SpectraS1 Plus Hospital Grade Double Electric Breast Pump with Rechargeable Battery, Blue

Trying to carry on breastfeeding when you've gone back to work can be a challenge for many reasons, but since getting the Spectra S1, the act of expressing isn't one of them. I use this 2-3 times every day at work, and it does the job perfectly. It's silent enough that it's not too embarrassing to use it whilst hiding in a toilet cubicle (incredibly undignified, but that's not the pump's fault!), and the built in battery ensures that it's possible to use the unit on the go.Battery life: Fantastic; I can use this for three days without recharging, if I'm expressing 2-3 times a day, with each session lasting 20-25min.Amount expressed: Slightly more than my baby's consumption. I base this on the fact that when I'm at work, I normally express somewhere between 10% and 30% more than he has when he's with the childminder.Night light: I wasn't expecting to use this feature, but when I went through a phase of feeding the little on just one side in the night, I found I needed to express on the other side because it was full to the brim. Expressing by nightlight meant that I didn't have to turn the room lights on to operate the pump, which helped prevent me from waking up too much to go back to sleep quickly once done.Double/single mode: You can use the pump in either double or single mode depending on your preference. Personally I use different settings for each side, so as you (understandably) can't set the suction and frequency per side, I use it in single mode.Massage mode: This "lets the milk down", and uses a high frequency of stimulation with very low suction. I never need to use this for more than 2 minutes before going on to express mode.Suction: The suction is more than adequate for my needs; the highest setting I ever use is 8, but it does go all the way up to 12. Of course everybody is different, but this should cater for most.Frequency: There are 5 frequency levels, which regulate the length of each cycle of suction. Increasing the frequency helps reduce any discomfort you might feel, so you can use quite a high level of suction if you use a higher frequency level.Overall action: It's a little difficult to explain how this feels, but in addition to the suction and frequency, there's a vibration in the unit - Spectra brand this as mimicking your baby's suckling, and I think this is a pretty good analogy. Suffice to say, I really feel that I've been able to use this at higher suction levels than other breastpumps because of how this feature works.Any snags? It's quite bulky. However, I expect this is what allows for the fantastic battery life, and personally I'm happy with that as a trade-off. It still fits happily in a backpack for taking to and from work. Oh, and if the bottle is empty or has very little in it, it won't sit steadily in the holder on the unit.Overall, I couldn't recommend this enough

My twins were born early and were in the NICU, so I had to pump/express in order to mimic a newborn to produce milk. I was using a hospital grade pump, but I needed my own pump for at home. I came across the spectra, and bought it a couple months ago. It works very well if not better then the hospital grade pump for me. I've managed to express milk for my twins and was able to keep a freezer stash. I like the different settings, as I change the settings often to vary the stimulation to the nipples and I find that this also prevents them from getting sore. When my nipples did get sore from overuse of pumping and breastfeeding I was able to put it on a low setting so they didn't hurt and still express a good amount of milk. I also liked that it was portable, I was able to walk around the house while pumping, and when we were in the car I needed to pump, being portable allowed me to pump in the backseat while my husband drove. When I would use the pump at the hospital it actually stopped working, so I could only use the spectra, I think that has to do with the multiple settings and the prolonged pull of the nipple as it pumps to mimic the baby’s mouth reflex. Although with this pump you do need to order flange sizes separately, I needed to buy a couple different sizes to get the right fit, so consider this into the price, the inserts are about £15 a pair. I also wished there was more information in the leaflet on how to use the pump effectively, I needed to google how. With that said I really enjoy this pump it is definitely worth the price, and my babies have plenty of milk! Happy pumping everyone :)

I debated for a long time which breast pump to buy. I needed a pump that was quick, effective and that would be rechargeable for travel and work. The Spectra s1 does not disappoint on any of these counts. Having difficulties with milk supply early on, I hired the Medela symphony which is £40+ a month to hire and £3000 to buy. This pump stacks up well in this comparison in my opinion and I’m really impressed.Speed and effectiveness:This is where the Spectra excels in comparison to the symphony. It is super fast and effective. For my first pump of the day, which is when I can express the greatest volume of milk (usually around 180ml), it now takes me about 8 minutes in comparison to 30 minutes with the medela. The spectra is noticeably faster and more efficient than the symphony. I wish I’d known this on those early days when I was expressing milk every 2 hours in the middle of the night when time really is of the essence!Durability:The pump itself is robust and solid, so no issues there. I would agree with others that the components (flanges, back flow protectors and tubing) don’t exactly feel durable. And certainly not in comparison to the medela components. That said, I’ve not had to replace these yet and regardless of whichever pump you buy, these do need replaced. For the volume of expressing I do, I needed to replace components every 6 weeks with the medela symphony, but I’ve not had the S1 that long. So if they last roughly this length of time I’d be happy. Plus the spectra components are cheaper.Extras:The S1 comes with a few extras that the symphony doesn’t. A nightlight which is surprisingly useful during those night time feeds. And it also has a bottle holder which is really useful if you sometimes feed and express at the same time. The timer is also really useful.BatteryThe battery lasts in excess of 3 hours. I pump 3 times a day and because it’s such a quick pump, the battery lasts long enough to pump electricity free for a week. The symphony doesn’t have a charging feature, and while other pumps will let you pump from batteries they won’t last as long. (I’ve tried the medela swing- it only lasts 20 minutes on batteries and loses suction quickly)All in all, the spectra S1 is in my opinion a far superior pump in comparison to the medela symphony at a fraction of the cost.