Breast Pumps Review

Breast-pump reviews are all about convenience and comfort

Sure, breast-feeding feels natural, but pumping certainly doesn't. So it's no surprise that reviews focus on speed, comfort and ease of use. And there's a huge order of magnitude when it comes to pumping technology. Depending on how much effort you want to exert, you can spend as little as about $35 for a single manual pump, or as much as $400 for a tricked-out double-pumping electric model with its own discreet carrying case.

The best look at the various breast pump models available can be found in "Baby Bargains," a book that lays out the differences -- and the discounts -- to be found when buying all manner of baby-related stuff. The authors, consumer advocates Denise and Alan Fields, consider 12 breast pumps based on personal research, parent reviews, price and manufacturer reputation. They make recommendations that vary depending on parents' needs.

The greatest source of consumer reviews for most breast pumps can be found at Amazon.com, which is also easy to navigate. Reviews can be sorted by consumer rating, making it easy to pick out common complaints about a product. Other retail sites like Diapers.com, Walmart.com, Target.com and BabiesRUs.com also offer reasonably well-organized user opinions, though generally fewer of them than at Amazon.com. Certain products will be reviewed by hundreds of people on one shopping website and by just a handful of users on another, so it's useful to check a few sites.

ConsumerReports.org, normally a great resource for comparison testing of baby gear, doesn't test or rate breast pumps. The site does offer a 2007 article, available to non-subscribers, that breaks down the different types of pumps, lists some available models and offers money-saving tips. Specialty websites like Cerean.net offer comparisons between models from a professional perspective, but we found some contradictory information, and the lack of dates on the reviews is frustrating. Lastly, we were able to find a host of individual product reviews on baby-themed websites and blogs, many of them written by mothers with experience using more than one type of breast pump.

Two brands, Ameda and Medela, do best in reviews, for their products as well as for their customer service. The "Baby Bargains" authors say Medela is more widely available in retail outlets than Ameda, and we found that Medela's website offers considerably more information on its products. Avent also gets high marks for its popular manual breast pump; its electric pumps are not as widely reviewed.

In general, single electric breast pumps, also known as mini-electrics, are the black sheep of this market. They promise the portability and ease of use offered by manual pumps, plus the efficiency of double electrics -- but rarely deliver on either, according to reviewers. Many users and professionals say they can be painful to use and are not terribly fast at expressing milk. Only one model, the Medela Swing, gets high marks, and it's the priciest of the bunch.

Companies like Evenflo and The First Years offer breast pumps that cost less, but reviewers pan their comfort and reliability. On Amazon.com the majority of reviews for the discontinued Evenflo Comfort Select Single give this mini-electric pump just 1 star, describing it as suctionless. The replacement model, the Evenflo Comfort Select Performance Single (*Est. $35), hasn't fared better in the few reviews that exist online so far; moms posting reviews to Target.com and Amazon.com say it's loud, breaks easily and loses suction like its predecessor. The First Years offers single and double electrics. The Double miPump (*Est. $70) in particular gets mixed reviews; users say it can be tough to use, lacks suction and can even be painful. One Amazon.com reviewer writes, "The rather cute bag this pump comes with is probably the best part."