You may have noticed that I’m a bit of a Tommee Tippee fan. As we’re combination feeding Elfie I wanted to make sure we minimised any nipple confusion, and after extensive online research TT’s Closer to Nature bottles seemed to be the most recommended. I’ve been really pleased with the bottles as well as the dummy I’ve recently introduced; Elfie feeds well from them and still latches on to the boob beautifully.

I was pleased to be contacted by Tommee Tippee recently and they kindly sent me their Closer to Nature Electric Breast Pump to try. I’d been using a Philips Avent manual pump but as I was expressing twice a day the process had become fairly laborious – an electric pump seemed like the perfect way to save my poor right hand.

Pros:

I was firstly surprised at how small the pump was – there didn’t seem to be that many parts and once I’d understood the instructions assembly was very easy. It was also simple to disassemble and sterilise, I loved the sterilising box that came with the pump and it was the perfect size to use when we were away from home last weekend.

The pump also comes with a bottle, 2 milk storage containers and breast pads. The breastpads are bigger than others I’ve tried but the most comfortable.

I had some concerns with the mechanism of the pump as my midwife taught me how to express in a particular way to encourage the maximum amount of milk (pumping at different speeds to encourage letdown, simulating baby). I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to do this with the electric pump but I was happily surprised at the different speeds I was able to select; light, low, medium and high. This gave me a great deal of control over the way in which I was expressing – great, as I know what works best for me.

The buttons on the controller were really self-explanatory, meaning the pump was very easy to use once assembled.

The pump expresses directly into Tommee Tippee bottles, meaning I simply popped the milk in the fridge ready for feeding.

Cons:

The instructions to the pump were quite daunting at first, the writing was small and I was quite baffled by the diagram. This I would say is most probably a failing on my part; I can’t put together flat-pack furniture and am useless with a map, I’m simply not very practical. Once I’d wrapped my head around the instructions I was able to assemble the pump with ease though I was initially worried I wouldn’t be able do it myself!

One reason I enjoy using my Avent pump is the fact it’s clear; I can see the milk when I’m expressing so I know when I’ve finished and can tell how much milk is coming out. I found the opaqueness of the Tommee Tippee pump was a real disadvantage. There was no way to know when I was finished expressing so I had to keep removing the pump to check.

The milk storage containers – not big enough!

Price:

At £84.99 the pump is fairly pricey (though I believe comparable to others on the market). You can currently get 15% off this at TommeeTippee.co.uk.

Overall, I would recommend this pump. It’s working really well for my combination feeding and it’s easier to use twice a day at home in comparison to my manual pump, which I will save for when I’m staying away. Thumbs up from me.