Here are a few questions that a customer recently asked us,
regarding breast pumps and
bottles.
"I have listened to the videos of the
breastpumps and just thought the mini-electric was so loud!
Hence the preference for the Medela
Swing, seem like it would be so much more discrete especially
in our small house! Is the swing significantly quieter in your
opinion?"
Oh boy yes, there is a significant difference. We tried to show
this in the videos by talking over them both in a normal voice so
you could compare, regardless of what sort of speakers you have on
your computer. With the swing, you can talk over it, and if you
needed to you, you could talk on the phone with only a gentle noise
in the background hardly audible. With the mini-electric you cant
do anything except sit down and pump the noise is really loud.
Expressing is certainly not glamourous that's for sure!
Also take a look at the Chu
Chu teat, which are a special teat that work the same way as a
nipple. And they fit any narrow neck bottles, including the bottles
that come with the swing pump of course. These teats are suitable
from birth to toddler, just the one size works for all ages because
the baby controls the flow rate.
"How many bottles do you suggest? We intend to do at least
one bottle feed, sometimes two per day."
Well you need at least one bottle
and one teat. You'd just need to wash and sterilize it after
every time that you use it. If you want to do more feeds, then it
can make life a little easier if you have 2-3 bottles and 2-3
teats.
By the way, you can sterilize these with a microwave sterilizer,
boiling in a saucepan, medela sterilization microwave bags etc.
"With the Medela swing would it be a sensible plan to
express into the milk
storage bags then serve in a bottle?"
Yes you can do that if you know that you will be
storing it rather than baby drinking it straight away. You
can express directly into the bags. Store the bags in the fridge or
the freezer, and then serve to baby in a bottle. Defrost the bags
in the fridge, and warm the milk by submerging the bottle in a jug
of hot water. Never put breast milk in the microwave.
If there is anything else you would like to know or are worried
about, please ask as Breastmates are here to help
you. We know that this how expressing /feeding thing can get very
confusing!