How to Choose a Breast Pump

Purchasing a breast pump is necessary for women who choose to breastfeed their babies and return to work, or any mother who needs to be away from her baby for an extended period of time. The market is full of different types of breast pumps, and selecting one can be difficult. This article should be of help to someone wishing to purchase a breast pump.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Decide how often you are going to need to express breastmilk. Most working mothers use their breast pumps 3 times daily for months. Mothers who stay at home may only need to express breastmilk occasionally.

2. Manual pump. Select a manual pump if you only need to pump occasionally. Manual pumps are also nice to have when traveling in a car or somewhere there is not a dependable source of power available. They are also the least expensive option. Read reviews and educate yourself as to which brands to avoid and which will best suit your needs. You will probably need to spend about $50 to get a good manual pump.

3. Single electric pumps. These breast pumps will express milk from one breast at a time. These are more discreet than double pumps, but it takes longer to complete a pumping session. Single pumps are nice if you need to be a little more discrete, but do not have limited amounts of time. They are also less expensive than double pumps. Read reviews and educate yourself on which brands to avoid and which will best suit your needs. You will probably need to spend about $100 to $125 to get a good single electric breast pump.

4. Double sided electric breast pump. These pumps enable both breasts to be pumped simultaneously. These pumps are best at expressing milk quickly and efficiently and at keeping up your milk supply (a worry for working moms). These breast pumps can be expensive, so you can expect to pay at least $200 for a decent model. Read reviews to determine which models to avoid and which ones will work best for your needs.

Tips & Warnings

• If you purchase a used breast pump, make sure all the parts are sterilized or purchased anew.

[mristuccia]

on 8/5/2009 This article is great. Don't buy a $60 double electric breast pump if you are going to pump more than occasionally. The motor will die unless you are lucky. More expensive pumps usually have replacement parts readily available.

I wouldn't buy used pumps. Some pumps come broken straight out of the box even when they are new.