Factors to consider in choosing your pump:
How often and how long will you be pumping? To me, manual pump is a waste of money. Hand expressing is actually more effective than manual pump, and cheaper! Since the first month, you should just latch latch latch, that gives you a whole month to practice expressing by hand and IF expressing by hand doesn't work by the end of that first month, THEN only you buy manual pump.
Click here for my favourite hand expressing video.It took me about two weeks of trying every day to get the milk to come out by hand expression. When I first started, I just practiced getting the milk out. I practiced in the shower until my arm was sore, and then stop. I repeat only once a day. One day, it just shoot out! Only when I could make the milk shoot out from every angle of the breast 360degree, then only I practice to collect the milk. Hand expressing is soooooo useful and so convenient. I just keep a clean bottle in my car, in my handbag. Any emergency, I just wash my hands and express. I never have to worry about what if I forgot my pump! Even if I forgot the bottle, I just go to a baby shop or baby section of dept store and buy milk bags. Can pump straight in without washing.
However, if you're planning to go back to work full time, or you're going to be separated from your baby for more than 6 hours at a time, then you should definitely buy a double electric. To bf successfully, you should latch OR pump every 3 hours around the clock for the first 6 months. Let's say you're a typical working mum, so you're going to be separated from your baby for 8 hours + 1 hour commute between home and office. That's 9 hours separation, and that means 3x pumping.
When you're pumping, you should pump 20 minutes
each breast. If you use a double pump, each session will be 20 minutes x 3 sessions, which means total amount of pumping at the office is
1 hour. If you use only a single pump, you have to do 20 minutes left breast than only 20 minutes right breast, meaning 40 minutes x 3 sessions! That's
2 hours of pumping at the office, not to mention that you'll be disappearing for
40 minutes 3x a day. Your boss will NOT be happy with you.
Double pump is about saving time. You HALVE the time of pumping with double pump, because you pump both breasts at the same time. If you buy a hands free bra, then you can pump AND do other things at the same time. (I liked to nap while pumping; the first 6 months of newborn baby, it was the only sleep time I got!)
Where will you be pumping? Will you have a plug point? If you have a plug point, then you don't need rechargeable battery types, which are more expensive. Will you be pumping in your car? Then you need a pump where you can buy the car charger addition, or consider rechargeable battery types. Will you be carrying the pump around? Then you want to consider a lightweight pump. Heavier, bigger pumps that you can just leave in the office would have better suction so you can pump more milk in less time, if you're just pumping at the office. Will you be pumping in the middle of the office with everyone around you? You may want to make sure that your pump is as quiet as possible. Some pumps can be
very loud and embarassing, but no pump is completely silent. I once entered an elevator while pumping. It was a very quiet pump, and normally no one can hear it, but in an enclosed elevator that echoes, the people sharing the elevator with me heard the pump and freaked out a bit by the weird noise echoing so quietly.
How long do you intend to use it for? Are you planning to have multiple children? Do you plan to re-use the pump for second and third and fourth child? Then make sure you know where to send the pump for servicing and how easy/affordable servicing will be. You will need to send the pump for servicing at least, if not more often, every time you get pregnant with a new baby. Malaysian Medela service center no longer services US-bought pumps at all. Medela pumps bought from US are for 1-baby use only. They say it in their manuals, on their website, etc. If you're only using for one baby, then you might really be saving by buying US medela pump, but if you want to use for even two babies, you might as well just buy the more expensive version. Spending RM200 more is cheaper than having to buy a completely new pump when you're pregnant again because your USA pump refused to work (personal experience).
Also if you live far away from the service center, will it be expensive to ship to the service center? Or will the shop you buy it from pay for the shipping? What will you pump with while your main pump is away? How long is warranty?
Do you plan to buy second hand from a stranger or re-sell your pump after you're done? If you do, then consider avoiding medela, avent and other brands with open-pump system. Open-pump system means that the pump itself is not protected from the user. It is possible that any infections of the previous user can pass to the new user AND HER BABY through open-pump systems. There is no evidence that any infections/diseases have been acquired through breast pumps though, so if you wish to take the risk to yourself and your babies, or risk infecting other people's babies, that is up to you. I just tell you what is known. If you don't want to take this risk, look for closed-pump systems.