Spectra - S1 Plus Electric Breast Milk Pump for Baby Feeding - Convenient Breast Feeding Support

I absolutely love my Spectra portable breast pump! It’s been a total lifesaver for pumping on the go. The size is perfect—compact enough to toss in a bag without taking up too much space, but still just as powerful as the full-size version.The suction is strong yet gentle, and I really appreciate how quiet it is—especially when I need to pump discreetly. The battery life lasts through multiple sessions, and the settings are super easy to adjust. It’s made my breastfeeding journey so much more convenient and manageable.Highly recommend this to any pumping mom looking for portability without sacrificing performance!

Buy this pump. Seriously, stop looking, buy it. This review is long but will hopefully answer any questions you have. Or post one and I'll try to answer it.Earlier this year I had twins born at 34 weeks. They were doing well, but did spend some time in the NICU. When babies are in the NICU, you become super obsessed with how much milk they are getting. They can't go home until they take their "minimums" and gain weight. As a result, I've pretty much been exclusively pumping since they were born. My girl would latch, but I couldn't tell how much she was getting and she would get tired after a few minutes and wouldn't take the rest of her bottle. My boy had breathing problems at first and was being fed with a tube for the first 10 days. After that he had to learn how to eat and would get tired, so I didn't try to nurse him. Since I had to feed two and wanted to share my supply, pumping was the way to go.Since I had preemies, my insurance paid for me to use a Medela Lactina pump. This is the big blue thing that is "hospital grade" and retails for a boatload ($1500 for the love!). I used the Lactina for the first two months but wanted something more portable (I bought a car adapter so I could plug it in and pump in the car on long days out). And, the Lactina is loud as all get out, which was annoying and I actually covered it with a blanket to muffle the sound so I could pump in the same room my husband and 3 year old daughter were watching TV in so I could be part of the family. I contemplated getting a Medela Freestyle, but read mixed reviews about being able to maintain supply. Having twins I did not want to risk my supply going down.I took a leap of faith and bought this pump using gift cards for about half the cost. I figured if it didn't work at least I wasn't out all the money. Best. Decision. Ever.Awesomeness:-It is SUPER quiet compared to the Lactina. I have no idea how it compares to other pumps, but it is going to be nice to have at work and be able to answer the phone while pumping.-It is pretty portable. I wanted something I could clip to my belt and walk around the house, but that is the Freestyle and I couldn't risk it. This is pretty lightweight, and I'm actually contemplating putting a ribbon through the handle and putting it over my neck. It never fails that when I'm pumping my husband is out of the house and my older daughter needs something. At the very least, I've put it on with my hands-free pumping bra (Simple Wishes brand- buy that too) and been able to put it on the kitchen counter to make bottles or lunch or whatever. Haven't tried cooking dinner yet, but that may happen.-Nightlight is pretty neat, and has two levels.-Timer is a cool feature. Most folks don't need to pump for more than 15-20 minutes, but most folks don't have twins. The timer shuts the pump off after 30 minutes which is how long I pump for. I used to set a timer on my phone, but don't need to do that so much anymore.-Massage feature is pretty nifty. This pump almost pulses when creating suction. It was kind of weird at first since the other pump didn't do it, but it actually makes pumping pretty comfortable. The "massage" feature speeds up the pump and is designed to stimulate letdown. Once you have letdown, you are supposed to turn off the massage feature. (I don't, I like the fastest speed for my pumping. But again, twins.)-Memory feature- the pump remembers what your last "normal" and "massage" settings were and goes back to them.-Vacuum control- I use the pump on either level 2 or 3. It has 12 levels. Wow. As a nurse I'm really wondering who would need level 12. Maybe for someone with inverted nipples. Maybe if the battery ever gets weak I'll need to go up.Quirks:-It took a LONG time (probably 12 hours) to fully charge the battery when I first got the pump. It also says it can run plugged in, which is true, but so far as I can tell actually uses the battery regardless of whether or not it is plugged in. I could be wrong.-If you use the nightlight feature while pumping it will drain your battery faster, and you will likely not get a full three hours of pump time. Probably not a problem for most people but worth noting.-The bottles and pump kit are pretty cheap. That would probably be my biggest gripe about the whole thing. If we are spending this much money on a pump, the kit should be stellar. (Most pump kits are pretty terrible, so this is about par for the course.) But all is not lost. The ends of the tubing actually fit into my kit I had been using with my Medela. Also, and this is a problem with most pump kits, most women would need to lean forward to get the milk to drop down when sitting upright. So, my Lactina kit had removable flanges which I promptly tossed and used the angled ones from Pumpin' Pal. (Buy those too.) Also, I bought a pump adapter kit that worked with the Playtex bottles I was using so I could pump directly into the drop-in liners. (Cleaner that way, eventually the bottles will get gross no matter what you do.)-If you are not using their backflow valves, you need to pay attention to your tubing. I am not, and have gotten some moisture into one of the tubes on the end. I just blow it out with a hair dryer in a couple of seconds. The tubing is nothing special and you could easily replace it with something from the hardware store if you needed to. It would also be pretty easy to jerryrig the tubing from another pump kit, which I may do so I can attach the backflow valves.The "cons" I listed here may seem like a lot, but to me it wasn't enough that I would take away a star. I've had it for two weeks and I love it, and haven't noticed a drop in supply. I'll update this review if anything changes, but I don't see that happening.So go buy this pump. Or put it on your registry or wishlist. You won't be sorry.Links for the products I mentioned:Pumpin' Pal Super Shields, Angled Pumping Flanges, the Best Flanges By Far in a Complete Set of All Sizes Mom Will NeedSimple Wishes Hands-Free Breastpump Bra, Pink, XS-LPlaytex Drop-Ins System Breast Milk Storage KitUpdated 10/16/13 -A couple more product links for all the parts I'm using with my cobbled-together homemade kit. You really don't NEED anything but the angled flanges and hands-free pumping bra, but if you wanted to piece something together that's a bit more user-friendly, here are the links:Medela Personal Fit Breastsheild Connectors - Medela 87071Medela Valves & Membranes (Set of 1)UPDATE 10/28/13- I've gone back to work and am taking this pump back and forth. I just put it in a small tote bag I had at home. I made two pump kits so I can leave one at home and one in my office at work and all I take back and forth is the pump. That probably wasn't necessary, but I probably would have ended up forgetting something one day so this was my way to make sure that didn't happen. Pump is awesome, and nobody can hear it when I answer the phone. The doctor in the office next to me is pumping as well, and you can hear her pump down the hall...-Also, I finally attached the backflow valves. I basically just cut the tubing and attached one piece to either side of the valve. It's a small challenge to get the tubing on the large side, but it does fit. Now I can still stick the end of the tubing into my homemade Medela kit and it works great and I don't need to worry about moisture getting into my pump.If you've got questions, post 'em and I'll do my best to answer! (I should probably just make a video...)

Some background information about me: my baby is 6 months and I have been pumping since he was about 3 months when I returned to work. I started out using the Medela Symphony which I rented from the hospital and decided to purchase a pump. I found out that my insurance company would cover the pump but after some research, I decided that I would rather buy my own pump than get a Medela portable based on the reviews and feedback from other moms. My criteria for pumps was to find something that was portable, hospital-grade and affordable and the all the breast pumps from Spectra fit this bill. I currently own the M1 as well. I chose to buy the S1 pump mainly for the rechargeable battery since it is more convenient for me at work where I have little time during my breaks.What I like about the Spectra S1:-Aesthetically, this pump is super cute and a good size to stash in the tote bag I also purchased from Spectra. It has a nice handle to move the pump from one place to another and the LCD screen is a good size.-The pump is quiet which is nice for those late night pumping sessions or at work.-Is the ultimate portable hospital grade pump - unlike the Medela Symphony it doesn't require an outlet to be near by.-Since I started using the Spectra pumps in my fourth month, my supply has shown an increase, even when using the M1 which is a smaller pump than both the Medela or S1. This is completely subjective but I feel since switching away from the Symphony, my supply increased and I haven't had to use any galactagogues since. I know that each person responds differently to different pumps but I can say that it has been entirely positive for mine. :-)-Customer service: Spectra Baby has the best customer service! I've contacted them via their Facebook page regarding various issues/questions/purchases and they have been extremely responsive. I think Amazon is amazing with their customer service and it's great that Spectra Baby is up to par with their customer service as well.-Price: For a hospital grade breast pump at ~$300 this is a steal! On all levels of looks, usage, technology, price the Spectra S1 beats the Medela Symphony handily especially since the Symphony costs over a thousand dollars.In response to the cons: Yes, I wasn't a fan at first of their bottles and flanges etc because I was used to the Medela ones where the flanges disconnect but that is just a matter of aesthetics. Their collection bottles and flanges work great and I just had to personally get over using the Medela ones. I bought some Pumpin' Pals that weren't compatible with Spectra's bottles and I think that's why I was so resistant to change.Overall, I would highly recommend Spectra S1 breast pump as well as any of their other pumps in their line up to any mother. I hope my insurance will one day cover this pump but until then I am happy to use my own money to buy this because it is so amazing. I have two Spectra pumps if that isn't enough recommendation. Also highly recommended because Spectra's customer service is fantastic and I can't say enough about it. It makes me comfortable about spending my own money knowing I can be heard by the company when I've had issues/questions etc that were quickly resolved. Thank you again Spectra!!!~Belinda Racasa