We recently had these emails from a customer that was thinking about buying a breast pump prior to her returning to work. These are good questions, so we thought we’d load them to the blog incase others have the same questions.
Morena! We have a six month old who from late next month will be at home with her dad, when I go back to work full time. I would love to find the right pump that I can use at work (in Auckland), and take with me to Wellington when needed (maybe once a month). I have been given lots of Medela bottles, and used Medela pump after giving birth, so would quite like to stick with Medela
That’s good that you are thinking ahead about this, as it can take time to get use to using a pump, getting baby use to drinking from a bottle, and also building up a milk stash in the freezer to reduce some of the pressures. In terms of a recommended pump, I would totally suggest the Medela Freestyle or the Medela Swing Maxi (new version). Both of these are double breast pumps, high grade breast pumps, and are suitable for a lot pumping. They are both small, and also quiet, and can work with a rechargeable internal battery (which plugs into a USB port like an iphone) meaning you don’t need to sit next to a power point. For each of these pumps the motor is small, and easily fits in your hand, so easy to carry around with you. The Freestyle is slightly ‘flasher” with extra bells-n-whistles like a light, timer, and connects to an app. It also comes with a black carry bag and cooler (which is worth $129) so that bumps the price up a bit. I’d also highly recommend a pumping bra as its so beneficial being able to pump hands-free and not holding the breast shields in place, so at least you can use your laptop or paperwork at the same time as pumping.
How noisy is the Freestyle? (I used the Symphony before and thought it was pretty good – I could use it in baby’s room when she was a newborn without waking her.)
As per the specs, the noise level for both Symphony and Freestyle Flex is similar.
With the Freestyle cooling bag, do you know whether the cooling plate can be used in check in luggage on a plane? And have you ever heard of people having their bottled milk leak while flying?
The ice pack from the cooling back can be included in the checked in luggage. We haven’t received any feedback around the milk leaking while flying, but I know it would be devastating if that happened. Another option also is to use breast milk storage bags, as you can lay them flat and so can store more inside the chilly bag The bottles can get a bit bulky.
Have you heard of anyone accidentally turning their Freestyle on while it was in their pocket and or bag? I’m just curious about the flat screen/the absence of old school raised buttons.
Oh that’s an interesting question, and also not something I have considered before. I have double checked this answer with my medela supplier who say, the Freestyle Flex has a power button which the user needs to press to turn the pump on and off. We would recommend to switch the pump off rather than having it on stand-by mode when travelling. This will avoid the pump from turning on accidentally.
Hope that answers all your questions, but remember Breastmates is always here to help you
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