M.I. asks from New York, NY on October 24, 2008
Manual Pump - Medela Vs. Advent
All,
Here's the scenario. I recently started feeding rice cereal to my 5 month old baby. During the week, I mix the rice cereal with breastmilk from when I pumped at work.
On the weekends I don't pump, I nurse my baby. I'm looking for a manual pump I can take with me to pump breastmilk for my baby's rice cereal or other foods. Usually, on the weekends we are not at home and I don't want to have to bring my eletric pump around with me when I only want .5-1oz of milk.
The 2 manual pumps that have pretty good ratings are Medela and Advent. Has anyone had exprience with both pumps and recommend one over the other? I currently have a Medela electric pump. So I have all the piece for medela, but I don't mind getting the Advent one if its better.
So What Happened?™
I ended up buying the Medela Manual Harmony Pump. I haven't used it to its fullest yet, but I did do a quick test and it worked well on the breast that I have a hard time pumping from. I was pretty amazed at how powerful it can extract breastmilk! I guess I automatically assumed Manual=Less Efficient. The reasons I bought it:
1. Everyone said that they were only able to extract breastmilk with the Avent Manual Pump only when their breast were full. That was a concern for me since pumping didn't come naturally for me. I did have a hard time when I first started pumping.
2. Medela was cheaper. It was only $35 vs. $50 for the Avent one. If it broke or didn't work I wouldn't feel bad buying the Avent one after only spending $35.
Featured Answers
L.D. answers from New York on October 28, 2008
Hi. I have an 11 month old daughter. I use the Advent Isis pump and I love it. I usually pump 2xweek when I work. The pump works great and very easy to clean and put together. I would definitely recommend it. It cost me about $40 and I used it a ton and still no problems with. Good luck!
:) L.
G.L. answers from New York on October 26, 2008
I had both one was given to me. I pumped for a year and end up using the Advent Isis manual pump exclusively.
Good Luck,
G.
More Answers
A.P. answers from New York on October 25, 2008
I have both and dont like either compared to my electric Medela! The Advent was easier for me to get get more but only if I was very full and it was not as comfortable as the Medela. If you are looking for something for an ounce or two why not pump a tiny bottle at work for that or hand express on the weekend. Honestly, I just add water to the cereal or when my 9 month old started to drop a night feeding would hand express in the middle of the night to relieve myself and use that milk. Now that we are regulated I just use water. Breastmilk is best but plain ole H2O will not harm the baby. Enjoy the breastfeeding and I wouldnt stress about a ounce or two for cereal, just nurse before the solids.
K.M. answers from Albany on October 25, 2008
I only used the Avent (no d in the word) pump. It was fabulous for pumping on the way to grandma's where we would drop my son before we went out. But it was also portable enough for me to bring anywhere and I used it exclusively when I nursed twins. Great product! Good luck!
K.T. answers from New York on October 25, 2008
I have an avent manual pump that I rarely used for the reasons you mention.
you may find this funny, my husband did, I sometimes just hand expressed my milk into the bowl of cereal. It's so much easier than cleaning a pump and all the parts. I also used a clean container or wide open bottle to also hand express milk when I needed to feed my son away from home.
After a few times, it gets easier to get the milk out and saving the time cleaning pump parts was totally worth it.
good luck.
E.E. answers from New York on October 25, 2008
Get the Medela. I have the pump in style and I love it. But I first tried the Avent manual and I hated it. It pinched and hurt so much. Since you already have the Medela electric, definitely stay with Medela for the manual.
B.C. answers from New York on October 25, 2008
I had a great experience with the Avent manual pump. I nursed my son for 13 months and that was the only pump I ever used.
E.L. answers from New York on October 25, 2008
I've used the Advent Isis. It's quite good, I highly recoomend. best of luck!
M.T. answers from New York on October 25, 2008
Hi M.,
When I pumped for my last child, 9 years ago, the good Medela manual pump didn't exist yet. I used the Avent Isis and it was fantastic. I worked fulltime and this was the only pump I used at work to leave milk behind for my baby (who never got formula) from 2 months til 13 months. Needless to say, I highly recommend it.
M.
D.L. answers from Rochester on October 25, 2008
I used the medela manual pump and loved it. I actually thought it was easier and faster than the medela electric pump. By the time I had my third baby, I only used the manual pump. No experience with the advent pump. Hope this helps.
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