Note: I wrote this when Sofia was 7-8 months old
A little less popular than a leading brand, Spectra has a wide range of products a breastfeeding mom can choose from and my choice is Spectra 9+. This is actually recommended by my husband's officemates. I think two or three of his officemates use this and they highly recommended this (see how supportive my husband is?). Spectra 9+ is cheaper compared to a leading brand. At its price, you get to have a double electric pump. I love the led monitor that shows time, suction level and suction type. It's very handy and has good battery life. I've been using this for six months already (Sofia was 6 weeks old when I started to pump) and I can say, it has done an excellent job. It comes with a lot of parts that means having a lot to wash but it doesn't matter. I just needed to wash the parts once a day and just put inside the refrigerator after every use. I've change the valves twice in 6 months already to make sure I get the suction I want. Although I need to hand express and pump then hand express again, this pump is already a good buy at its price. Hand expression also helps remove more milk to avoid mastitis from pumping. I've also used this pump to do power pumping and it also yields good number of output.
A downside would be it was recommended by babymama to use this only 5 times a day so if you are an exclusive pumper, better use Spectra's hospital grade ones. For me, since Sofia latches on me when we're together, its number of use in a day doesn't matter - I just need to be smart on what time of the day I will use the pump. Before, I pump once at home before I go to work and four times at work yielding me at least 15 to 20 ounces each with 10 minutes pump (although babymama recommends 20 minutes, it's up to how your body responds to it. My body yields more milk during the first 5 minutes with 2 let downs and just drops of milk after 10 minutes so I pump in less time than recommended). Now, I power pump once a day. That's two pumps with 10 minute interval and 3 pumps while at work yielding me at least 12 to 18 ounces. A little less than before but Sofia can only drink (from a cup) 12-13 ounces a day. However, I've asked some moms in one Facebook page about the 5-times-a-day limit, they say they use theirs more than 5 times and their pumps are still doing its job.
A downside would be it was recommended by babymama to use this only 5 times a day so if you are an exclusive pumper, better use Spectra's hospital grade ones. For me, since Sofia latches on me when we're together, its number of use in a day doesn't matter - I just need to be smart on what time of the day I will use the pump. Before, I pump once at home before I go to work and four times at work yielding me at least 15 to 20 ounces each with 10 minutes pump (although babymama recommends 20 minutes, it's up to how your body responds to it. My body yields more milk during the first 5 minutes with 2 let downs and just drops of milk after 10 minutes so I pump in less time than recommended). Now, I power pump once a day. That's two pumps with 10 minute interval and 3 pumps while at work yielding me at least 12 to 18 ounces. A little less than before but Sofia can only drink (from a cup) 12-13 ounces a day. However, I've asked some moms in one Facebook page about the 5-times-a-day limit, they say they use theirs more than 5 times and their pumps are still doing its job.
I can say it's a money well spent to moms who do not have the skill to do hand expression (ouch!). It really depends on how your body responds to the pump. For me, Spectra 9+ nailed it. This has been my best friend during lactation breaks and never fails!
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