Ahhh the wild world of breastfeeding. Pregnancy - no problemo, birth - easy peasy, breastfeeding? UGH!! I really underestimated the challenges that awaited me when it came to feeding my newborn. In my eyes, I have boobs, he has a mouth and so 1 + 1 = 2. But that just wasn’t the case for me. In fact, it isn’t the case for so many women, and I think it’s important for all mums-to-be to know that breastfeeding can be wonderful and come very easily to some women, and for others it can be a more difficult journey.

It was always my intention to pump and share feeds with my husband at some stage, but it wasn’t long before my frustration with mastering the latch, battling engorgement, tongue tie and thrush begun to take its toll on me and I turned to pumping more out of necessity than choice. And so here I am, 10 weeks in and eager to share my review of the Elvie Pump, because it helped me so much!

This blog post contains affiliate links, which means that if you make a purchase through some of the links I provide I can earn a small commission at no cost to you. Thanks for your support.

WHEN TO START PUMPING & BOTTLE FEEDING

If you have a choice about when to start bottle feeding (because some women do not!), you’ll find that there’s a lot of information out there about when it’s a good idea to begin. I took the advice of Nanny Louenna (who also has an app I highly recommend downloading for new mums) and introduced it before four weeks specifically, so that I could hopefully avoid him refusing a bottle when he got older. I did this at around three weeks and found that my baby took to the bottle with no problems (and still does) and this didn’t cause any other issues like nipple confusion, when he fed from the breast.

WHY I CHOSE THE ELVIE PUMP

When it came to choosing a pump the options looked pretty poor. I looked over all the plug-into-the-wall type pumps and felt filled with despair because after birthing my baby, struggling to heal, to care for and feed my newborn and to learn to love my new body I really just felt like crap! And the idea of plugging myself into a wall and milking myself like a cow for hours each day held absolutely NO appeal. What’s more, my baby just wouldn’t let me put him down for long enough to, as they do in the adverts, sip a cup of tea and read a book whilst I pumped. I just didn’t get one of those babies who is happy to sleep all day long by himself in his basket. I needed to be mobile and “on” 24 hours a day.

THE ELVIE PUMP IN REVIEW

PROS

• It ‘s small, and it does fit neatly into your bra as advertised, but can still hold up to 4oz.

• It’s battery operated and you can plug it in overnight to charge, ready for use the next day - it charges relatively quickly.

• You don’t have to stop your life to pump. With the Elvie pump, you can cook, clean, do laundry, feed on the opposite boob and walk the dog whilst you pump.

• You can use it pretty much anywhere. One of my favourite uses is in the car - driving myself to the grocery store, or to see a friend and by the time I get to where I’m going I have also produced some golden baby juice. Multitasking WIN!

• It’s light and small so you can transport it easily - the pump comes with a small grey bag you can use to carry it with so mine lives in my handbag when I’m out.

• The parts come apart and fits back together easily, with very little fuss.

• If you’re feeling a little extra you can also download the app to control the pump remotely, including intensity and start/stop.

CONS

• It is expensive (however very worth the money in my opinion)

• It is not silent - as advertised, it makes a little ticking noise and a drip of the milk, so whilst you can use it in more private settings I wouldn’t be comfortable using it in public environment like an office or a social gathering.

• There is a light on the top which is visible through most clothes.

• It is slim but not so much so that it’s not noticeable. You will look a tad lob-sided if you wear it under a fitted shirt.

WHERE TO purchase THE ELVIE PUMP

You can buy the pump directly from the Elvie Website here. It is also available at John Lewis and on Amazon Prime.

The Elvie pump also comes with a guarantee, and although I’ve never had any problems with mine I have heard that any issues that you have with of the parts are easily replaced via Elvie’s customer service.