Which breast pump?

[baby]

Hi all. First baby due in october. I plan on nursing and staying home with the baby. I wanted to know if I am going to need a breast pump right away, like in the hospital, or if i need one at all. If so which kind manual or eletric? What do you all think? What about a nursing pillow which is the best and do i need it right away meaning in the hospital? Thanks in advance!

[stanathan]

Hi, I have a 5-month old girl. I am back at work, pumping 2x a day, nursing the rest. It works great.
This is my experience: No need to have a pump at the hospital, unless the baby cannot nurse. If this is the case, the hospital will provide one. I ended up bying Medela PIS when my daughter was 4 weeks old so that daddy could occasionally give her a bottle of EBM. It is not recommended to introduce a bottle earlier due to nipple confusion. If you plan to go back to work and pump, an electric pump is a must. It is faster and does a better job than a manual one. Also Medela PIS is comparable to a hospital grade pump but it is much lighter to carry around. Nursing pillow (boppy)... I used one until Maya was around 2 months old. It was very helpful when she was so small without too much muscle control and when I was alternating between the cradle and football hold. Now I only use a regular pillow and only the cradle hold. No need to have it in the hospital, they have plenty of regular pillows which worked just fine for me.
I hope this help.
Good luck.

[Momof3Labs]

I'd suggest buying an Isis an packing it for the hospital, but you probably won't need it. Nursing is the best way to bring in your milk, not pumping. But if you have a hard time nursing (I did!), the pump will help stimulate your supply. Don't despair though - despite our rocky start, we successfully nursed for 19 months!

And for pillows, my favorite is the My Brest Friend pillow, but this is a personal preference thing. Definitely bring your nursing pillow to the hospital, you'll need it!!