Breast pumps

Dear Sweeya, its great that you plan on breastfeeding your baby even after you start work. With regards to selection of breast pumps I would suggest that you invest in an electric pump. I had first bought a manual pump and in my experience, it was difficult to use as the pump would move away, it was not very efficient in expressing milk and it would take a long time to express as little as 10ml. I then switched to Medela electric pump. It takes a little getting used to, but it was great. It had a speed adjustment function and I could gradually increase the suction to be able to express more milk. Here is the one I used: http://www.firstcry.com/medela/medela-mini-electric-breast-pump/5164/product-detail

When buying a pump, please also invest in some nursing pads, a few extra bottles to store the milk and a soothing cream (boroline will do). You may need to apply the soothing cream after time you express milk. Here is a link with the various pumps available: http://www.firstcry.com/breast-feeding/2/37#scat=37@~70,@,@,@,@,@@@B@@1@0@21@@@@@@,@,@,,@,,@,&sort=Popularity&pmonths=&1&view=detail Hope this helps. Good luck :)

Thanks Anurima for your feedback and suggestions. Following is how i am planning to feed while i am away. 1. I would feed him and leave for office 2. Then he will have his juice 3. Then one feed of expressed milk 4. Formula feed. At the end of 5-6hrs, i would be back from office. The current price is 10K. So, do you think its worth the money for just one feed a day

Hi Sweeya, I understand your concern about the price and whether buying a pump will be worth it. It depends on how long you wish to continue with this routine or if you decide to wean him into formula soon. The decision of buying is completely up to. What I would suggest is if you could try and borrow one from a relative or a friend who wont need it right now. All you need to do is sterilize and wash the parts before use. Also as babies grow, then tend to drink more at one feed and consequently the number of feeds drop, so you may not need the pump at all after a couple of months. This could be the case. In my case, I had used it for both my children, so if you plan to have another baby in the future, then investing in a pump is not a bad idea. Here is a link to a slightly cheaper but a good branded pump: http://www.firstcry.com/farlin/farlin-electric-breast-pump-kit/212/product-detail

HI Anurima, My plan is to feed him atleast till he is an year old. I am not planning to wean him into formula. I am giving formula only because doc had suggested to do so. It seems tough you have enough breastmilk, 1 feed of formula will be required. Thanks for all the information. i will decide between the two options that you have suggested.

Hi sweeya my exp is little diff. I found tht quantities of milk starts decreasing if u start pumpingit. i did ut three times during last 15 days and did nt get enough milk bt pump.

I agree with Shradha. Nursing your baby directly is the best way to ensure good supply of milk. Pumping is not as effective and may reduce the flow of milk over time. Also it is known that babies are more efficient in drawing milk than a pump. So if you get say 150 ml after 15 minutes of pumping, it is likely that you baby would have had more to drink than 150 ml in 15 minutes of nursing :)

Thanks Shradha and Anurima again. I will try to see if can come back home in between to feed the baby.