of a new breastshield and some new valves and membranes my old pump would look pretty new anyway.
So, this is where I'd love your opinions. Have you any breast pump experiences you'd like to share? Should I take the leap and get a new Medela Swing and forget about my old pump, should I pimp my old pump, or should I just opt for a cheaper alternative all round. Tommee Tippee and Avent, to name just two well respected companies, both sell electric breast pumps which are cheaper than Medela and I'm pretty sure they'd both do a good job...
Let me know what you think!
