Breast Pumps

offalyman

Hi all,
I'm looking for some advice on breast pumps on behalf of my wife. She's swaying towards the Medela Swing as it has been recommended by a few people. Just wondering can Avent bottles be used with it and if not what other brand bottles work with it? Also she was told by a mid wife that the motor in the single pump can blow very easily if used more than once or twice a week. Just wonder has anyone experience of this.
Any other recommendations for an electric pump are welcome
Thanks in advance.

Ayla

As a starting point, check out this thread that was going recently:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056299321

Personally I used the Avent manual system, and apart from a disconcerting squeek I didn't have any issues with it. I've never used the electric pumps so can't comment there.

The Princess Bride

As a mother first and foremost,and a former health care professional, would recommend Medela Electric- used in most materity/paediatric units in Ire,and also recommended by lactation consultants abroad.
It worked for me with my babies,working fulltime and exclusively feeding them breast milk
only-:)
As for bottles ,any cheap regular bottles will do,would only recommend NUK latex teats,by the way,as shape of teat is most similar to shape of breastfeeding nipple(again,fed 3 babies yada yada yada)- Avent too bloody big!always hated the look of the teats and bottles.



(I think I had a double pump,by the way,as time at work was limited for use of it.)If someone wants to give you a good present,this would be it.

Hobbitfeet

msthe80s wrote: »

As a mother first and foremost,and a former health care professional, would recommend Medela Electric- used in most materity/paediatric units in Ire,and also recommended by lactation consultants abroad.
It worked for me with my babies,working fulltime and exclusively feeding them breast milk
only-:)
As for bottles ,any cheap regular bottles will do,would only recommend NUK latex teats,by the way,as shape of teat is most similar to shape of breastfeeding nipple(again,fed 3 babies yada yada yada)- Avent too bloody big!always hated the look of the teats and bottles.



(I think I had a double pump,by the way,as time at work was limited for use of it.)If someone wants to give you a good present,this would be it.

I would not recommend "any cheap regular bottles" cheap bottles contain BPA which can leech from the bottle and be very dangerous to baby. You can still buy glass baby bottles today and there is a big range of plastic bottles BPA free they may be a few Euro more expensive but worth it.

Bisphenol A, (or BPA), was the chemical singled out in this particular study commissioned by the Consumer's Union. BPA, it seems, is a component of polycarbonate, a clear and rigid plastic, that is used in the manufacture of baby bottles.

In laboratory tests, Consumers Union, (the people who put out the Consumer's Report), found that small amounts of the additive BPA leach out of the plastic baby bottles and potentially may end up in babies milk. Although the amount of bisphenol A that ended up in the milk was "small"--one part per billion-- Dr. Edward Groth, a senior scientist at Consumers Union, explained, that even that "small" quantity was "close enough to levels that had" actual "effects on animals. . . . The effect that is of concern here is a disruption of the developmental process. This could affect intelligence. It could affect behavior. It could affect learning ability. It could affect reproductive ability, fertility many years after the exposure occurs."

lasser

I ahve used the medela mini for a few months at a time on 2 babies pumping 6-8 times a day and it hasn;t blown yet however motor sounds dodgy I then invested in the medela pump in style it's a lovely pump shouldn;t have bought it though my baby started latching and feeding great a week later lol but it's specifically designed for long term pumping so really depends on how often and long your wife plans to pump for

lasser

oh sorry forgot the NUK bottle fit the medela pumps and you can also buy attachments for avent bottles for it

beertons

thanks for all the replies. herself doesn't want to buy one till after the baby is born just in case baby doesn't take to breast milk. (i think that's what she said). she's keen on a medula double pump, as mentioned above.

The Princess Bride

beertons wrote: »

thanks for all the replies. herself doesn't want to buy one till after the baby is born just in case baby doesn't take to breast milk. (i think that's what she said). she's keen on a medula double pump, as mentioned above.

It used to be possible to rent the pumps,certainly in my experience as a nurse,this was ideal if mothers had prem babies,it's an option worth considering- you'd buy attachments and rent pump.
Best of luck to you both, the most wonderful thing about combining breast and pump/expressing,was that each of our babies were given 1st bottles of EBM by their dad- and he never felt excluded.Plus,made going back to work(in those days at 12 weeks!!!)easier to organise for our family!

The Princess Bride

Hobbitfeet wrote: »

I would not recommend "any cheap regular bottles" cheap bottles contain BPA which can leech from the bottle and be very dangerous to baby. You can still buy glass baby bottles today and there is a big range of plastic bottles BPA free they may be a few Euro more expensive but worth it.

Bisphenol A, (or BPA), was the chemical singled out in this particular study commissioned by the Consumer's Union. BPA, it seems, is a component of polycarbonate, a clear and rigid plastic, that is used in the manufacture of baby bottles.

In laboratory tests, Consumers Union, (the people who put out the Consumer's Report), found that small amounts of the additive BPA leach out of the plastic baby bottles and potentially may end up in babies milk. Although the amount of bisphenol A that ended up in the milk was "small"--one part per billion-- Dr. Edward Groth, a senior scientist at Consumers Union, explained, that even that "small" quantity was "close enough to levels that had" actual "effects on animals. . . . The effect that is of concern here is a disruption of the developmental process. This could affect intelligence. It could affect behavior. It could affect learning ability. It could affect reproductive ability, fertility many years after the exposure occurs."

I appreciate your comment and indeed have read all relevant research.
However,in my honest opinion, the most important issue is what goes into the bottle ;expressed breast milk or cooled boiled water- and what goes into their bodies :healthy/nutritious top quality food.
All of ours breast fed until 16 months,were taking beakers from 8 months,(therefore no more bottles,I only ever used NUK anyway), and are gorgeous,slim,healthy, intelligent and most important happy much loved children!:)

lasser

beertons wrote: »

thanks for all the replies. herself doesn't want to buy one till after the baby is born just in case baby doesn't take to breast milk. (i think that's what she said). she's keen on a medula double pump, as mentioned above.

There is no reason at all why baby would not take to breast milk what on earth has her thinking this way???? BM is the natural feeding source for a baby and exactrly what nature intends it is produced to meet your babie's specific needs and changes regularly to continue to meet your lo's needs as your lo grows there are 200 compounds to BM and formula companies will openly admit that they have only been able to identify and reproduce 50 of those compounds so BM is absolutely ALWAYS better for your lo and no real reason why your lo would not take to it.
If she researches BF beforehand and arms herself with the information needed for any difficulties that MAY arise before baby comes, has the right advice and support there really is no reason why she will not be able to BF sucessfully.
I would recommend she have a good read of Jack Newman and kellymom websites they have pretty much all the information needed about BF Jack Newman is also very quick and answer specific question via email - also might be a good idea if possible for her to start going to a LLL meeting get to know some other BF mommies and get involved so they can provide any support needed for after the birth.
Also a lot of lactation consultants are having a lot of success with laid back BF
I've stollen the following from someone's else thread on RC
'Laid back breastfeeding/biological nurturing/the breast crawl, is essentially placing the baby on your tummy or chest below or above your breasts and letting the baby use all the leg and arm reflexes (that the boffins had been trying to tell us for some time now were redundant and nature has just not gotten round to getting rid of them yet, turns out they babies still very much use them if we let them) to get them to get to the breast themselves and self attach.'

Here are some links to very simple how to so you can try it even without the LC's there and some videos on it too.

http://www.lalecheleague.org.nz/template/articles__information/laid-back_breastfeeding.pdf

http://www.biologicalnurturing.com/video/bn3clip.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YW72pFFEIUo

Also maybe have a read of the following it a great read
Great "normalising" article

The Normal Newborn and Why Breastmilk is Not Just Food

What is a normal, term human infant supposed to do?

First of all, a human baby is supposed to be born vaginally. Yes, I know that doesn't always happen, but we're just going to talk ideal, normal for now. We are supposed to be born vaginally because we need good bacteria. Human babies are sterile, without bacteria, at birth. It's no accident that we are born near the anus, an area that has lots of bacteria, most of which are good and necessary for normal gut health and development of the immune system. And the bacteria that are there are mom's bacteria, bacteria that she can provide antibodies against if the bacteria there aren't nice.

Then the baby is born and is supposed to go to mom. Right to her chest. The chest, right in between the breasts is the natural habitat of the newborn baby. (Fun fact: our cardiac output, how much blood we circulate in a given minute, is distributed to places that are important. Lots goes to the kidney every minute, like 10% or so, and 20% goes to your brain. In a new mom, 23% goes to her chest- more than her brain. The body thinks that place is important!)

That chest area gives heat. The baby has been using mom's body for temperature regulation for ages. Why would they stop? With all that blood flow, it's going to be warm. The baby can use mom to get warm. When I was in my residency, we would put a cold baby "under the warmer" which meant a heater thingy next to mom. Now, as I have matured, if a baby is "under the warmer," the kid is under mom. I wouldn't like that. I like the kids on top of mom, snuggled.

Now we have a brand new baby on the warmer. That child is not hungry. Bringing a hungry baby into the world is a bad plan. And really, if they were hungry, can you please explain to me why my kids sucked the life force out of me in those last few weeks of pregnancy? They better have been getting food, or well, that would have been annoying and painful for nothing.

Every species has instinctual behaviors that allow the little ones to grow up to be big ones and keep the species going. Our kids are born into the world needing protection. Protection from disease and from predators. Yes, predators. Our kids don't know they've been born into a loving family in the 21st century- for all they know it's the 2nd century and they are in a cave surrounded by tigers. Our instinctive behaviors as baby humans need to help us stay protected. Babies get both disease protection and tiger protection from being on mom's chest. Presumably, we gave the baby some good bacteria when they arrived through the birth canal. That's the first step in disease protection. The next step is getting colostrum.

A newborn baby on mom's chest will pick their head up, lick their hands, maybe nuzzle mom, lick their hands and start to slide towards the breast. The kids have a preference for contrasts between light and dark, and for circles over other shapes. Think about that...there's a dark circle not too far away.

Mom's sweat smells like amniotic fluid, and that smell is on the child's hands (because there's been no bath yet!) and the baby uses that taste on their hand to follow mom's smell. The secretions coming from the glands on the areola (that dark circle) smell familiar too and help the baby get to the breast to get the colostrum which is going to feed the good bacteria and keep them protected from infection. The kids can attach by themselves. Watch for yourself! And if you just need colostrum to feed bacteria and not yourself, well, there doesn't have to be much. And there isn't because the kids aren't hungry and because Breastmilk is not food!

We're talking normal babies. Breastfeeding is normal. It's what babies are hardwired to do. 2009 or 209, the kids would all do the same thing: try to find the breast. Breastfeeding isn't special sauce, a leg up or a magic potion. It's not "best. " It's normal. Just normal. Designed for the needs of a vulnerable human infant. And nothing else designed to replace it is normal.

Colostrum also activates things in the baby's gut that then goes on to make the thymus grow. The thymus is part of the immune system. Growing your thymus is important. Breastmilk= big thymus, good immune system. Colostrum also has a bunch of something called Secretory Immunoglobulin A (SIgA). SIgA is made in the first few days of life and is infection protection specifically from mom. Cells in mom's gut watch what's coming through and if there's an infectious cell, a special cell in mom's gut called a plasma cell heads to the breast and helps the breast make SIgA in the milk to protect the baby. If mom and baby are together, like on mom's chest, then the baby is protected from what the two of them may be exposed to. Babies should be with mom.

And the tigers. What about them? Define "tiger" however you want. But if you are baby with no skills in self-protection, staying with mom, having a grasp reflex, and a startle reflex that helps you grab onto your mom, especially if she's hairy, makes sense. Babies know the difference between a bassinette and a human chest. When infants are separated from their mothers, they have a "despair- withdrawal" response. The despair part comes when they alone, separated. The kids are vocally expressing their desire not to be tiger food. When they are picked up, they stop crying. They are protected, warm and safe. If that despair cry is not answered, they withdraw. They get cold, have massive amounts of stress hormones released, drop their heart rate and get quiet. That's not a good baby. That's one who, well, is beyond despair. Normal babies want to be held, all the time.

And when do tigers hunt? At night. It makes no sense at all for our kids to sleep at night. They may be eaten. There's nothing really all that great about kids sleeping through the night. They should wake up and find their body guard. Daytime, well, not so many threats. They sleep better during the day. (Think about our response to our tigers-- sleep problems are a huge part of stress, depression, anxiety).

I go on and on about sleep on this site, so maybe I'll gloss over it here. But everybody sleeps with their kids- whether they choose to or not and whether they admit to it or not. It's silly of us as healthcare providers to say "don't sleep with your baby" because we all do it. Sometimes accidentally. Sometimes intentionally. The kids are snuggly, it feels right and you are tired. So, normal babies breastfeed, stay at the breast, want to be held and sleep better when they are with their parents. Seems normal to me. But there is a difference between a normal baby and one that isn't. Safe sleep means that we are sober, in bed and not a couch or a recliner, breastfeeding, not smoking...being normal. If the circumstances are not normal, then sleeping with the baby is not safe.

That chest -to -chest contact is also brain development. Our kids had as many brain cells as they were ever going to have at 28 weeks of gestation. It's a jungle of waiting -to-be- connected cells. What we do as humans is create too much and then get rid of what we aren't using. We have like 8 nipples, a tail and webbed hands in the womb. If all goes well, we don't have those at birth. Create too much- get rid of what you aren't using. So, as you are snuggling, your child is hooking up happy brain cells and hopefully getting rid of the "eeeek" brain cells. Breastfeeding, skin-to-skin, is brain wiring. Not food.

Why go on and on about this? Because more and more mothers are choosing to breastfeed. But most women don't believe that the body that created that beautiful baby is capable of feeding that same child and we are supplementing more and more with infant formulas designed to be food. Why don't we trust our bodies post-partum? I don't know. But I hear over and over that the formula is because "I am just not satisfying him." Of course you are. Babies don't need to "eat" all the time- they need to be with you all the time- that's the ultimate satisfaction.

A baby at the breast is getting their immune system developed, activating their thymus, staying warm, feeling safe from predators, having normal sleep patterns and wiring their brain, and (oh by the way) getting some food in the process. They are not "hungry" --they are obeying instinct. The instinct that allows us to survive and make more of us.

back to www.drjen4kids.com

ranted on July 31, 2010

Dr. Jenny Thomas - Lakeshore Medical Clinic ( Breastfeeding Medicine).