Ouch ! (Avent Isis Breast Pump)

Member Name: Medusa

Product:	Avent Isis Breast Pump
Date:	28/08/00 (100 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great when you want to stop breastfeeding

Disadvantages: Hard work for little results

I would rather express manually than use this pump. It is a hand operated pump and comes with a latex comfort shield and storage containers. When I first used it, I found it so uncomfortable that I removed the latex shield and tried again. I still couldn't get used to this gadget and became very upset when it would take one and a half hours to produce one ounce of milk, by which time, baby was ready for another feed.

After a serious amount of use, the spring inside the pump started to squeak and, at this point I laughed out loud... if you can imagine a new mum, sitting up in bed, trying to get baby to sleep with a continuous squeaking noise in the background!.. it's hardly the story behind the wonderful pictures on Avent's packaging!

I admit that breastfeeding and expressing is very difficult but this particular model is painful and difficult. After one hour plus of pumping, my hands were tired and sore. At one point I actually tried hand expressing (which is an art in itself) and probably produced more milk that this pump could.

Although I've never tried one, I think the electric version must be a better buy than hand held.

The one time I did find it extremely useful was during my transittion from breast to bottle feeding. At this point, you tend to be engorged and releasing just one ounce of milk is a huge advantage.

Summary: