All About Pumps
I would say that pumps are prooobably in the top five questions, maybe even top three, that I get asked by expecting families so if this has been on your mind then know you are in very good company. But if this hasn’t crossed your mind, you are not behind! I am very happy to hear that because hopefully that means you’re relaxed and taking it easy and not thinking about anything beyond just enjoying the moment.
Before I start, let’s just go over some terms and why I use them. I use bodyfeeding to mean breastfeeding and is an all-encompassing term that essentially means an infant is directly feeding from someone’s body. I use the term bodymilk or human milk to talk about milk that comes from someone’s body. And when I say ‘bottlefeeding’ I mean any kind of feeding that isn’t bodyfeeding so from a baby bottle, cup feeding, syringe feeding, and that could be with bodymilk or formula milk. The contents of the bottle don’t matter because it’s the mode of feeding that we’re focusing on.
Okay, so, pumps! Before I get into it, let me first talk about why we pump.
We pump if a. we are separated from the baby and ergo can’t directly feed them from our body, b. can’t feed directly from the body due to pain, difficulties, limitations, challenges, etc. or c. straight up don’t want to feed them from our body, no reason needed, just don’t want to but still want them to get bodymilk.
In another video I talk all about the logistics of pumping so consider this part one of a two-part series, so let’s stick to the machinery today and talk about the operation later.
There are two kinds of pumps, manual and electric.
Manual pumps pretty much come in this one variety, and they’re awesome. They’re my number one recommendation actually because I think electric pumps are a pretty big investment and a gamble on if we even use them and we already know I’m a minimalist so I like this best. They’re operated by hand and can get out lots of milk very effectively but of course require a bit of manual labour and unless you have two, you’re doing one side at a time.
An electric pump doesn’t require any manual labour because the lil motor does all the work that a hand is doing in the manual category. Electric pumps come in many varieties and are produced by many different brands. In general, however, there are: single pumps or double pumps, hospital-grade pumps and non-hospital grade pumps, pumps that collect milk into ‘cups’ and pumps that collect milk into bottles. So with each category I just mentioned, let’s go one by one. Single electric pumps will only be able to get milk out of one side at a time, whereas the double can do both sides at once. Most folks I know will get a double pump, and if they buy a single pump they end up getting a double anyway if they do a lot of pumping or pump exclusively because they can save so much more time. The next category is an important one because it opens the discussion of quality of motor with hospital-grade and non-hospital-grade – hospital-grade pumps are designed to help stimulate supply and non-hospital-grade pumps are designed to just pull out whatever milk is there. So if feeding is challenging and baby is having a hard time latching but supply *is* there, then something like the Medela Freestyle would be great because that’s keeping the supply at demand by emptying the body but isn’t stimulating supply because we don’t need that and that can sometimes cause additional challenges. Let’s say however supply is lower than what baby is needing for intake, then getting a hospital-grade pump is the move because that will help create more supply which baby is saying that they need. and hopefully also improve bodyfeeding too if that is the goal. Examples of hospital-grade pumps are the Medela Symphony, Medela Pump In Style, or Willow. (Example – baby refuses to latch on the body so they’re being bottlefed. Janalee pumps 3oz out every time the baby needs a bottle, and the baby only feeds 1.5-2.5oz per feed. This is great because the supply will be there for baby if/when we have them latch again, but I don’t want to be making a lot more than 3oz because that kind of flow and supply can overwhelm baby and make it harder for them to latch so my non hospital-grade pump would work). (Same example – baby refuses to latch on the body so they’re being bottlefed. Janalee pumps .5oz every time the baby needs a bottle, and the baby feeds 1.5-2.5oz so we’re supplementing with formula. Because I need more supply if I want to give them bodymilk either directly or through the bottle, so a hospital-grade pump is necessary).
Okay so which pump to buy!
So before that, options in general if you’re thinking about buying a pump include a. buying an electric pump now, b. buying a handpump now and waiting to see if you need an electric pump, or c. buying neither and seeing what you need.
So the answer? I’m not sure there is ONE, but here are some thoughts.
I’m still not sure I can tell you which one is best but I believe in you and your intuition and I’m sure it’ll be perfect and if there is a way that I can help then please message me and we can chat more. I’m not sure if this video answered your specific question of which pump is best, but here we are. It’s at least food for thought that you can marinate and chew on and message me about ;)
Please be sure to watch part two of the pumping video whenever you’re ready too because that also might clear up a couple of questions that you might have. And seriously. Message me.
https://torontobreastpumprental.ca/products/medela-symphony-hospital-grade-breast-pump-rental-95-month
I would say that pumps are prooobably in the top five questions, maybe even top three, that I get asked by expecting families so if this has been on your mind then know you are in very good company. But if this hasn’t crossed your mind, you are not behind! I am very happy to hear that because hopefully that means you’re relaxed and taking it easy and not thinking about anything beyond just enjoying the moment.
Before I start, let’s just go over some terms and why I use them. I use bodyfeeding to mean breastfeeding and is an all-encompassing term that essentially means an infant is directly feeding from someone’s body. I use the term bodymilk or human milk to talk about milk that comes from someone’s body. And when I say ‘bottlefeeding’ I mean any kind of feeding that isn’t bodyfeeding so from a baby bottle, cup feeding, syringe feeding, and that could be with bodymilk or formula milk. The contents of the bottle don’t matter because it’s the mode of feeding that we’re focusing on.
Okay, so, pumps! Before I get into it, let me first talk about why we pump.
We pump if a. we are separated from the baby and ergo can’t directly feed them from our body, b. can’t feed directly from the body due to pain, difficulties, limitations, challenges, etc. or c. straight up don’t want to feed them from our body, no reason needed, just don’t want to but still want them to get bodymilk.
In another video I talk all about the logistics of pumping so consider this part one of a two-part series, so let’s stick to the machinery today and talk about the operation later.
There are two kinds of pumps, manual and electric.
Manual pumps pretty much come in this one variety, and they’re awesome. They’re my number one recommendation actually because I think electric pumps are a pretty big investment and a gamble on if we even use them and we already know I’m a minimalist so I like this best. They’re operated by hand and can get out lots of milk very effectively but of course require a bit of manual labour and unless you have two, you’re doing one side at a time.
An electric pump doesn’t require any manual labour because the lil motor does all the work that a hand is doing in the manual category. Electric pumps come in many varieties and are produced by many different brands. In general, however, there are: single pumps or double pumps, hospital-grade pumps and non-hospital grade pumps, pumps that collect milk into ‘cups’ and pumps that collect milk into bottles. So with each category I just mentioned, let’s go one by one. Single electric pumps will only be able to get milk out of one side at a time, whereas the double can do both sides at once. Most folks I know will get a double pump, and if they buy a single pump they end up getting a double anyway if they do a lot of pumping or pump exclusively because they can save so much more time. The next category is an important one because it opens the discussion of quality of motor with hospital-grade and non-hospital-grade – hospital-grade pumps are designed to help stimulate supply and non-hospital-grade pumps are designed to just pull out whatever milk is there. So if feeding is challenging and baby is having a hard time latching but supply *is* there, then something like the Medela Freestyle would be great because that’s keeping the supply at demand by emptying the body but isn’t stimulating supply because we don’t need that and that can sometimes cause additional challenges. Let’s say however supply is lower than what baby is needing for intake, then getting a hospital-grade pump is the move because that will help create more supply which baby is saying that they need. and hopefully also improve bodyfeeding too if that is the goal. Examples of hospital-grade pumps are the Medela Symphony, Medela Pump In Style, or Willow. (Example – baby refuses to latch on the body so they’re being bottlefed. Janalee pumps 3oz out every time the baby needs a bottle, and the baby only feeds 1.5-2.5oz per feed. This is great because the supply will be there for baby if/when we have them latch again, but I don’t want to be making a lot more than 3oz because that kind of flow and supply can overwhelm baby and make it harder for them to latch so my non hospital-grade pump would work). (Same example – baby refuses to latch on the body so they’re being bottlefed. Janalee pumps .5oz every time the baby needs a bottle, and the baby feeds 1.5-2.5oz so we’re supplementing with formula. Because I need more supply if I want to give them bodymilk either directly or through the bottle, so a hospital-grade pump is necessary).
Okay so which pump to buy!
So before that, options in general if you’re thinking about buying a pump include a. buying an electric pump now, b. buying a handpump now and waiting to see if you need an electric pump, or c. buying neither and seeing what you need.
So the answer? I’m not sure there is ONE, but here are some thoughts.
- Unless you know 100% that you will need and want to pump in the first week, I recommend waiting to get a pump. It’s a large investment to make before even seeing how feeding is going – and the amount of clients I have who buy a pump and never use it or who get the wrong kind of pump for their situation is pretty huge. I recommend seeing what’s up with feeding, seeing how you’re feeling, and then ordering. Pumps can come very very quickly and if you are ordering something fancy like the Spectra or Elvie, you can always rent a hospital-grade pump in the interim.
- Even if you know you will be pumping at 6 months or 9 months because you’re going back to work, I still recommend waiting. That time of feeding will give you an idea of what kind of pump you want or need, increasing the likelihood of not only getting the right pump but also actually using it (for example, some people don’t enjoy bodyfeeding and want to move to formula at 6 months even though they thought they would be pumping – going off of truth and reality is always a better method of purchasing than guessing and projecting)
- On the flip side, have you heard amazing things about the XYZ pump because all of your friends have loved it? Buy it! YOLO. You don’t need anyone’s permission. I support you.
- Or your insurance covers it and you want to buy one just to have it, buy it! Go Coco. I support you endlessly.
- Still want my opinion? In general, my number one recommendation is a hand pump. My number two recommendation is to wait. And my number three recommendation is a double electric hospital-grade pump.
I’m still not sure I can tell you which one is best but I believe in you and your intuition and I’m sure it’ll be perfect and if there is a way that I can help then please message me and we can chat more. I’m not sure if this video answered your specific question of which pump is best, but here we are. It’s at least food for thought that you can marinate and chew on and message me about ;)
Please be sure to watch part two of the pumping video whenever you’re ready too because that also might clear up a couple of questions that you might have. And seriously. Message me.
https://torontobreastpumprental.ca/products/medela-symphony-hospital-grade-breast-pump-rental-95-month