Nursing & Pumping Gear FAQ & Reviews
For anyone who finds this post via google or another search, as of this writing, my son is 8.5 months old. He’s been about 95% breastmilk fed (not counting solid foods), and I’ve been pumping since I went back to work when he was 9 weeks old.
And based on all that, here are my opinions about nursing and pumping gear. They are my personal opinions, not based in any science, education, or official anything. I am not a lactation consultant or any other kind of medical professional. I’m an opinionated mom.
By the way, if you found this helpful, it would be great if you clicked through here to order it from Amazon or to put it on your Amazon.com Baby Registry. I get a teeny cut if you do, and quite frankly, our budget could really use the help.
Here’s a purty link to make it even easier:
Things You’ll Need — Or Not — Immediately When You Get Home From The Hospital
A nursing pillow
I recommend the My Brest Friend
Why?
The My Brest Friend
The Boppy wins on cuteness and also on the texture of the cover
These are critical if you are going to nurse. Critical!!! At least for the first couple of weeks.
Get at least 2 packages, and keep them somewhere cool when you aren’t using them. I wasn’t quite brave enough to put them in the fridge, but I thought about it. They will make you feel like you can stand the idea of putting that squirming tiny human vacuum on your breast again without an epidural to the boob.
Lanolin
For use with the comfort gels, if you can stand to touch your nipples. And for use for awhile after your comfort gels have dried up and your nipples are still tender, but not as bad as before. If you still can’t stand to touch your nipples, squeeze some lanolin on a disposable breast pad. But be careful, the lanolin stains worse than olive oil.
Don’t buy the lanolin
Nursing bra
Just get 1 or maybe 2 before you have the baby, because your body will keep changing. Go with a sports bra style. If you’re well endowed, get the super-industrial-strength kind.
Updated to add: Remember how when you were pregnant, you kept having to get new bras and other clothes because you kept growing and changing shape? Well, it’s still like that, only in reverse. So remember that all your new bras are temporary, and buy as few as you think you can live with at any one time.
That said, I Heart My Lactation Consulting Office. They don’t charge for consulting, they charge for gear and bras, and they have saved my boobular life.
Almost 10 months after Noah was born, I’m finally back in a normal looking bra, not just sports bras. I’ve shrunk 4″ around since the last time I got a new bra, maybe a month after the baby was born. I’d forgotten what support was like.
Do yourself a favor and every few months, go invest in a new nursing bra. You’ll be glad you did.
Disposable Breast Pads
I kind of can’t believe I recommend these. I hate those thick padded bras that stand up on their own volition, and these are like extremely soft disposable pad versions of those. But judging from the bra section of every department store and V.S. in the United States, most of you don’t share my hatred.
That said, disposable nursing pads
Things You Will Need Before/When You Go Back to Work
Breast Pump
I have tried the following pumps: Medela Pump In Style
Hospital Grade Rental Pumps
If money is no object, or you know that you’ll only be pumping for a couple of months and you don’t have to move the pump from place to place, the hospital grade rental pumps are absolutely the best.
They are more gentle than the kind you buy, and are very efficient at getting the milk out quickly. In Atlanta, these rent for approximately $50/month.
Unfortunately, you can’t afford to buy one. On eBay, the last Medela Classic I saw was starting bid at $850 refurbished. It is largely unavailable, having been replaced by the Lactina, which I haven’t tried, but which eBay currently lists for ~$550. The Ameda hospital pump is also wonderful. I wish I could keep it forever.
Electric Pumps
The Pump in Style is probably the most widely used. I like it the least, but to be fair, I’ve only used older models. It may be more gentle/adjustable by now — they have made changes. It is quiet, portable, and they have a lot of customizable stuff you can get (larger or smaller breast shields, for example). It comes with 5 oz collection bottles — unlike all the others.
The Purely Yours is smaller, lighter, and louder than the PIS, but also more gentle, and I thought it was easier to set up and pack up. The Purely Yours is also the only one that the FDA approved for something or other, because the way it’s designed, the milk cannot backup into the machinery. I thought it was slightly slower than the Pump In Style. It comes with 4 oz collection bottles.
One other interesting feature that is unique to the Purely Yours pumps — built-in bottle holders for when you’re wrapping up.
It seems silly, but when you are un-attaching yourself from the pump, trying to manage lids, re-fasten your nursing bra, figure out if you pumped enough to justify 2 bottles or should consolidate into one, not lose or drop on the floor any pump parts, avoid dripping milk on your clothes…it’s reassuring to know that you probably aren’t going to knock over a hard-won bottle of milk in the process.
Also, the Purely Yours has been the pump of choice of every doctor mom with whom I’ve ever discussed pumping or breastfeeding. I inherited my Purely Yours from a doctor mom.
Avent Isis Iq Uno is the only single-breast pump that I have used. Obviously, it’s slower to do one side at a time than both sides at once. But I assume that the Iq Duo feels like the Uno, but on both breasts at the same time.
The Isis Iq Uno is the smallest and most portable that I’ve tried. It came with a manual attachment that is almost as fast and I think is more efficient at getting the milk out, than the electric version. It comes with battery and electrical outlet attachments. It isn’t that quiet, but it is very gentle, the gentlest non-hospital grade pump I’ve tried.
The Isis does require you to use Avent bottles
Noah was fine with generic bottles, so I only use the handful of avents we have for pumping. This is actually a pain in the ass. Pumping directly into the bottles you’re feeding the baby is MUCH easier than transferring the milk from container to container.
For my full Whisper Wear review, go here. In a nutshell, they are loud, make you look weird, and are hard to clean.
If I were starting over and were going to purchase a pump that I expected to use while working full time, I would buy a new Ameda Purely Yours. (And like Carrie, I’d look for it new on eBay.)
If you’re trying to buy a pump on the cheap, skip buying the fancy backpack/totebag. Ameda lets you buy the pump and pumping gear separately, as well as in a package with a built-in-cooler and other gear-storage backpack or tote.
Containers for Storing the Milk
If you are using any of these pumps other than the Avent, I recommend getting a bunch of 4 oz bottles.
We bought 2 packages from Mothers Milk Mate, including their freezer storage unit thingy. I like them, both because it’s easy to go from pump to fridge or freezer to baby, AND because it feels a lot less wasteful and un-environmental than the single-use bags for day to day use.
Also, 1 pk of 25 bags is $6-10, which you wind up using up in less than 2 weeks. For twice the money upfront, you get 6 bottles that you can use over and over, and for about $22, you can get 10 bottles and a storage thingy you can use over and over. You still need some bags, for backup, for travel, for when you unexpectedly pump more volume than the bottles.
I recommend the Lansinoh bags, they seem tougher and less likely to leak than the others I’ve seen. I tried one with some twist-tie close, which seems bizarre and pointless to me.
One caution, though. Although the Lansinoh bags sort-of stand up when partly filled, they are NOT stable that way. Seal them right away. Learn from my loss of 4 oz all over a carpet at work.
Opinions vary about pumping & lubrication. My neighbor swore by olive oil; others swear by lanolin. I found that more lubrication was actually more uncomfortable for me — too much tissue got involved in the suction action of the pump. I recommend lanolin or something after you pump instead. If you do want to use something while pumping, check with your doctor unless you pick lanolin. You know you don’t want anything with peanut oil!!!
Where to Buy
In the comments below, Carrie makes a great suggestion about getting a pump from a medical supply ebay store. I inherited 3 of the pumps I used, with no problems. Officially, all the pump manufacturers tell you not to share or buy used, because there is some risk of transmitting certain diseases.
If you do buy used, or get a pump from a friend, it is a good idea to replace the plastic bits that actually have contact with your milk. Tons of places sell replacement parts online, as do some lactation consultancies at hospitals.
Another good place for gear are the giant multi-family rummage sales that many schools and large churches organize on an annual or semi-annual basis. I picked up a used Whisper Wear pump for $40, which I’m working on cleaning and replacing the plastic parts for. There are also always tons of bottles, crib bumpers, slings/bjorns, strollers, baby gyms, and approximately 500,000 boppies.
Consignment stores for kids and maternity gear are also a good bet, and will have cleaner gear than the rummage sales, but they probably won’t have pumps. They also seem to have tons of baby bathtubs in the under $10 range.
October 12th, 2006 at 10:55 pm e Thanks, this is really helpful! I’m pumping only for practice because I have three more months before work. (Yes, you may hate me.) I was struggling with the storage system, and those bottles look perfect. I do have one box of bags, but have sanitation concerns about dumping from pump bottle to storage bag to feeding bottle. But what kind of nipple do you use with the Mothers Mate bottles? I have one Avent bottle, with nipples, and am not sure if it would fit on those bottle necks. (Getting him to drink from the bottle is another story; waited too long. We might be going straight to cup.)At four months, I still need the pads. I don’t think I’ll ever stop leaking. Playtex bras seem to work well. The Motherhood Maternity one worked during pregnancy, but is awkward support-wise after.I use the PIS, which I got about $70 off from a medical supply company on eBay. I find I can turn it all the way up with no pain. That’s probably because I’ve never really had any pain with nursing from the beginning — except when he decides to look around the room and yanks his head back with gums still clenched. In general I’ve found it always relaxing and not painful. Then again, I did pop out a nine-pound boy like he was a Pez. I might have faulty pain receptors.
October 13th, 2006 at 2:22 pm e Great list! It would be so helpful for any new mom.This will be another TMI thing–I leaked so much that I finally started holding a bottle under the other breast while I was nursing. Honestly, in one feeding, I could fill a bottle, no pumping and no worries about leaking all over. At night, I would keep a bottle in a refrigerated bag next to my bed w/ an ice pack in it and use that. People gave me a hard time but I always had bottles of milk w/out pumping!
October 15th, 2006 at 8:37 am e The Milk Mate bottles take “regular” nipples. We’re using the gerber silicone ones from the grocery store.
October 15th, 2006 at 11:16 am e Speaking from the “well-endowed” front: one of the most useful products I found after I delivered was the sleeping bra from Motherhood Nursing. I needed something to keep the nursing pad in place while I “slept.” I love the bra so much that I wear it now, months after I stopped leaking and nursing.
Also, I second your recommendation for the Medela nursing pads–so much thinner and far more discrete than any of the other brands. It was one of the few items I was totally brand-loyal with.When nursing, I drank so much water that we just went ahead and got a water cooler for our house. It was cheaper than buying cases and cases of bottled water. One day? I drank 2.5 gallons of water!
What a great list, Liza.
October 15th, 2006 at 3:27 pm e Lizzy, GREAT point about the amount you will drink while nursing. I’d say I still average around 125-150 oz/day. People should stock up on their favorite beverages — both pregnant favs and pre-preg faves, and also on large glasses.The hospital gave us giant insulated mugs, but IMO, those are only good if you drink straight water. We mildewed ours (ick!) by mixing with 25% apple juice.And Carrie, if you like the Avent bottles, they do sell a kit to convert the PIS pump-fittings to pump into the Avent bottles. My average pumping produces 3-6 oz total, so I find the 4 oz MMM bottles more useful in general.The big 9 oz Avent bottles only made sense for when I was traveling knew I might be going extra-long between pumpings. (And indeed, I twice pumped 8+ oz in one sitting.)
October 15th, 2006 at 3:50 pm e Oh yeah, and Jean, you are a lucky duck!
October 16th, 2006 at 12:13 am e I LOVE the open mouth kissing! It just cracks me up! Welcome home…
October 16th, 2006 at 1:45 am e Absolutely agree with you about the Ameda PY. Great pump and less expensive than the Medela PIS to boot.