Breast pumps

Hi ya everyone
I am looking purchasing a breast pump and wondered what brand other people have or are considering purchasing. There are a few brands and types out there and I wouldn't know which was the best one AT ALL!! Any advice much appreciated

Hi there,
I would also be interested to know what brands people recommend as I need to start thinking of that myself. A couple of people have suggested the electric breast pumps - I have no idea on this so yes I would appreciate any advice too

We "invested" in an Isis IQ Uno (just over $200 I think). It is manual and electric and also remembers your pumping speed. This may sound weird but I had to try out the pump-just to see what it felt like and found it was really comfortable and not too strong with the pumping (hopefully it will be the same once my milk comes in).
I'm only taking 14 weeks off work and want to continue feeding bubs breast milk, so I needed something that was ok for "frequent use" and for long term expressing.

A lot of people recommend the Medela but I have found that the accessories (bottles etc) aren't as easy to come by and have been told the electric ones can be noisy and a bit too powerful. We had a demo in the shop and the Medela is certainly louder than the Isis IQ (not great if you're exppressing at work).

I have Avant ISIS Manual pump and tho I havent used it much, when ever I did use it, it was great. Really easy and comfy. the pack comes with two small bottles and bits and pieces to go with it so....its value for money.

What I liked about it was that you pump it straight into the bottle and then close it and put away......cant get better than that!!

I also got the Avent manual one as well and Toni you're not the only one who tried the pump to see what it feels like! I was VERY curious!! Hopefully it feels just as comfy when I have to use it properly.

Hehe, boys! My hubby was around most of the time when I began expressing and even took over a couple of times when my hands got tired! His friend was really fascinated too, but I certainly wasn't about to let him watch

Hope this doesn't constitute thread-jacking, but I have a question about breast pumps... does everyone need one?  If you're planning to breastfeed, and baby won't be away at daycare or anything, are they necessary?  I suppose if baby is left with the grandparents then I'd need some expressed milk (hmmmm... *begins to answer own question*!).  Well, excuse my ignorance on the matter!  Should I be putting a pump on my giant list of things to buy?

I've bought one in the hope that Madeleine may take a bottle from her dad so he can feed her sometimes, have some bonding time. It may or may not be a success as some babies aren't keen to interchange between breast and bottle but I have also heard success stories so we'll see how it goes.

And there is always the possibility that breast-feeding may not work out (I'm keeping positive thoughts going though but I like to prepared)

If it doesn't work out I figure it's no great loss to be honest.

Avent also have an electric one which is really good (and comes in a cool bag)

I have just purchased the Avent Isis manual pump, a microwave steriliser and some extra bottles all from www.nappies.co.nz. They have really good specials at the moment and I got some freebies thrown in too. I haven't used any of it yet obviously but bought it on recommendations from another chat forum I visit!
Like others I am hoping to b.feed the majority of the time but would also like baby to be able to take a bottle from dad or gran etc for the times I may not be around etc.