Review: Avent Comfort Manual Breast Pump - Singapore

I feel like I am on a mission of finding the right breast pump for my lifestyle. You see, I am a FTWM who works mostly in the office but I do have to step out of office once in awhile and usually location are in construction sites and at times I will be stuck in a 2-4 hours meeting so mobility, easiness, cleanliness and convenience is a must for me when I look for a breast pump. Initially, I thought my electric pump would be able to deal with all that, but I was wrong! My electric pump was like a "white elephant" noisy, bulky and many parts to deal with. Using the electric pump would be great if I wasn't moving around much.

I want to share with you my experience with Breast Pumps that works for me and hopefully work for you too, such reviews are great and I am sure if you are breastfeeding this would definitely help a lot. I always thought that I seriously need to get electric pump to get the job done faster and effectively. And my experience with Manual pump previously wasn't so good but I was in dying need to get something portable, easy to use and definitely don't give out loud motor noise. So I did my usually online research and went on all those mummy forums to check on review of breast pump, also the cost factor since I have invested my money on the electric pump I wasn't sure if I want to spend more for the next pump.

Let me introduce to you Avent Comfort Manual Pump!

Avent claims to give Comfort for their pump and their breast cushion is supposedly to stimulate the breast just like how the baby's latch. And it claims that you can lean back (as in you can sit comfortably instead of leaning forward) to pump instead while sitting up. One of the favorite part about this Manual Pump that it has very simple part to assemble and it's not very technical.

In my opinion this pump is definitely comfortable, it didn't hurt when pumping or times when you have engorged breast. In fact it also help me to relieved block duct very effectively compare to the electrical pump. I feel that this manual can empty the breast well and after pumping for 10 min I can feel let down better too.

Pros:

• Super Light Weight
• Only 5 parts
• Easy to Assemble
• Easy to Wash
• Using the Avent Natural Bottle System
• Easy to Pump, don't require a lot of energy to pump (this is subjective based on individual strength) but compare to others this manual pump is not hard to pump at all.
• Definitely good to carry around, I just place it in a zip lock bag and dump it in my handbag.
• Spare Part are easily available such as Diaphragm Stem, Breast Massage Cushion and Valves. You can get them online or in-stores.
• Widely available in Major stores such as BHG, Kiddy Palace, Isetan and some online stores
• Empty the breast well for me, if I have a blocked duct I find that manual pump works much effectively.
• Yield more compare to Avent Comfort Electric Pump
• Adjust the pump control based on you strength, rather then according to the electric pump level.

I now used the 260ml bottle as the 120ml can no longer hold the amount of milk I pump, if you are wondering where I get my pink bottle? it's available in-store but it might be a limited edition they even have the blue bottle for boys.

Cons:

• Diagram and Breast Cushion are advisable not to regularly sterilise as the parts may turn into like soft plastic and make the fitting loose. e.g the diagram would easy fall out when pumping.
• Not compatible to use with other bottle brands. Unless you get an adapter which is hassle to me.
• Diagrams may give out that scratchy noisy when diagrams worn out.
• Takes longer to finish a pump session, as it depends on the strength of your hand pump. For me it takes about 15-20min with electric pump but 30-45min for manual pump.
• Spare parts are expensive (in my opinion), use for 2 months plus and I already need a replacement for the diaphragm and when I sterilize the breast cushion it became soft and wont snug to the flang.
• I experience a backflow problem a few times and sometimes milk seeps in between the flang and breast cushion which can be annoying.

But overall, I do like this manual pump I think it's convenient and light to carry around. Even with the Cons I still think it was worth it to get this when you are working mum like me.

P.S: this is NOT a sponsored review!