 "Absolutely the best pump EVER!" | 2008-10-03 |
| - Reviewed By User: A25TDHFSNYJLP6 |
This is possibly the best invention/product known to working mothers! I am in love with the Avent pump. I had to return to work earlier than expected and was faced with having to buy a new pump. I pump 2x at work and this pump works amazingly! I've been an Avent botttle user since my 1st child. The Avent pump pours directly into Avent bottles! This product came with 2 4oz. and 2 9oz. bottles. There is absolutely no transfer, just directly to the bottle and then into the insulate storage bags. With my previous pump, I was transfering the milk into the container, then into a bag which went into a freezer. The bag was then thawed and transfered to a bottle. Pain in the butt! However, this pump enables you to pump directly to the bottle, keep it in cold storage at work, and then just put in refrigerator when I get home for the next morning. It's great!
The suction works great and is not painful at all. The button is right on the handle so I don't have to turn the entire machine off to cut the suction. Also, it comes in a great looking briefcase style bag. I would recommend this pump to anyone... |
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 "Very pleased with this purchase - and the price!!" | 2008-09-29 |
| - Reviewed By User: A13QGPQ88TSUH8 |
| I bought this product from Amazon - for more than $100 less than in the store. It is a great pump which I take to work with me everyday. It is a little on the bulky side (when all the parts are in the carry case). But it is nice and easy to put together and the settings are too easy to use. I am extremely happy with my purchase!! |
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 "Noisy pump motor and clumsy to use" | 2008-09-19 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1SOANA9R3KHLH |
Used for barely a month and found that pump motor became very noisy after 2 weeks of constant use. Not sure if it's because the motor is meant to be used in the USA, and I'm based in Singapore. I find the system rather clumsy. The wires joining the motor to the pump are entangled and this causes the bottles (when fitted into the pump) to topple easily. So far, I've only used it at home, so not sure how it'll work out once I have to use it at work. Suction is also not as good as manual pump (I had an Avent manual pump before I bought this). Other than that, it's pretty decent as my milk supply did increase steadily and it takes me half the time to express my milk, as compared to when I was using a manual pump.
Can consider buying if you're using Avent products currently, e.g. steriliser, bottles, etc. and if you're living in USA. I'm rather disappointed that I can't do a 1-to-1 exchange from the Singapore office. If there's any malfunction with the product, I have to send it back to the USA as the warranty is not an international one. Need to weigh the pros and cons between getting it cheap from Amazon.com and after sales service. |
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| "This is the best pump ever!!!" | 2008-09-16 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2NG13PLLI0IDM |
| I bought this pump knowing that Advent bottles were good and that Phillips usually has really good products. I was really empressed with the pump. Some elctric pumps tend to hurt when you use them, this one had the awesome feature of you do it manually before having it pump for you. Regulating your own speed helped for days it was harder or easier to express. I loved that it came with its own case where everything you need to pump and store milk is right there. I would recommend this product to any mother who plans on breastfeeding. Trust me it is a must buy and better then any of the other pumps I have tried! |
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| "Love it. Comes in a great bag!" | 2008-08-30 |
| - Reviewed By User: A5T2RTW20TC8U |
| I love this pump. It's very easy to use and comes with lots of stuff. The item description lists all the items; however, it's difficult to see all of them in the picture in good detail. So when it arrived, I was pleasantly surprised. Also, it all comes in a really nice bag! It almost looks as if it should be a designer bag. I'm very pleased with this product, its look, and its ease of use. |
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| "Dig it." | 2008-08-27 |
| - Reviewed By User: AMV1JXN77DIZN |
Bought this pump to nurse my first child in hopes that I would be able to continue to nurse after I went back to work. I work a lot - at leat 50 hours a week (not by choice...) and wanted to be sure that if I can't be with him all of the time, he can at least keep the benefits of nursing. I nursed exclusively for 10 weeks and pumped a few times each day to build up my freezer supply. Currently I'm using this pump about 7-9 times each day (including right now while I type). When I first cameb ack to work, I was pumping about 6-9 oz total in about 10 minutes. After a week, I was only able to pump about 3 oz. ot sure why - but I odn't think that it's the pump. Anyway - I have had topick up the pace with the pumping at work, using it at least 5 times during the day, which I couldn't do with another pump.
Things I like - This pump is super quiet. I can pump in my office and nobody is the wiser (though I guess I dont' really are if they know...). THe control handle with the one touch button is great. I've watched my friends try to pump with the medela and let me tell you - this pump is way easier to use. the bag is nice, bigger than i thought it would be, but very nice. If you don't take tons of stuff with you, you can use the back pocket (no designated use) for a wallet, cell phone and other relatively flat things. Cord/tubing is long - I can leave the bag (with the pump in it - no reason to take it out) on the floor and sit in my desk chair and pump while I type. The petal inserts are nice - I didn't use them right away, but eventually got better results when I did. Now I love them. You get two plastic bags to store the horn setup in (one is always recently washed and drying) as well as pieces to seal off the horns so that they don't get dirty - great idea. The thinsulate bags are very nice, work very well. I pump WAY faster (never more than 10 minutes, letdown within 1 minute) than anybody else and get just as much if not more milk each time (keep in mind that even though some people get 8-10 oz or more each session, the average is like 2-3 ounces regardless of the pump).
Things I don't like: AS much as I like the petal inserts, they do make the pump a bit more drippy - milk gets stuck under them - keep a paper towel handy. We're not talking streams or constant drips here though. With the horn setup on, it is VERY top heavy and takes a couple of ounces (3 ish) in the bottom of the bottles to balance better, so be very careful. It's a closed system though so even if it falls over, you'll lose a few drops at most (milk can't get from the bottle back into the horn). Also - I don't like avent bottles - they leak too much. And this is true with the pump. The horn screws onto the bottle and it leaks just like the bottle with the nipple would. The icepacks are cumbersome - several small ones per thinsulate bag instead of 2 bigger ones or something. Also, two of my icepacks ruptured before i ever used them. I bought bigger icepacks at the dollar spot at target and am having better luck using those. I only need them to stay cold for 30 minutes at most!
Solutions to what other people don't like: Setup time isn't really that long. 1-2 minutes once you know how to do it. I leave the control wire in and unplug the tubing, leaving it in the same pocket the pump is in. I unplug the power cord but I don't separate it into the two pieces - this gets stored inside the main compartment instead of the compartments it is supposed to be in. There is plenty of space of iti n the main compartment. I go to work, set it up on the floor by my desk and leave it there all day. There are lots of pieces that attach to the horns, but I just leave them attached to the bottles and store them in the refridg. There is no real reason to wash the pieces every singe time you use them - you can leave breastmilk sit at room temp. for 6-10 hours and you can pump into the same bottle all day long, topping the milk off (read "So That's What Their For!" it will explain this), you can certainly pump, leave the horns attached to the bottles, unplug the tubing and throw the whole horn/bottle setup into the fridge. When you are done for the day, cap the bottles and close up the horns, head home and wash them up for the next day. Problem solved. |
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| "Control at your finger tips" | 2008-08-14 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2GBL9AIOFXFBU |
I bought this pump for occasional use. I am nursing exclusively and had a lot of trouble and pain with latching problems. So I figured that if the issues continued, it would be very good to have the pump ready to go so that we wouldn't have to rely on formula.
The pump is very good. Just yesterday I pumped 8 oz from both breasts because my 6 week old decided to skip the 3 am feeding and I was very engorged. The pump did the job in 4 minutes per breast (I know that it is a double, but I had only one horn upstairs and didn't really wanted to go fetch the other one downstairs). I don't have to haul the pump, so I can't give you information on that. The Amazon price cannot be beaten.
Pros:
- It works with all the Avent bottles and sterilizer (you will need one of those, it is worth the money).
- It is fast and reliable.
- Doesn't make a lot of noise.
- Comes with everything you may need to pump on the go and haul pump, parts and expressed milk safely, including features to keep the parts sterile properly.
- Comes with all parts for the manual pump as well, so you have a back-up in case something happens with the electric and if you want to have a pump nearby just in case while traveling.
Cons:
- It has a lot of parts and it takes a while to get used to what goes where.
- It makes my breasts sore. It is better with the comfort shield, and it is getting better with practice, but it is still a con.
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 "Got Milk?" | 2008-07-25 |
| - Reviewed By User: A4T14M2WS7ZDN |
I think this is an OK breast pump, although I have not tried any other kind. The whole kit and bag are all very nice, stylish and well made. My complaint is that there are so many pieces to clean and assemble. I went back to work and found myself taking an extra 15 minutes to disassemble, wash, dryand reassemble each piece. I also live on the third floor and to carry this heavy bag, my child in his carseat and the diaper bag was a tedious chore. I always felt that the pumps were top heavy and would topple over. I purchased the plastic storage containers from Avent but did not like that i was putting the cap to seal the milk on the counter top to hold the cup steady (when assembled to the pump). The silver bags to keep the milk cool did not really do anything special. The suction seemed to be stronger on one side than the other from time to time but the suction pattern memory was really nice.
Overall, yes it is well made and probably a good pump. If I could change anything, I would make less pieces to clean, more stable when standing upright and lighter. |
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| "A much better pump" | 2008-07-19 |
| - Reviewed By User: A3NF0WGZSXLN36 |
When my son was born 5 years ago, I purchased the Ameda pump to use while nursing. I could not stand that machine. It was loud, slow, and uncomfortable. Pregnant with my second, I wanted to buy a new pump but thought it silly to spend that much money for something that would only be used for a year or so. And would it be that much better? Let's face it - pumping is a necessary evil for breastfeeding mothers who want or need to have a life and is not a fun chore. It makes you feel like you're a milked cow. I figured I'd suck it up and use what I already had as that had cost a fortune.
My mom heard me talking about it and she bought me the Isis IQ Duo pump from Avent (we love Mom!). I use these bottles and the pump had a lot of attractive features. Fortunately I had a Babies R Us coupon for money off of a pump (look for these!). My daughter is almost 3 weeks old and I decided to tackle the pump yesterday because my husband desperately wanted to feed her. It was slightly intimidating but I got over it and was glad I did. I love that I could manually control and determine the settings for speed and suction. I also love that I could pump both sides at once (although awkward) as I don't like to consume a lot of time with this activity. It was way more comfortable than the plastic I was used to and so much quieter and less harsh a sound. It is so much more efficient at getting the job done. They also have several products that work well and easily that are affordable for this pump.
So I am sending Mom a thank you card for this buy and say that to those of you who have to or want to pump that this pump is the way to go! If I knew then what I know now about how far superior it is, I would have forked over the cash myself sooner. |
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| "A perfectly fine pump . . . until I went back to work." | 2008-06-27 |
| - Reviewed By houcke |
I received this pump as a shower gift after registering for it. I chose it based on the very positive reviews it received. I became a little nervous when I asked the ladies at my local breastfeeding supply store - and these ladies know it all about breastfeeding - if they could show me how the pump worked. They said they didn't sell the Isis and couldn't help me. That seemed suspicious. If this pump is so great, why don't they carry it or at least know about it . . .
I pumped right away after the birth of my son to get my supply up. This pump was fine for leaving set up at home and just steam-cleaning the parts after use and leaving them to dry on the counter. It seemed to work just fine. I even rented a Medela hospital grade for a few days and I didn't see any difference in results. My only complaint was that the bottles wouldn't stand up with the horns attached, causing the occasional spill. So far, so good - or at least no major complaints.
Then I started back to work. Suddenly, I had major complaints. The top three being: (1) the pump was heavy; (2) the bag is uncomforable and awkward; and (3) it takes way too long to clean to be efficient for use several times a day at work.
Admittedly, the weight is probably comparable to other pumps out there. The bag, though, is pretty bad. The straps are hard and uncomfortable. It's like a piece of odd-sized luggage more than a stylish tote that compliments a working woman's wardrobe. The bag is very large and ends up being full of parts. It's also very specific to the pump, there's no extra pocket for a wallet or cell phone, so there's no chance of reducing the number of bags I had to schelp from the parking garage to the office. Even if the company were to sell extra horns (I never called to find out), they wouldn't fit in the bag.
After two days of pumping at work - three times a day and on a different floor from my office and a different floor from the sink or microwave for cleaning - I realized that the sheer excess of parts is the downfall of this pump. Not only are there horns, there are the rubber gaskets that fit on the horns and between the tubing and the horn in addition to the valves. I was washing and drying all this junk three times a day or more. That's ridiculous. I'm an attorney with a billable hour requirement. I am committed to breastfeeding my child for as long as I can but it needs to be fast and efficient. I can't spend the extra minutes at the end of each session taking this thing apart for cleaning. I also really hate those rubber gaskets for the fact that if they are not perfectly sealed onto the breast, the pump doesn't work. This means those hands-free bras don't work with it.
It's also telling that all the great pump accessories (steam bags, storage bags that fit on a pump, wipe clothes) out there are made by Medela. I just bought a Medela Pump in Style and love it so far and am even seeing slightly better results. |
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