Medela PISA or Freestyle? Or something else?

[u2ecila]

Hi,
I am a FTM due any day now. I will be returning to work full time around 10-12 weeks, and I plan on pumping. (There is a nice mothers room available.) We also hope to go on a few vacations over the next year with baby. My insurance will cover up to $250 towards a pump, and I have an HSA to cover the rest.

Which of these two pumps is better and why? Is there another one worth considering? What types of things should I be thinking about to find the best pump for me?

Thanks in advance!

cheers,
Alice

[sarahsthreads]

I borrowed my SIL's PISA for DD1, and bought a Freestyle for DD2. I personally prefer the Freestyle, because you can run it on battery - so when we have people staying with us, I can go up to the baby's room and pump without needing to worry that the chair in that room is not near an outlet, or when I'm traveling I don't need to dig around for an outlet wherever I'm staying. I also vaguely remember thinking that it was a better (more powerful/effective) pump when I first used it, but that was five years ago so I can't be more specific than that.

That said, the PISA I used was from 10+ years ago and they may have updated it since?

Sarah :)

[goldenpig]

I have a PISA from 2007 and a Freestyle from 2010. I'm using the PISA at home and the Freestyle at work. I prefer the PISA. The Freestyle is smaller and battery powered, but I feel like it is not as strong--I have to crank it up to level 8 or 9 to get enough suction. Also it is very fiddly--I have to unsnap and snap the connector several times to get the suction to work, and the valve often gets stuck so the milk backs up into the horn and I have to open the bottle to release the flap, which causes spills. The valve is much smaller and a different design for the PISA (though the little valves fall off in the dishwasher and get lost so I have to buy extras) but overall I feel that the lack of battery power is worth fewer headaches. I think my Freestyle rechargable battery may be losing power anyways--I always plug my Freestyle in so it won't die in the middle of pumping. This is my last baby so I'm just making do with what I've got, because I won't be pumping much longer than 1 year most likely.

[ZeeBaby]

I have only had a freestyle and can only comment on it. I loved it for the convenience of not having to be connected to an outlet and how small it is. I traveled with it constantly and would pump in the car while DH was driving, on the plane (took a trip without baby). It was great for those reasons. You have to be sure everything is connected correctly or it will act funny.

[TwoBees]

The PISA worked well for me. I have not tried the Freestyle. Our mother's room has an outlet, so having a battery pack was not an issue. I do recall hearing the the PISA parts do not fit the Freestyle and vice versa, but I don't know if that is still true (this was 4 years ago).

I do like the fact that you can toss the Freestyle into any bag. It had just come out when I needed a pump and was more expensive, so I went with the tried and true PISA at that time.

[sarahsthreads]

The Freestyle is smaller and battery powered, but I feel like it is not as strong--I have to crank it up to level 8 or 9 to get enough suction. Also it is very fiddly--I have to unsnap and snap the connector several times to get the suction to work, and the valve often gets stuck so the milk backs up into the horn and I have to open the bottle to release the flap, which causes spills.

I had completely the opposite experience! I only need to put mine on level 4 - and sometimes that's too much suction and I have to turn it down - but felt like I never had good suction from the PIS. I do agree that it's hard to snap everything together correctly in the first place, but I haven't had valves get stuck or any issues with milk backing up. :shrug:

Sarah :)

[marymoo86]

I have a Hygeia and really like it. It is small and portable with the option for a car charger as well. My version doesn't have the battery option but you can get that as well. I plan to use Honeysuckle milk bags b/c they have an adapter where you can pump directly into it. I have also used teh Lansinoh double electric which is the same as the Ameda Purely Yours. The Hygeia is quieter and smoother in operation but the Lansinoh worked well and continues to do so will have on hand as my backup. I have also used the PISA and liked it fine.

[amom526]

I have the PISA from 2011. I was very happy with it - it can be plugged in or use batteries, but it is much weaker when using batteries. But lately, I feel like my motor is dying out or something, because I am not getting a strong suction even on the highest setting. It's not like I even used it so much - barely at all with DS1, and 5-6 months of exclusive pumping with DS2, so I'm not really sure what is going on.

[stinkyfeet]

I have a Freestyle and am happy with it. I don't pump that regularly though, but when i do, I don't find myself walking around with it. I usually sit and pump. I have had it since DS1 was born. Another thing to consider is that the replacement parts are A LOT more expensive with the Freestyle (membranes and tubing). I changed these parts with each kid.

[joules]

I've only had the freestyle so I can't compare. But I don't think I had any issues regarding suction or milk backing up. But I do get the part about snapping everying together correctly in the first place. But once I started refrigerating the parts I didn't have that problem as often anymore. I just stuck the whole horn part (all the parts that touch the milk) into a large square tupperware container. When it came time to pump, all i had to do was screw on the bottle underneath. I exclusively pumped so having the freedom of the freestyle was a life saver. I could pump in the car on the way home from work, while vacumming/washing dishes/etc. It saved me a lot of time. I didn't have any issues with the battery not holding a charge. In fact I almost always forgot to charge it because I had to do it so infrequently. I carried the charger with me wherever I went so I never had an issue. But my co-worker borrowed a Freestyle from her friend..I don't know how old it was, but she had an issue with the battery and had to keep it plugged in.

[u2ecila]

Thank you all for your responses! I think I am leaning towards the PISA at this point, but I am going to wait until after baby comes (still any day now) to pick it up.
:)