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Expectant and Postpartum Moms
When to buy a breast pump?
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Anonymous
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I'm 36 weeks today. I'm trying to buy things as I need them, which has worked out great so far. I have a long maternity leave scheduled (5 months or so) and wasn't planning on buying a pump early on, ffiguring I was just going to use it starting the month before I went back to work.. But now I am wondering if I'll need one around the time of delivery? I do not want to open it (so I can return it if things don't work out).
All suggestions welcome - I'm obviously new at this! |
Anonymous
| I wouldn't buy one now, since you may find that you prefer renting the hospital-grade ones. I rented the hospital grade Medela with our second child, and it was so much better than the pump I owned! |
Anonymous
| I bought a pump right before birth but thought I wouldn't use it right away. I wound up using it within the first two weeks when I started taking my daughter out for walks in the mall and other places. I wasn't comfortable with breastfeeding in public and I needed the bottle to feed her when we were out. I have also found it convenient to pump when going and doing errands. There was a time around 3 weeks old that she wanted to eat every 1 1/2 hours for a period during the day. If I hadn't pumped I wouldn't have been able to go anywhere. |
Anonymous
| I had my big electric pump before DD was born, gift from my in-laws, but I didn't really use it much for several months. Instead, I was more likely to use a cheap hand-pump for a quick pump if I thought I'd need a bottle for DD - leaving her with someone else or going out where I didn't want to BF. It wasn't until I was working enough that DD was getting multiple bottles of expressed milk a day that I used my big pump. |
Anonymous
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I bought one after giving birth. First I rented the hospital grade pump for one week, then I bought the Medela pump at the hospital. It was cheaper at the hospital plus you don't pay tax bc the hospital is a non-profit.
For some women, they just don't pump enough so they end up giving formula. You could rent a pump for a couple weeks and see if your milk is flowing first. |
Anonymous
| Don't worry about this before delivery. You can either rent a pump from the hospital or buy one from them. I rented one for the first month to make sure there weren't any issues with my supply and then I went back to the hospital and purchased one. If you are delivering at Sibley they have wonderful lactation consultants that will help you. Also, they will fit you and sell you nursing bras as well, so don't worry about that before delivery either. |
Anonymous
I had mine before delivery and didnt use it until about 5-6 weeks after. But I was so glad to have it! Its not like you _need_ it before, and you can always run out and buy one after the baby is born. But I would also encourage you to start trying to pump and give a bottle before 4-5 months. Because its best to introduce the bottle early, even just an ounce or two, to get the baby accepting it, between 4-8 weeks old. This is after breastfeeding is presumably established. Also, it can be so nice to have your partner join in the feedings. AND, it was crucial to my sanity to be able to leave the house for more than 2 hours at a time! After 2 months of newborn baby, you will be so happy to leave a bottle or two with DH and say "I am off to get a pedicure" or heck, even "I am off to the grocery store all by myself!" 
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Anonymous
| I would get a manual pump, the medela one is around 35$. That way you can pump if you need to at first but you will not spend a lot of money renting or buying one. If everything works out with breastfeeding you can buy an electric pump. I am 4 months PP and have used the manual pump this whole time, pumping 1x/day now and up to 3-4 if I am away from the baby for the day. I am going back to work ppart time in January so I just purchased an electric pump, medela PIS advanced. I got it at bestbuybaby.com for a lot less than I found it anywhere else. |
Anonymous
| definitely rent a pump and then see what your needs are post- delivery. There are a lot of options out there! |
Anonymous
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OP here - thanks for all of the suggestions. Seems like renting for a week or two while I figure things out is a good solution and then going from there.
Breastfeeding is intimidating to me so I'm hoping that I can get the hang of it and figure out what works for me as I go.
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Anonymous
| I agree with the PPs. Wait until you know what you need. I had supply problems and rented a hospital grade pump for months before giving in and finally buying one. I then tried a friend's hand pump and it worked SO much better than the electric one I bought (and it was a Freestyle, so it wasn't like it was a bad one). I wish I'd never bought it. |
Anonymous
| I had a very different experience. I bought my electric pump before delivery and used it the 3rd day postpartum when my milk came in. I was so engorged and in pain that I used it to express some milk to relieve my pain and so my DS could latch on. I thereafter used it for that purpose until my milk balanced out in accordance with the demand and continually after that to store and freeze extra milk for when I needed a break and a friend's wedding where I knew I needed to have the frozen supply on hand. |
Anonymous
This is exactly what happened to me too. I was soooo glad to have the pump early on. If you are hestitant to make the financial investment in a product that can't be returned, see if a friend will loan you one (if you are comfortable with this) or buy the hand pump. I tell all my friends they can borrow mine (and I'll give them a lesson) for a few weeks till you figure it out. I'm sure I would have ended up with plugged ducts or something terrible had it not been for my mother who took one look at me engorged boobs and said, get that pump out right now! |