Medela & Avent

Both of these are well-known international brands for breastfeeding accessories. Few months back, I was in this seminar that had the Medela booth and was "conned" into buying their pump when I have already bought Avent bottles based on recommendations. It cost me a whooping RM600 (15% discount) which I thought should be fine if I calculated the savings I get from not buying formula milk for a few months.

The first thing I found out when using the pump was that my Avent bottles will not fit. Of course not since they're wide necked bottles. I tried these slim necked bottles branded as "Pur" then and they still don't fit. Apparently, the Medela pump only fits 'some' slim necked bottles so one has to bring the pump along when buying storage bottles. Of course there are Medela bottles but they would make the breakeven time between formula milk and breastfeeding even longer. So then I bought a coverter which thankfully, some kind soul who might have had the same problem created it. It's RM9.90 for a piece of plastic. That idea worked fine until today.

Suffering engorgement is no laughing matter especially when the Medela pump stops working without any reason. Nothing seems to be wrong, all parts were attached correctly. The manual suggested drying the tube, laying the white rubber closure flat and checking that none of the parts were blocked. All these didn't work and the worse was yet to come as the Medela office opens only 5 days a week. I call this emergency. Leaking milk and all, I had no choice but to run to the nearest Anakku shop to get whatever pump I could find. Sure, I could use my hands but no one thought me how to and I'd feel like a cow being harrased by myself.

So anyway, there were only two choices in the shop - the Avent manual pump or the un-branded pump which looked like something one would use for milking a cow. I bought the Avent manual pump. It costs RM219.90 but nevermind, one month of usage will cover up the cost of buying formula milk again. Sigh...it suddenly looks like breastfeeding is costing more than using formula milk with two pumps not to mention the other accessories.

The moment I started to use the Avent pump, I knew I'd made the wrong choice on the Medela pump in the first place. Blame it on our country's culture which provide no trials nor returns when buying these expensive stuff. It just all depends on one's luck if you've got the right product or not.


The Avent pump, although manual worked a lot faster than the Medela's electric Swing pump. In five minutes, I got everything out into a bottle versus Medela's twenty minutes. Medela claims that their pump is the only one that mimicks suckling before it's pumped out. Avent's manual pump works the same - you just have to control it to mimic the suckling. Medela's pump will not work if you cannot find an electrical point or batteries. Avent's electrical pump can. I'm not complaining about the manual one either coz it doesn't need any power, only from your own hands. I need bright lights for the Medela pump because once the funnel's neck is clouded by vapour, I cannot see if I've finished pumping. Avent's neck is bigger and they use clear plastic so I can see in dim lights if I've finished. Of course I have to keep pressing on the manual pump but then I call that exercise and it's a good thing since there is just no opportunity for exercising anything these days. Overall, the manual Avent pump works better than the flimsy Medela electrical pump.

The question is what do I do with two pumps? The Medela one is still under warranty and I could get it repaired for free I hope but still....Anyone a fan of Medela pumps?