If you are on the fence about breast feeding, come on in!

What, if anything, are you doing about a pump? My ins. only covers a pump if the baby is in the NICU. I am hoping to NOT be able to get one covered!! I have been looking at a few of the less expensive pumps. The price discrepancy worries me though. Or is the Medela (sp?) just the latest trend so therefore has a jacked-up price tag and not so much better? I mean if it works out, I'd like to have a decent pump to help me out, but I don't want to spend $300 on something I may never even open. Thoughts or ideas?
TIA! :)

Re: If you are on the fence about breast feeding, come on in!

I'm not on the fence - I'm praying I can breast feed but I also don't want to commit to the pump before I know if bfing is possible so I'm going to rent one from the hospital for the first month and see how it goes.

Re: If you are on the fence about breast feeding, come on in!

why not rent one when your at the hostial and bring it home for a for a few weeks to make sure u like bfing and plan to continue, then if u have to spend alot on one, you will know u will use it

Re: If you are on the fence about breast feeding, come on in!

I didn't know you could rent them from the hospital!

My MIL keeps asking me if I've gotten one yet (she says if I need it, she'll buy it for me) but I keep telling her that I'm still unsure. I want to breastfeed and Ive read that if you do the nursing AND a bottle, it could make the baby not want to breastfeed as much and eventually stop too early. Sooo, that kinda made me wonder if I should even bother with a pump. I don't know what to do.

Re: If you are on the fence about breast feeding, come on in!

From my experience, it's such a wait&see kind of thing....I could have bet my last dollar I would rock at BFing, and it just didn't happen.

I never had enough milk, and it didn't matter how much I tried BF or pumping.

If anything, I'd rent before purchasing.

Re: If you are on the fence about breast feeding, come on in!

I agree with some PP, you should wait until the Baby is born and see if you're able to breast feed and snd are able to produce milk. Then you can always send someone to buy it for you. I wouldn't say rent it because from what I heard its kind of pricey to rent a pump, for that just buy it and you can always use it for the next one as well...

Re: If you are on the fence about breast feeding, come on in!

All pumps work fine. It's more about efficiency. Medela isn't a trend...as it was $300 when I got mine 6 years ago. I was able to stop bfing at 6 months but got ds to 1 year with a frozen supply. I got mine after I was home from the hospital and my milk was in. I always tried to do the math to see how much I was saving verses buying formula. Add in a second and now third and I feel good about the cost.

Renting a pump sounds like a good option if you are on the fence.

Re: If you are on the fence about breast feeding, come on in!

I plan on waiting to get a pump to see how I do breast feeding as well. My insurance doesn't cover a pump either.

Re: If you are on the fence about breast feeding, come on in!

IMHO it's not a question on if you'll breastfeed, but do you want the baby to get breast milk?

I say this because there are a lot of women that can't get the baby to latch and go on to exclusivly pump. I did it for the 1st 8wks and then she latched and we breastfed and I pumped. Also supplementing is an option. I know the whole nipple confusion thing, but my DD was very good. I suggest the Tommee Tippee bottles since it closely mocks the breast. We never had any issues and DD also used a paci for about 6 months until she found her thumb.

I loved my hospital pump and had it for 5 months. It was $60 a month, but for me I found it was the best. Especialy in the begining since I was eping.

Medela is great!!!! It is worth it IMHO. I bough my 1st one at a local second hand store and just bought all new acessories. I know and trust that store so I was comfortable with it. I did buy a new PIS because mine was old and not as powerful.

Re: If you are on the fence about breast feeding, come on in!

I plan on doing what many of you have said, waiting to see before purchasing a pump (unless of course there is an AMAZING sale in the next few weeks). I'm sure the two aren't correlated at all, but I am nervous because my boobs really haven't increased in size at all...just filled out my current cup size a little better. I hope to be able to BF when Nugget gets here.

Re: If you are on the fence about breast feeding, come on in!

I am going to wait and see how things go. I am going to give it about 2-3 weeks first of EBF and see what my LO thinks and how it all works out before I go out and buy one. Also def think about renting one from the hospital until you decide - that is a much cheaper option.

Re: If you are on the fence about breast feeding, come on in!

Thanks! I had heard you could rent one but the thought kind of skeeves me out, LOL. I know you use all new parts that actually touch the body and pass the milk through, but still...

For those of you not getting one and want to "wait and see" how it goes, what is your plan B if baby can't or won't latch well? Will you use a hospital pump/bottle or go right to formula?

I agree that if it all works out well, then the cost of the pump is still a big savings over formula, but I'm more concerned about having both costs, if it doesn't happen.

Re: If you are on the fence about breast feeding, come on in!

As a BTDT

I didnt want to buy a pump so I used the hospital pump while I was there. On my last day, I asked my sister to buy it for me (I had previously written down the exact one I needed for her) so that it was ready for me when I got home.

It is expensive HOWEVER, I have been pumping for 7 months and have saved THOUSANDS in formula!!!

Re: If you are on the fence about breast feeding, come on in!

Re: If you are on the fence about breast feeding, come on in!

yes I was on the fence with DD and I ended up renting a hospital grade pump from a medical supply store in my area. I had to purchase all new parts for it. Not skeeved out in the least since literally everything was new except the actual motor of the pump. I think it cost about $100 for the month? BFing didnt work out for me so I was glad I didnt purchase an expensive pump. I will probably do the same with this baby if I even decide to try at all.

Re: If you are on the fence about breast feeding, come on in!

my sister has the $$$ medela; i'm using hers and buying all new parts for it. if it doesn't work out for me, i won't feel bad for blowing the money

Re: If you are on the fence about breast feeding, come on in!

I plan on EBF, and since I will be SAHM, I registered for a less expensive pump, the Lansinoh Affinity Double Electric Pump thats around 150. I may also get a hand pump. BUT, I don't plan on having to pump that much...so I figured I did not need a 300 dollar pump that I hope to hardly use.

My mom BF me, and never owned an electric pump, just a single manual one, so I figure I can get by w/ a cheaper electric one.