opinions?

[mamajoan]

There's a woman on craigslist.org offering a Medela Pump-In-Style breast pump for $125. This is the "cadillac of breast pumps" and retails for $250-$300.

* Do you think it's weird or squicky to use someone else's pump? She claims to have thoroughly sterilized it, and of course I could do the same again before using it.

* Should I be worried that it might wear out, or already be near the end of its life? She says she's used it for two babies -- 3-4x/week for several months with the first, and only very occasionally with the second. How long do these things last? There wouldn't be a warranty, because the manufacturer calls it a single-user product and won't honor the warranty if it's used by a second mom.

Here's the complete ad: http://boston.craigslist.org/for/11229661.html

Anyone have opinions? (especially the parents among you?)

Comments

[anotherjen.livejournal.com]

I can't imagine you could get any disease from a used breast pump, as long as you boil all the parts and maybe purchase new tubing. Seems slightly squicky to me, but if I were in the market for a nice one, I might go that route. But if you're going to get a used one, why not get it from someone who only breastfed one kid for a short time? Seems this one was pretty well used.

[xanphibian.livejournal.com]

I don't know much about your lifestyle, I don't know if you will be returning to work or whatever... so I can't tell you what would be best for that sort of situation. But I can tell you about my PERSONAL experience.

I've pumped maybe twice, ever. I've breastfed three children, the longest period being 14 months (with my first)and I didn't work. I have stayed home with all three, and the easiest thing ever was to not pump, just breastfeed naturally.

Is there a reason that you need to pump? Will you be pumping on a daily basis, or just for special occasions?

Sorry I'm not much help.. I have lots of breastfeeding experience but little knowledge of pumping.

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

Sorry if I wasn't clear: it is a given that I will be pumping, and probably pumping a lot. Hence I need a really good, reliable, comfortable, high-quality pump. I'm not looking for advice on whether to pump or not to pump; I'm looking for advice on the question of buying a used pump vs. a new one.

Re:

[xanphibian.livejournal.com]

Oh. Sorry. :(

[azurelunatic]

wiredferret has a 3? month baby and is pumping and working. You may wish to milkgeek.

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

Oh, I plan to. But I expect that chickpea will still be nursing when the time arrives that s/he can't come to the office any more and needs to go into daycare.

[azurelunatic]

Baz is in daycare now. Baby daycare.

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

oops, I misread you the first time. My bad.

Like I told greenluv above, I'm not looking for advice on "to pump or not to pump," just on whether it's cool to buy a used pump or not.

[azurelunatic]

Ah.

Recommended her as someone who, unlike me, would have useful input on such issues, and any more things that come up that you two may have in common.

[rupie-zum.livejournal.com]

Well, I don't have personal experience with this model, but have heard good things about it. As for the sterilization, you can actually buy new tubing and shields, which I would recommend - it's worth it for the peace of mind.

I'd also recommend you check out the Yahoo group Pump Moms:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/pumpmoms/

These ladies are a fantastic resource, and could definitely answer this question for you.

just get new parts

[redheadedokie.livejournal.com]

this pump goes with the hand pump pack-- at hospitals they have this shrink wrapped pack of stuff that is all the tubing to use it with the pump, bottle, extra little white valve things and also the attachment that makes it a hand pump (which is great to screw on sometimes when you just want to gently pump a bit off when you're too engorged to deal with the extra and maybe the baby isn't going to wake up for another half hour to eat, etc. etc.)

If you deliver at a hospital, just ask them for this- usually they'll just give you a pack for free- they have tons of them aorund because they use them for the moms that have babies in the NICU or who are having surgeries that want to pump for them, otherwise I think it costs like $30 or something like that.

Outside of that, there's no harm in using the pump. The milk doesn't go through the pump, just the tubing...

[kenboy.livejournal.com]

Why am I the only boy who ever posts in response to these things?

My parents treated us to the pump-in-style, and we never really used it that much. As it worked out, Nate was a huge eater, and production never really met demand enough to allow for much pumping anyway, although we certainly had planned to do lots before he was born...but in any case, Rhonda eventually was told about a hand pump made by Ameda, which I'm sure isn't spelled that way, but I'm sure you know who I mean, big bottle & breast-stuff maker, big in the UK, I think -- anyway, she (and apparently many of the other mom's on her internet group) were able to pump MUCH more milk in MUCH less time with the hand pump than they were with the expensive pump in style thing.

I think it was this one, the Purely Yours...I know it was one-handed, and it was dirt cheap (compared to the P-I-S):

http://www.mybirthcare.com/py_4_manual.asp

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

Why am I the only boy who ever posts in response to these things?

LOL, because you're cool?

Anyway, as I have explained several times to several people but apparently didn't make clear enough in my original post -- I will be pumping a LOT. A manual pump is not going to cut it. I already have RSI issues anyway and don't need to be exacerbating them that way. I had pretty much settled on the Pump-In-Style as the pump that I wanted, based on its features and the reviews I had heard from other people; but since it's so expensive, I was not sure whether I would actually end up getting it. So when I saw it for sale used, I thought that sounded like the perfect solution. But then I started to wonder whether getting it used was a good idea or not.

So, again, the question in this post is not "should I use a pump" or "which pump should I use," it's "is it okay to buy a used pump?". but thanks for your input.