I am expecting twins in Feb. I was wanting to get a breastpump, just not sure what kind or to much about them. I used a manuel one with my daughter. I want something good I can use for about a year. I am going to try to feed them both from me but I am sure its going to eventually get hard at times and will want the help from my husband on the feeding. I know this time I want an electric one. Nothing to costly, I do know just by shopping around thats going to be hard to find.
I rented a Medela from a medical supply store for $10/month. I bought the new tubing and bottles (everything that actually touches you and the baby) for about $20 at the same store.
I used the medela pump in style after I went back to work. I think it worked well and was well worth the investment. Lactation consultants are a good resource to advise you on the options that are out there. D.
Medela Pumps are the best! I got mine for free with insurance. You can find them for cheap on craigslist too. I had a $400 dollar one used it for about 2mos. it was in excellant new condition and I sold mine for $75 bucks so you can get a deal. Aslong as you use new pieces and tubing I don't think there is anything wrong with a used pump.
I breast feed my twins. Since I had twins the hospital recomended a high grade dubble electric pump. Since the hospital recomended it I was able to get it through a medical supply store (rental) and it was covered by our insurance. It's something to look into.
Good luck!!!
I agree go with Medela. I got one for our 3rd child, after having single pumps with my first two. It was well worth the money after having nursing/nipple issues after birth...I got the Freestyle, it is a newer model...the nice thing is that the motor is programmable and it can attach to a belt, so if you want to pump and move you could..As it has a rechargeable battery so it doesn't have to be plugged it. So worth the extra for it.
Get the Medela Pump in Style. You won't regret it. It's the best. It's a dual one, so you can do two breasts at one time. Then get one of those tube top pump holders so you can do it hands free. It holds the cups to your breasts for you so you have your hands free to read or to adjust the dials and the on/off switch. You may think that sounds silly now but when you are trying to hold both cups to your breasts and need to turn it off and on, you run out of hands and it gets pretty tricky. The tube top is invaluable. Esp. since you will be having to pump quite a bit in the beginning if they are in the NICU.
You can read about it here:
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1754606/easy_exp...
And you can buy one here:
http://www.diapers.com/Product/ProductDetail.aspx?product...
That is the place that I found them to be the least expensive but you may be able to hunt a bit and get one cheaper.
Congrats on your twins and best of luck!
Check with your insurance company often times they will pay for all of or part of a nice pump. I used the Medela pump in style advance.
dont try to pump until at least one month so that supply is established and the nursing relationship is well grounded. it takes some getting used to both for babies and for you. also, pumping never stimulates milk like nursing, so when possible do that first, especially in the first year or whatever. ...
otherwise, call your insurance company or whatever you have.. see if they help supply breastpumps. the insurance i had when i had my son FULLY COVERED a medela pump in style (300$!!) and its pretty awesome. :D
otherwise, maybe you could find that pump somewhere used? it sounds gross, but really, milk doesnt get into the main plumbing, you could buy new bottles or whatever you want to do there, but the breast parts can be boiled to clean and all that , so contamination might not be an issue, i dont know. otherwise i dont know much about them myself.
always when pumping, massage all parts of your breast, from all the way to your collarbone to under your arm... any breast tissue. this will help ensure that you get hindmilk when pumping. its hard to do - if babies arent getting enough hindmilk, then they will have runny green diarhea like poop and they will be very gassy and spit up a lot. so just keep working at it. its really hard to pump, so much more than just nursing, so if and when you can just nurse. :D
good luck
the la leche league might have a LOT of great information for you. find a local or nearby group!
Congrat on having twins, we had twins in April! Our insurance company covered my Medela pump. I use it all the time. It was really hard getting them to latch on and take enough from me so I just pump and give it to them in a bottle. I hope you can master breastfeeding them together!
I agree with everyone else- the Medela pump is wonderful!! I pumped for 6 mths straight (had trouble nursing, so had to pump) and had no problems at all. The company is fantastic too. They answer your questions and really back their products.
Check with your hospital. I got my double pump for $100 less than retail and could pay with flex plan! We bought it at discharge.
I had the medela and though highly recommended it burnt out for me. I also have twins and I was producing a tremendous amount of milk w/each pump. I consulted the lactation consultant at Ridgeview hospital in Waconia and got an 'industrial' grade pump - it saved my life. Pumping time was cut in half. You rent it (as well as all the parts) a bit more expensive but so worth it. Not sure if you work out of the home - it will be a life saver if you do. I also saw someone mentioned the breast pump bra - an ABSOLUTE must if you go with the Medela as the suction isn't as strong as the hospital pump. I didn't need it after I switched pumps b/c the suction was so much stronger that they stayed on by themselves. Also this may be too much information but I didn't know until I met w/ the consultant that they had different size pump attachments for different sized nipples. The ones sold w/ the Medela are for smaller breasts/nipples if you have larger breasts or aureoles (sp?) you will need a larger size . Good luck!
Hello! I nursed my twins (now 27 months) for 2 years. It was an awesome experience! I am a working mom, and had to go back to work when they were 3 months old. Nothing, nothing, nothing beats the Medela pump-in-style electric breast pumps - in price, quality, etc. I had a problem one time with my pump, and they sent me the part I needed by express overnight mail with no hassle at all! I think they run about $150-200, I can't quite remember. WORTH IT! you do NOT want to be using a manual pump for a twin milk supply, unless it is going to be a very rare thing. ps. I paired Avent bottles and milk storage etc. with my Medela pump, as I am not a huge fan of the medela bottles. I just poured the milk from the medela bottles I collected into, right into the avent bottles and storage system that I preferred. Hope this helps!
I have the Medela pump in style. It is great. I also bought a nursing bra from la leche league on Amazon, for hands free pumping. That bra saved my life. It is a great addition to a wonderful pump. If you are an on the go mom the medela pumps also have a car adaptor (sold separate)
Hope this helps.
Medela! Check with your insurance company - sometimes if you have a Doctor's order it will pick up part of the cost. It will definitely be worth the $!
I also used the Medela pump in style. Get either bras or the garment they sell so that you can do hands free-- it really helps!
Check to see if your insurance will cover it -- a lot of them do. Good luck:)
Not trying to pry, but if you qualify for the WIC program (not sure what's involved) they will give you a Medela electric double pump for free. It's a $200+ pump so I think it's more than worth it!
