Best breast pump for twins?
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Anonymous
| I'm having twins, so I need a double breast pump, right? My insurance covers Ameda Purely Yours, Medela Pump in Style, or Hygeia Q Pump. Can anyone help me choose from these, or suggest better ones? |
Anonymous
| Why would it be any different from pumping for a single baby? |
Anonymous
| No experience with the Hygeia, but PIS>>>PY. I wish my insurance covered the PIS but I got a PY which I never use because a 5yo handmedown medela is stronger. |
Anonymous
| OP here, thanks for the suggestion! As I am a FTM I actually have no idea if pumping for twins is different than pumping for a single baby. I just expect that for two babies I'll need to pump a ton of milk. |
Anonymous
IT's not. They all pump both boobs. |
Anonymous
| If your twin come early (which most do) you can get a hospital grade rental that's what you really need for twins. |
Anonymous
|
My sister rented the hospital grade pump for her twins. She breast fed about 80% of their feeding the first 6 months. Trying to keep up with them both was intense. But during that time she banked a bunch of milk, so even with the formula they still got lots of breast milk. Probably through month 7.
I think the big thing for her was getting fitted with an expensive pumping bra, so she could pump hands free. |
Anonymous
| Anyone who plans to pump regularly needs a double electric. The only difference between twins and a singleton is how much milk your body has to make. Most people I know with twins used a hospital-grade pump, with a personal pump just for travel/backup. |
Anonymous
| Get a hospital-grade pump for sure. I use mine whenever I'm near a plug. I have a Medela Freestyle that I use when I'm not near a plug. |
Anonymous
| Yeah, friend with twins says the best thing was her double electric. They never properly latched but she still exclusively breast fed them I think 8-9 months...Her twins were a few weeks early and she loved loved loved the hospital grade she was given. |
Anonymous
Twin mom here - If you haven't joined a club for parents of twins, I strongly recommend you join one. I'm a member of NVPOM (www.NVPOM.com) and always get awesome advice from the over 500 family members. Parents of singletons always assume answers for twins are the same as one baby but trust me they aren't. Pumping for twins = you'll need the same equipment but you'll need to be super dilegent to EBF. I pumped every three hours round the clock for the first four months (kids were 6 weeks early). Get or rent the very best pump you can ...you'll be spending a lot of time with it!  Good luck!
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Anonymous
| OP here, thank you all so much for these great tips. I'm thinking I'll take the Pump In Style from Aetna b/c it's free and use that for travel and splurge on a hospital grade pump as my main go-to. I have heard of NVPOM but haven't joined yet--but I definitely will! |
Anonymous
| You need the hospital grade pump for the first few months at least if you want to establish enough supply to nurse twins, especially if either or both have trouble latching at first. One of my twins didn't latch well for 10 weeks, but I was pumping with the hospital pump and nursing the other and was able to EBF both of them to 15 months. Going to the Medela PIS after the hospital pump was a BIG step down! |
Anonymous
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Twins mom here. I had PIS but rented hospital-grade.......huge ddifference. Highly recommend hospital-grade. I pretty much pumped exclusively for a year.
Congratulations. |
Anonymous
| You might be able to get a hospital grade pump covered as durable medical equipment. Call your insurance and see what you need for that. Definitely worth it if you plan to pump a lot. You can resell it or donate it |