Medela Advanced vs Freestyle

It looks like the Medela Advanced pump has been discontinued and is going cheap for $400 at Babies R Us :D I'm pretty keen to get it as my Mini Electric just isn't cutting it but I'm not sure whether I should just spend the extra and get the Freestyle.

I'm a full time SAHM so I don't need to pump at work so portability isn't really an issue. I'm currently expressing roughly 4 times a week to keep my freezer stash up but it's proving to be hard work using my Mini Electric. I had awful breastfeeding troubles in the first 2-3 months with both my girls (vasospasm being one of the issues) so there is a high probability I'll experience problems in the beginning when we have a third child so a double pump wouldn't be wasted. Especially when I had to rent a Medela Symphony for several weeks with both my girls. So any thoughts would be appreciated to help me make a decision. Cheers!

I have the freestyle i really like it (as far as pumps go lol) i recommend it, however i haven't used the other one so can't really compare... i got my freestyle new for $500 off e baby. it's still going strong and i have used it lots..

I used the Medela electric for my DS. It was good if I was BFing as well but as soon as that slowed it wasn't great at getting milk out.

I've bought a freestyle for this one, $480 on eBay, I have yet to try it out but did lend it to a friend of mine who has said it was brilliant so I'm looking forward to using it. I'll be back at work after 4 months so need something portable.

Good luck!

Thanks girls. I did quite a bit or research overnight while DD2 was feeding and I think it's probably a good idea to fork out the extra for the Freestyle. I can get it for $520 from my mums work so that's pretty good :D

Is it sad that I'm excited about this?? There is something so satisfying about pumping a decent bottle of EBM! :lol:

I feel the same way Taurean... I was so sad when DS weaned at 8 months, and once the sucking stopped, it didn't seem to matter how much I expressed, my milk supply decreased.

I loved seeing all that milk squirt out into the bottle... at my peak I was getting 200mL from ONE boob! Also, I'm planning to express so that DS can have some breast milk once a day (can't hurt right?), so I wanted something that was going to get as close as possible to suckling and get as much milk out as possible. I plan to go back to work at 4 months, so i needed something portable. The good thing is that my friend got 6 months use out of it as well so it doesn't seem like a huge amount of money wasted..

Will keep you posted with how I get on with the pump after JuneBug arrives :)

I loved my freestyle but for me it was the portability and size of it which isn't as important to you. Although you never know when you need to do other stuff away from your home.

I paid around $500 on ebay.

Black Rose - 200mls a boob?! That's impressive! I was getting that in the morning when DD2 was really little and I was pumping exclusively but those days are long gone :lol: I would love to see the milk flow a little easier though as my Mini just doesn't make it happen now unless I'm engorged (which is rare now) or if I compress my boobs heaps. It's hard work.

Lisa - thanks for popping in :D Did you find the Freestyle really efficient? How's the noise level? Watching TV while I pump is pretty important to me (:lol:), another issue with the Mini, it's really quite loud.

Hey there, compared to the Medela symphony I did find it loud and found myself turning the t.v. up. I also know that watching tv or just doing something else is important whilst pumping. I think the Freestyle is probably about as loud as the Medela Swing. I haven't used the Mini or Advanced so can't comment on them. If I wanted to try and muffle the sound a bit more I would sit it on a cushion, or put something like a cushion over the top of the pump. Is the mini a single? If so then the Freestyle or the Advanced gives you double capacity which would reduce the time and the length of time you have to listen to the noise.

Sometimes milk flow is related to the type of pump, possibly the age and condition of valves etc, the level of suction you choose or sometimes it just isn't as effective as BF. It will be hard to know until you've experimented a bit.

I'm glad BF is working out for you, that's great news!!!

Well I bought the Freestyle today and I'm going to give it a whirl tonight before bed. I'm so excited! :rofl:

Thanks for your comments girls

Awesome!

What did you think??

Love it!! Only wish I'd bought one sooner, like when DD1 arrived! :doh: It's brilliant!

Oh great!! :hooray:

I'm picking up mine from my friend on Tuesday. Can't wait to try it out once bubs is here!

You'll love it! It's so tiny and really nifty, lol. The breast shields are the tiny standard ones that come with all Medela pumps which are too small for me. I was looking forward to trying out the soft shields but they are just too small.

Think I'll give the handfree setup a whirl today. Will let you know how that goes.