Breast Pumps - Minneapolis,MN

I don't know if anyone else already mentioned it, but medela has a single electric pump for about $70 that ROCKS! You can plug it in to use it, or pop some batteries in for pumping on the go. The replacement pieces are easy to find too... it's worth every penny. I used it with my 3 kids to pump while working, and this 3rd time it's helped keep up my milk supply... I'd be lost without it. Good job on making the choice to breastfeed! GOOD LUCK!

I would sell you mine for 100.00,tomorrow I would even deliver it! Im from up north but Im going to down that way tomorrow buying things from craigslist,e-mail me at ____@____.com thanks

I had 2 pumps when I had my first child. My Mom got me a Medela single pump for about $60. It worked really well until about my 3rd day back to work - it wasn't designed for pumping multiple times/day, and when I called Medela, they said I needed to go with one that was designed for a greater work load.

I ended-up spending the $199 on the Pump in Style.

I'd give the same advice as other people - see if you can rent one or find one through a lactation consultant that has been completely refurbished.

Depending on how frequently you need to pump (I was doing it upwards of 6-8 times/day), you'll need to go with something built to withstand that kind of use). It did me well for the year I pumped with my son, and the 3 months I pumped with my daughter (I had to stop nursing to start chemo).

Good luck!

Honestly, even though the makers of breast pumps market them as "single user", net time I personally will buy a used one. After seeing how everything works I would have no problem at all using a pre-owned one.
I had a Medela Pump In Style Original and liked it. Pumping sucks (no pun intended) but it helped me breastfeed my baby for 19 months.
Good luck!

The manual pump would not keep your supply up even if you pumped correctly with it (30 minutes on each side, or until the last drop hits and then 2 more minutes on each side, every single feeding time you are away). That's a hour of PUMPING every 2-4 hours!
Most hospitals rent pumps that you can use. I'm not sure the price of this but it's the best way to go as they have the best pumps on the market. The pumps they rent are worth over $1,000!!
In our area WIC also lends out pumps. I'm not sure how this works either, if you have to be low income or if they offer this option to more people.
I agree with Christine though, I bought a $80 pump and thought it had good suction. Got home after my delivery and couldn't get ANY milk out what so ever!! The only pumps that work are the expensive ones. :(

T., I know you don't want to hear this, but the best ones out there are the double electric pumps and they are just expensive. However, check with your hospital to see if they rent hospital grade pumps. These are even better than what you can buy at the store and you rent by the month. Ask your hospital if they offer any financial assistance. Also, keep in mind that if you can manage to breastfeed/pump and not have to buy formula, you end up saving a good $50-$100 per month on the formula savings.

Best wishes,
C.

I didn't want to spend a lot of money either. I did a lot of research and we ended up buying the Lansinoh double electric breast pump. It was on sale for 129. It works excellent. My friend bought the Medela and it is pretty much the same thing. If you don't want to spend forever pumping I would so reccomend it. Good luck it was hard to choose!

First of all, congrats on the baby and on your decision to breastfeed! I was very nervous about supply, and didn't want to fork out all the $$ for a fancy pump. I bought the Playtex - Petite Double Electric Breast Pump which sells for ~$80 at Walmart (or, get a 15% coupon at Babies R us and it's less). It's probably the cheapest electric (double) pump out there. Anyways, it worked fine for me. I only double-pumped a few times (takes too much coordination) and just set it up for single-pumping the rest of the time. I started when my girl was 4 days old and she self-weaned at 11.5 months. Fortunately, I never had a supply issue and after ~4 months, only had to pump 2x a day to get all the milk she needed for the next day (she started daycare at 2 months old). I even pumped enough to send off nearly 700 oz to a Milk Bank! One little adapter piece broke right away (I was really rough with mine--never used a case or anything) and one of the plastic handheld parts of the pump broke after 11 months (I dropped it one too many times). Also, it fits the playtex bottles, so I liked to pump into the Playtex Vent-aire bottles (or directly into the drop-in bottles/liners)! Very convenient! Overall, for the budget-minded mom, I would definitely recommend this pump!

Also, like someone else said, there's no reason you can't look for a used pump. Just be sure to sterilize all of the parts before you use them. Check out Craigslist, or whatever baby consignment or specialty stores are in your area.

Good luck!

I have an Ameda brand electric breast pump. It works great and is less expensive than Medela. They also feature a closed system pump, so that expressed milk doesn't get into the air lines. This feature allows Ameda Purely Yours Breast Pumps to be used by multiple users, with the purchase of a new HygieniKit. Personally I would feel safe buying one of these used.

I was going to suggest what Christine suggested. Rent your pump. You might even find ones from the La Leche (sp?) groups. There is such a push to get moms to breastfeed that there are LOTS of resources available.

You might even want to look on craigslist or ebay to find a new pump that someone didn't use or if you're up for it, buy a used pump and replace or sanitize the parts that would have been used by the other person. You can get Medela parts easily online or at drugstores and hospital pharmacies (a little bit more expensive there). I'm sure other brands are just as easy to find but my experience is with Medela.

Best of luck!

If you are interested most hospitals do rent out breast pumps and they are the really good Madella pumps. They are also not very expensive, I think it was like 25.00 a month so if you supply were to dry up early it would be less than 80.00.

I was going to advise renting from the hospital or checking with LaLeche Leagues in your area. Also, depending on your financial and insurance situation, WIC programs offer assistance in low-income women obtaining pumps who are on their assistance program; and health insurance companies will sometimes help with the cost depending on your insurance poicy. Good luck! But, as previous posters stated, best pumps are the expensive double electric ones. You can easily sanitize a used one by simply getting new components for anything the milk touches (breast shields/cups, bottles, etc).