Do I need a breast pump?

Question

I'm not working at the moment, although I am looking for a job and I dont know if I will have one at all before or after the baby comes.
I plan to exclusively breastfeed for 6 months.
So do I need a breast pump at all? 
If I do will a cheap brand do, since I wouldn't be using it often?
Manual or electric? 
Best brands?
Worst experience?

Answer

Im a stay at home mom with my son. My insurance provided the pump and its really handy .. i exclusively breast fed my son for 6 months and after that introduced solids but fed him until hes 14 months . Whenever i go out of my house, i pump and took the bottle with me . The breast milk can stay up to 2 to 3 hrs at room temperature so i can feed him while shopping or doing my stuff its easy and comfortable for me .. so it depends on your situation . If you have a whole lot of stuff to do outside your home or wanna take a long nap at night it will be useful

Answer

My friend exclusively breastfeeds but also pumps each morning when supply is highest.   She says pumping helps keep her supply strong.  And she adds the breastmilk to food when they get to that stage.

Answer

It's covered under most insurance ask your Dr's to order you one if it is!!

Answer

I loved having my breast pump because they were so full they were sore even after feedings so as soon as I pumped they instantly felt so much better

Answer

You will probably want one in case you ever have to pump and dump or have to leave the baby somewhere for a few hours. I have one I'll sell you cheap it's a Medela and I've barely used it because I had to stop breastfeeding after four weeks let me know if you're interested.

Answer

I would say yes. I assumed I was going to exclusively breastfeed, and I didn't bother to get a pump before the baby was born. She was always going to be with me at first, why would I need a pump?

But she had such a bad latch in the beginning and nursed so often that my nipples were bleeding before she was 24 hours old. By the time I could obtain a pump and get comfortable using it, the damage was horrendous and we never really recovered. I only breastfed for 6 weeks and I'm still heartbroken about it. It might have made all the difference to have the pump right away, so I could give my body a break before she chewed holes in my boobs.

The other reason is that being able to hand off a feeding to your partner while you take a nap is the most glorious thing ever. Even just a manual or single-electric pump is worth having if a double one is out of your budget.

Answer

If you have a job you can't exclusively breastfeed. You would have to introduce a bottle even if it is pumped milk and not formula. I think the manual pumps are more comfortable than electric, but depending on the job you get you might need the electric for time reasons. Also keep in mind if you only breastfeed for 6 months, you will need to introduce formula until 1 year of age.

Answer

FTM and we're going to get one even though I hope to exclusively breastfeed. We don't know which pump to get though(!) so hoping we'll get some ideas from our prenatal lactation class later this month. We also found out that we can rent the medela symphony pump on a daily/monthly basis, so may try that to see if I like it. If I don't, then we'll buy one from another company.

My GF had a baby in September and she highly recommended pumping as she had a hard time breastfeeding at first so it was good to keep her milk supply up until both she and baby got the hang of it. She also feed her baby a bottle of breastmilk at night so baby would eat more and pass out longer.

Answer

Toys r us will let you rent one. Just found that out yesterday I believe it said for up to 90 days

Answer

Depends on preference, some women can get away without pumping, even before I went back to work if I ever had to be away from baby for a bit, my husband could give him a bottle, etc. Since I saw you said you won't be able to get an electric one covered by insurance.. honestly it's all personal preference but I'd had a double electric pump through my insurance, and then bought a manual pump when I went back to work because I thought it would be easier to use at the office. I got the Medela Harmony manual pump and since the day I got it, I've never used the electric one again, lol. Even at home, the manual pump was just sooo much more convenient and comfortable for me! Every woman is different but there is def nothing wrong with giving a manual pump a shot if you don't want to spend the money on an expensive electric one!

Do I need a breast pump?

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