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280 of 285 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
5-star pump, 2-star milk storage, May 21, 2005
The Pump-in-Style Advanced Backpack is an absolutely wonderful breast pump combined with a sub-par milk storage system.
The pump gives you the option to pump either one breast at a time or both breasts at once. The pump starts off with a special two-minute "let down" cycle, which is supposed to mimic a baby's natural sucking action when she first latches on (faster, shorter sucks). After two minutes, this automatically changes over to the "expression" cycle (longer, slower sucks), but if your milk lets down sooner, you can manually change the cycles with the push of a button. You can also control the strength of the pump using a knob - a very nice feature because you can really customize the sucking strength to your exact needs and you can adjust it with the turn of a knob at any time during your session. The design of the pump is very simple - it takes almost no time to set up and break down. The Pump in Style comes with an A/C adaptor and a battery pack (batteries not included) that takes *TEN* AA batteries. If you're planning on using the pump in a car, you can purchase a car adaptor separately. One of the nicest features of the Advanced is that the pump is housed in its own little black case that comes completely out of the backpack (unlike the original Pump in Style, with a battery that couldn't come out of the bag); this allows you to leave the pump wherever you'll be using it (ex. at work) and only take the bottles or bags of expressed milk back and forth in the cooler. Since the majority of the weight of the Pump in Style is in the pump itself, this is a wonderful feature. Personally, I've found that I can empty both breasts (about 6-8oz combined) with the Pump in Style in about 20 minutes or less (double pumping) - setup and cleanup add about another 5 minutes each, so I'm done with pumping within a half hour. I use the micro-steam bags to sterilize all the parts, so that takes only 5 minutes in my very low-wattage microwave (it can take as little as 2 minutes in a high-powered microwave). All in all, I am completely satisfied with the pump portion of the Pump in Style.
What I'm not satisfied with is the Pump in Style's milk storage system. There's a small cooler bag with a form-fitted ice-pack insert. You freeze the ice pack and the storage bottles fit around it in the bag. This part is fine. However, the bottles themselves are awful. Two of the bottles have solid caps (for storage only) and the other two have two-piece caps that can be used with nipples as nursing bottles. However, no nipples are included with the set, and none of the literature included with the Pump in Style even mentions that nipples are available. I had to call the company and ask about it, and I was told that nipples need to be bought separately for $1 each. For the money I paid for this system, the least they could have done was include 2 nipples for the 2 bottles! The bottles themselves are absolutely nothing special - there are no features to try to reduce the amount of air a baby gets when nursing, etc. With the advances in bottle design, I would think Medela would have a great bottle to go along with their great pump, but no such luck - this is about as basic a bottle design as it gets. So, as far as I'm concerned, the 4 bottles are only good for milk storage, which means the milk needs to be transferred into another bottle for feeding purposes. Medela does make disposable storage bags and even includes some with the Pump in Style. However, the bags don't fit into a bottle as a drop-in; again, you have to transfer the milk from the bags into another bottle to feed. You're supposed to be able to tear off a small tab at the bottom of the bag to open a hole for pouring out the milk, but I've never been able to do this. I always have to snip the edge of the bag with a scissors to get it open (which, I'm sure, compromises the sterility of the inside of the bag). Also, the bags close with twist-ties at the top, which causes the bags to freeze with all sorts of ruffles and folds at the top. This makes it nearly impossible to re-open a frozen bag at the top to add more milk. What Medela should come up with is a storage system that uses disposable drop-in bottle liners. Right now, I'm using the Playtex Drop-Ins with a pump converter that allows me to pump directly into the Playtex liners; I then just drop them into a bottle when I want to use them. This is the kind of convenience that I was looking for in the Medela storage system, which unfortunately, they don't have.
The backpack itself is stylish - you really can't tell that it's anything but a fairly sophisticated-looking backpack. It's a bit crowded when carrying the pump, storage bag and all the parts - there's no room for anything else inside. If you remove the pump, you can fit a few things inside, but it's still not what I would call roomy. I guess this is the trade-off between function and style - a larger backpack would have been more practical for holding stuff other than the pump, but it would have looked clunky. So, if you need to carry more than a set of keys and a small wallet, plan on carrying a bag in addition to the backpack.
Despite the small drawbacks of the backpack and the large inconvenience of their storage system, the Medela pump itself is absolutely fabulous and definitely deserves five stars.
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56 of 56 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
good but not great, July 14, 2008
This review is from: Medela Pump in Style Advanced Breast Pump with Backpack (Baby Product)
I got the Medela because I knew I would have to return to work and wanted the pump with the best reviews. Well, this was it, but 9 months into the pump-life I am not perfectly happy.
Pros:
1) Discreet, convenient
2) Pumping 2 at once and electric is really convenient. I purchased one of the handsfree kits (really just a tube top with holes around the nipples) and I can continue to work at my desk while pumping. (Door closed, of course).
3) Easy to purchase parts for. This is really important. I can go to my local Target and get parts for this. It is not so easy with some of the more obscure brands.
Cons:
1) Motor seemed to wear out some after about 6 months of daily use. It still pumps, but I have to turn the power higher to get the same amount of voltage. I don't feel that I could use this for a second child. It's not only a "one person" product as described in the manual, I think it's meant to be a "one baby" product as well.
2) Battery-operated feature doesn't work well at all. It requires 8 AA batteries, and loses power by the end of the first session. For pumping on the road I recommend the car charger (sold separately).
I ended up purchasing an Avent Isis hand pump to supplement this one. It is easier to use when I am home and I actually get just as much milk from one breast with the Avent as I do with this, in about the same amount of time. The difference is that I can strap the Medela on and keep working. If I didn't have the handsfree kit it would be very inconvenient to use the double pumping feature.
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61 of 62 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Much better than the Original!, February 15, 2008
This review is from: Medela Pump in Style Advanced Breast Pump with Backpack (Baby Product)
I am a stay-at-home-mom and am breastfeeding exclusively. I debated on which type of pump to get given that I wasn't planning on pumping often, just to have some extra milk for occasional bottle feeding and to freeze milk for future use.
I really didn't want to spend this much on a pump, but there were a couple things that swayed me to purchase this:
1. The Medela brand. I researched options over and over again and I kept coming back because of the positive reviews. Other pumps had good reviews, but a lot of bad ones also. This brand seemed to have the most consistent positive reviews.
2. I plan to have more children. I figured better to invest in a good pump that I can use for several kids than a cheaper pump that I would have to keep replacing.
3. I could either buy a cheaper single pump, or go with a more expensive double pump. The trade-off is time. I felt it was worth the time saving. If I was pumping a couple times a day for a year, imagine the time savings to be double-pumping. To me it was worth it.
Thank goodness I bought this, I developed thrush about a week after my baby was born and was unable to breastfeed. However, I was able to express and bottle feed until the infection cleared up. In doing this, between pumping and feeding it was taking up an incredible amount of time each day. But, imagine how much time it would have taken if I only had a single pump!
Get the advanced model--the two stage pumping process is really helpful. I have to go back and forth between the two stages several times in one pumping session. I'm not sure how well I could have pumped with another model without this feature.
A couple negatives...Medela removed several features from the 2008 model that the 2007 model had, I guess so they could lower the price and make it more affordable. This included the manual pump (which is really needed in case you ever go on vacation and don't want to take the full pump or are away from your pump for an extended period of time and need to relieve some pressure), the bottle stands, and the removable motor. If you can still get your hands on a 2007 model, I would suggest you do so because these features are good to have. I get really annoyed with not having the bottle stands, the top of the bottle with the horns is heavier than the bottle, so they tip over constantly unless they are really full of milk. Also, you have to press a button to go between the two phases of pumping, but when you are holding a bottle in each hand, unless you have a third arm and hand it is tricky. Eventually you get used to it, but I wish there were some way to make this easier.
Overall I'm really happy with the purchase!
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