When choosing a pump, it’s important to consider “which features of the various pumps might suit your personal preferences as well as your pumping goals,” says lactation consultant Natalie Ward, IBCLC, BS. If you’re going back to work outside the home, for example, a quiet and portable option for pumping at the office is important. If you need to be able to multitask, a hands-free pump design is a must. To find the best breast pumps, we spoke to a certified lactation consultant and considered each pump for ease of use, portability, noise level, comfort, and effectiveness. Based on our reviews, these are the best breast pumps on the market today.
With 10 vacuum settings, you can easily toggle between levels until you find the one that’s most comfortable for you. Thanks to the closed system, milk travels safely from your breast to the bottle. The set comes with two sizes of breast shields, making it easy to find a comfortable fit. This ideal starter pack is lightweight and comes with everything you need to pump on the go: a cooler bag and cooling element, a microfiber pump bag, and a battery pack. The set also comes with four five-ounce bottles with lids and two bottle stands, as well as a power adapter if you’d prefer to plug into the wall. Price at time of publication: $261 This pump features an intuitive and easy-to-use display with setting controls. Users love that it can be used with either batteries or a power cord, making it portable-friendly. If your hand-eye coordination is shaky at best, you’ll love that this pump comes with two adapters designed to make pumping directly into storage bags a breeze. Price at time of publication: $78 The pumps are super quiet, offer adjustable suction options, and come with four five-ounce bottles with lids, four breast shields (in two different sizes), two bra adjusters, two USB charging cables, and two carrying bags. Price at time of publication: $549 To use the pump, you need to purchase the Medela Symphony Double Pumping Kit separately and you cannot use other brands with universal designs as they can cause serious damage to the pump. While the price can be a bit jarring, this pump can be rented instead of outright purchased. Price at time of publication: $1,873 Thanks to the very lightweight and compact material, it can fit into a purse or car console for transport. Also, it can hold up to four ounces of milk and is incredibly easy to use. Price at time of publication: $18 Not only is it budget-friendly, but it’s also easy to use, comes in a six-piece set, and is easy to clean. Aside from the pump and breast shield, other pieces include a bottle, connector, and more. Price at time of publication: $44 This pump offers two-phase expression technology to closely mimic a baby’s natural sucking, an adjustable control system with an LED screen, electronic memory control, and a timer and nightlight. Price at time of publication: $171 The compact design is so small that you can clip it to your belt and walk around while it does the pumping. It features adjustable settings, a letdown button to help you get more milk, and a super quiet motor for discrete pumping sessions. It also comes with a carrying bag, two five-ounce bottles with lids, a neck strap to carry the pump around hands-free, and a breast shield. Price at time of publication: $178 The type of portable pump that you will need will be partially contingent on where you’re headed. You’ll like want something electric but compact to go to work with to speed up your pumping sessions while the silicone Haakaa manual pump may be ideal for throwing in your diaper bag while running errands. Breast pumps can be very noisy, which can be particularly bothersome if you’re trying to discreetly pump while you’re at work or out in public, so it’s a good idea to do some research and read reviews to find out how loud the pump is. Ward suggests specifically looking into the noise level of the pump on higher settings, as that’s when it’s working the hardest.
Type
There are several different kinds of pumps available and a lot of them have different power sources (or none at all). The best style for you depends entirely on your lifestyle and how you plan to use it. Hospital Grade If you deliver your baby at the hospital, they will most likely have a pump in the room that you can use while you’re recovering. These pumps are considered hospital grade because they’re more powerful and designed to handle constant use, and they’re often larger and less portable. While you will most commonly find them in hospitals, these pumps are available for anyone to purchase or rent. Many choose to rent them since they can be quite a financial investment. Manual Manual breast pumps are great for keeping in your bag or car in case you find yourself engorged or needing to pump but you don’t have access to your electric pump. Every model is a little different, but all of them require you to power the pump manually with your hand. Typically, these are single pumps which means that you have to pump each breast separately. Electric This is the most common type of pump and uses electric power, either from batteries, a USB port, or an outlet, to run the motor. Most of them are similar to hospital-grade but smaller for portability and general ease of use. Some more recent models, however, attach to the breast and can be worn so you can move around while pumping hands-free. Milk Catchers These aren’t actually pumps, but they’re designed to collect your milk throughout the day so you don’t waste a single drop. They’re meant to be worn instead of breast pads so that when your breasts leak throughout the day the milk is collected and can be transferred to a bottle or freezer bag. Depending on the style pump you get, Ward suggests considering the following questions: “What kind of power source does the pump require? Does it have to be plugged into the wall? Can it be recharged with a power cord? Can it be charged via USB? Does it take batteries in case you live in an area that is prone to storms or power outages? If it is rechargeable/takes batteries, how long does the battery life last?”
Price
Breast pumps can be quite an investment depending on the type of pump that it is and the brand. The good news is that there are several options at varying price points that can fit just about any budget out there. Moreover, the more expensive options and hospital-grade units are available to rent rather than buy outright, which can be ideal if you don’t plan on using it for an extended time period. The most affordable way to obtain a breast pump is through your health insurance. According to Healthcare.gov, health insurance providers are required to cover the costs of a breast pump. Keep in mind, however, that your exact plan will specify the type of pump they will cover (electric or manual), the length of a rental, and whether the pump will arrive before or after you’ve given birth. Check with your healthcare provider for specific details to help you properly plan.
Ease of Use
No matter what, most breast pumps will require you to read the instruction manual to figure out how to successfully use it. That being said, you don’t want something that you have to read the instructions every time you pull it out because it’s so complex you can’t remember how to make it work. On the flip side, if it’s an electric pump, you’re going to want one that has different settings, so if all you have to do is push a power button without any settings, it’s probably a little too easy to use (and won’t be as effective). Questions Ward suggests asking yourself include: “How complex is the pump features-wise? Are there so many buttons/bells and whistles that you feel lost? Is it so basic that the settings can’t be adjusted to produce let-downs/optimal milk removal?”
Why Trust Verywell Family?
Ashley Ziegler is a full-time parenting writer as well as a parent herself to a two-year-old and a five-year-old. To help select the best breast pumps on the market she consulted with Natalie Ward, IBCLC, BS, a lactation consultant serving patients in North Carolina. However, if your goal is to exclusively breastfeed and it’s going well for you, then there is no rush to start pumping since feeding your baby is going to be what helps your milk come in and your supply to increase. If you’re having difficulty breastfeeding, you should consult with a lactation expert to decide when is the right time to start using your pump. If you’re using a manual breast pump or wearable pumps, this same rule applies to any part that is exposed to breast milk. Check your pump’s instructions to determine if the parts are dishwasher safe, otherwise washing with warm soapy water can get the job done. When it comes to the pump itself, there is minimal cleaning necessary. “The pump itself should not need cleaning very often other than the occasional dusting or wiping with a damp cloth,” says Ward, “[and] it should not be because milk has entered any part of the pump.” However, if you are using a shared device, the machine should be wiped down before you use it. As for the pump itself, it’s often not clear whether or not a pump is a right fit for someone until they’ve been able to use it a few times, so there’s no way to know for sure if it will work before you actually try it out. In addition to considering Natalie’s insight, Ashley used her personal pumping experience to help her determine which products stand out from their competitors. Other key considerations she used when selecting these recommendations include the pump’s design, effectiveness, and user reviews.
