One of the most important decisions you need to make when starting to breastfeed your baby is which breast pump to choose for expressing your milk. There are many breast pumps on the market with different features. In order for you to make this decision as early as possible, we offer you the features of these pumps below.
The first decision you need to make when choosing your breast pump is whether you want a hand-operated, manual model or an electric/battery model. You need to consider how often you will express milk, how long you will use the pump and how much time you have to express milk.
Manual Breast Pumps
A manual breast pump is ideal for mothers who breastfeed their babies regularly and rarely need to express their milk. They are usually light, small, practical and easy to carry in a bag when going out. Of course, such pumps do not have to worry about finding an electricity source and noise. Most of these pumps run quietly. Choose a model with an ergonomically designed milking handle, as some women report that their wrists get tired quickly when using manual pumps. It may take some time to find the rhythm that feels best for you. However, you can find this rhythm with a little experimentation. you can take a look at manual breast pumps with 2-phase technology. With these pumps, there is a “warning phase” before expressing, like your baby’s natural sucking rhythm, to make it easier for your milk to come in. In this phase, you can take fast but low vacuum draws, and after your milk starts to come, you can switch to the “milking phase” and start emptying your milk. You should also be able to store your milk in the milk collection bottle of the pump you will use, and you should be able to use this bottle as a bottle to feed your baby when you need it.
Electric Breast Pumps
Electric pumps can be preferred for mothers who need to express milk regularly, such as mothers whose babies are in special care or mothers who start work. Also, if your time is very limited, these models that express milk much faster than manual pumps may be more effective for you. You can examine models with adjustable milking style and vacuum power. This way, you can set the sucking style that most closely resembles your baby’s sucking style and strength. In addition, choosing a model with two stages, “stimulation phase” and “milking phase”, will be useful for you to perform a more effective milking. Some electric breast pumps also offer you the convenience of battery operation, so you can express your milk without the need for electricity. There are also bottle compatible pumps on the market, you can express your milk into a bottle, store it and use it to feed your baby with expressed breast milk.
Single or Double Electric Breast Pumps
All mothers know how precious time is when breastfeeding their babies. Double electric pumps allow you to express the same amount of milk from both breasts in half the time. It can take 10 minutes to empty both breasts in a double expressing session, compared to 20 to 30 minutes for single pumps. Another advantage of double pumps for mothers is that milking both breasts at the same time is known to increase prolactin release and milk production more than single pumps, so double milking will give your body the effect of breastfeeding twins, allowing you to produce more milk.
You can also use a milking bra, in which case both hands will be free during milking and you will be able to use your cell phone or computer or do other tasks comfortably. If you have twins, started breastfeeding late after giving birth and have to be separated from your baby, double milking pumps will be more suitable for you.
A single electric breast pump is ideal for moms who want to express milk from the other breast while breastfeeding their baby. They are also cheaper than double electric pumps and many of them are easier to carry when you are out and about.