I'm considering purchasing an avent or medella breast pump. I've been realatively small chested all my life- A if not barely B cup size. I want to know which seems more to be more comfortable: The avent ones with the little petal cutouts? or the Medella ones? The medella ones seem so hard and rigid...any advice would be great! We'll be fully reimbursed with insurance so cost isn't an issue- it just can't be a "hospital grade" pump.
I am an A cup too and on my 4th baby. I have had 3 different breast pumps and although some of them extracted more milk at a time than others, I did not see a difference in any of them due to my size. I did however like the softer cup rather than the hard cup (just personal preference) but it still did not make a difference with the actual pumping. They all fit just fine and pumped just fine.
Good luck!
I had a manual Avent pump with #1 and could rarely get my milk to let down. I hated that thing! I used an Ameda with #2 and wasn't impressed. It worked, but never fast or comfortable for me. I had a Medela Pump in Style with #3 and LOVED it! Very fast, comfortable, and effective. I RECOMMEND MEDELA!!
The Avent had the soft petal cups, the Ameda and Medela had hard cups...I don't think the hardness of the cups made a difference. Like Sue P. said, make sure your nipples fit well----that matters much more than the cup hardness.
As a lactation consultant, I am familiar with most of the breast pumps out there. Medela does have a soft shield option, although it does not have the petals.
Mostly though, breast size is not an issue with the pumps. What can be an issue is nipple size. That means when the pump exerts the negative pressure (suction), your nipple needs to move freely within the channel of the breast shield. Too small can mean soreness on the shaft of your nipple and reduced output because it constricts the milk flow in the ducts near the surface.
It's almost impossible to tell ahead of time what size your nipple will be when you are pumping. Some women actually need one size at the beginning and another a couple of months later. As far as I know only Medela and Ameda have different size breast shields available.
It depends too on how often you are going to be pumping. For the hand pumps used occasionally, it's probably not an issue. If you are going to be pumping daily at work, then it is something to consider.
suep
www.bosombuddies.com
I used the Medella pump in the hospital. Eh, I wasnt impressed. It was electric, and I could never get the right rhythm going.
I have a manual avent isis and LOVE IT. I've used the same pump for all 3 of my kids over a 6 year time span and its great. The only piece I had to replace was the rubber seal and it cost all of $4 at Babies R Us. I found the petal cushion very comfortable, and I liked the manual b/c I could do my own rhythm.
I loved my Medella and had success with it.
We have both. I started with the avent pump which had great reviews online, it works fine, however, with me I was so engourged at the beginning and the pumping tone was hard to set so I was bleeding a lot, so my poor child drank pink milk (which the doc said was okay he was just getting extra iron). My friend loaned me her Medella pump which I did not want to get after the reviews, however, this pump for me was much easier to manage the strength of the pumping and i have not bled since. I am a little bigger than you though, a d size, so i don't know if size affects it or not....also i've only been pumping about 2 weeks with my little one
I had the highly rated Medella pump and I hated it!!! Yes it got the milk out but I had to crank it way up! And then it hurt! I gave up pumping because of the pain. Yes there are different sizes but it didn't seem to help. Also I used mine daily for two months and by six weeks it wasn't working as well! I wish I would have tried another brand. I am also barely a B.
I used a Medela pump with my first baby and did not like it at all. It was extremely uncomfortable and no matter how long I pumped I could not keep up with my son's needs after I went back to work. With my second baby I bought the Avent Isis after alot of research and I could not believe the difference! Not only is the flange MUCH more comfortable with the petals, but the amount of control that you have over the pressure and speed is much greater than with the Medela. You can also switch back and forth from having the machine control the pumping to doing it manually, which I really liked. Plus, I was able to pump so much more in volume than with the Medela. I can't recommend the Avent enough!
