My daughter had undiagnosed lip tie. I did not know such a thing existed but now realized this is why she had so much trouble latching in the beginning.
Anyways, we worked through and I decided to start pumping (so her daddy could feed her) when she was about 6 weeks old. My sister-in-law gave me this breast pump. So at least there was no out of pocket for this. But I believe it could be the problem with why my sister-in-law's milk was never able to come in (her daughter was born 6 weeks premature).
About The Evenflo Comfort Select Performance Dual Auto-Cycling Breast Pump
- Supposed increased number of cycles per minute with a gradual vacuum curve for gentler, more effective pumping - compared to previous pump
- Tighter range adjustment to increase production on lower settings
- Dual motors in the dual pump for maximum production on both breasts
- Adjusted AC/DC adapter to deliver consistent power
- Does not contain bishenol-A (BPA)
What I Liked
- The bag that the pump comes in is nice and compact. There is one “cooler” compartment to keep the milk cold and freezer packs to go with it and another compartment for other parts.
- The pump was comfortable to use.
- The price - This pump retails for around $40 which is awesome as far as breast pumps go.
- BPA Free
- You can use the pump on batteries or electrical power, which makes it very portable.
What I Didn’t Like
- The pump was very loud. Until I did some research, I thought all pumps were this loud. If I had to pump at work,I could never do it discreetly. Anytime I tried to pump it would wake Sweet Pea up and she would cry if she was awake. PLUS I couldn’t hear the TV above the sound of the pump and who wants to do NOTHING while pumping.
- You can adjust the suction, but you can’t adjust the speed. Doing some research, I found that with high-end double electric pumps, moms can adjust the speed on a dial. With manual pumps, you can adjust the speed manually. But with this pump, there was no opportunity to adjust the speed at all. And I feel this is the reason I could never create a let down. It only worked if I had just stopped nursing.
- The motor for the pump is attached to the bottles/horns and is very heavy. This creates a few problems:
There are little placements for you to place the bottles in and if you do that, the bottles won’t tip over when placed on the counter. However, if you forget to put them in the placements, your pump is going to topple over and possibly spill the milk out all over the place. And I don't know about you but I have cried over spilled {breast} milk.
- The weight of the pump makes hands free pumping impossible. To me, the real value of a double electric pump is the ability to pump hands-free while doing something else (eating lunch, working at my computer) and that is not possible with this one since you need to hold the horns while pumping or perch yourself at exactly the right position (chair and table at exact right height) to have the horns sit in the little feet while you pump and then not move an inch. Again, who wants to do nothing while pumping. Also, the fact that you need to hold the horns while pumping makes it impossible to do breast compressions while pumping unless you are only pumping one side at a time. And I had to do breast compressions.
- There are a lot of small pieces that have to be put together. This is often the case, but with most pumps they stay together once you put them together. With this one, the valve keeps falling out unless you have the whole contraption put together. For me, that meant the valve hit the floor 4 times in the process of putting the pump together. Not ideal if you are trying to keep things sterile.
Recommendation
I do not recommend this pump. Although the price is right (especially for me since I was given it), I think that moms that are only pumping occaisionally would be better off with a quality manual pump. Moms that are working and pumping should get a quality double electric pump that can be used for hands-free pumping.
What else I recommend?
Trying to go through your insurance company to get a quality pump. Because this one is not it.
- Supposed increased number of cycles per minute with a gradual vacuum curve for gentler, more effective pumping - compared to previous pump
- Tighter range adjustment to increase production on lower settings
- Dual motors in the dual pump for maximum production on both breasts
- Adjusted AC/DC adapter to deliver consistent power
- Does not contain bishenol-A (BPA)
What I Liked
- The bag that the pump comes in is nice and compact. There is one “cooler” compartment to keep the milk cold and freezer packs to go with it and another compartment for other parts.
- The pump was comfortable to use.
- The price - This pump retails for around $40 which is awesome as far as breast pumps go.
- BPA Free
- You can use the pump on batteries or electrical power, which makes it very portable.
What I Didn’t Like
- The pump was very loud. Until I did some research, I thought all pumps were this loud. If I had to pump at work,I could never do it discreetly. Anytime I tried to pump it would wake Sweet Pea up and she would cry if she was awake. PLUS I couldn’t hear the TV above the sound of the pump and who wants to do NOTHING while pumping.
- You can adjust the suction, but you can’t adjust the speed. Doing some research, I found that with high-end double electric pumps, moms can adjust the speed on a dial. With manual pumps, you can adjust the speed manually. But with this pump, there was no opportunity to adjust the speed at all. And I feel this is the reason I could never create a let down. It only worked if I had just stopped nursing.
- The motor for the pump is attached to the bottles/horns and is very heavy. This creates a few problems:
There are little placements for you to place the bottles in and if you do that, the bottles won’t tip over when placed on the counter. However, if you forget to put them in the placements, your pump is going to topple over and possibly spill the milk out all over the place. And I don't know about you but I have cried over spilled {breast} milk.
- The weight of the pump makes hands free pumping impossible. To me, the real value of a double electric pump is the ability to pump hands-free while doing something else (eating lunch, working at my computer) and that is not possible with this one since you need to hold the horns while pumping or perch yourself at exactly the right position (chair and table at exact right height) to have the horns sit in the little feet while you pump and then not move an inch. Again, who wants to do nothing while pumping. Also, the fact that you need to hold the horns while pumping makes it impossible to do breast compressions while pumping unless you are only pumping one side at a time. And I had to do breast compressions.
- There are a lot of small pieces that have to be put together. This is often the case, but with most pumps they stay together once you put them together. With this one, the valve keeps falling out unless you have the whole contraption put together. For me, that meant the valve hit the floor 4 times in the process of putting the pump together. Not ideal if you are trying to keep things sterile.
Recommendation
I do not recommend this pump. Although the price is right (especially for me since I was given it), I think that moms that are only pumping occaisionally would be better off with a quality manual pump. Moms that are working and pumping should get a quality double electric pump that can be used for hands-free pumping.
What else I recommend?
Trying to go through your insurance company to get a quality pump. Because this one is not it.
Thanks for the heads-up! I'm always afraid the one I have now is going to kick the bucket and wonder what to do next---we have the Medela Pump In Style---LOVE it! Found you via Mommy Musings, hope you stop by our blog!
ReplyDeleteJulie
www.thechirpingmoms.com
As part of the Affordable Care Act, breast pumps are now generally covered under health insurance policies.
ReplyDeleteYes, I know. Great NEW policy. This post was written in 2011. :)
DeleteEvenflo pumps are generally not very good. I had a single from Evenflo and it was so lousy, I would pump for 30 mins and barely get 1 ounce. I got a Medela with my second baby and that was much better!
ReplyDelete