Tommee Tippee Electric Breast Pump Review

My breast pump is my best friend (read about my breastfeeding journey). I huddle with it the first thing in the morning when i wake up everyday, travels with me all the time, and use it at night before i sleep. Surely that can be considered my #bff?

With Jerome turning 16 months in a couple of days, i sometimes do wonder when i’ll end my breastfeeding journey. I’ll probably wouldn’t have another kid (it is already too stressful to handle 3 boys now – including the husband) so till i get the courage… (and when it comes, it comes!)

So, today i am going to review another breast pump that i recently tried my hands breasts on. I’m kinda on a mini quest to test out all the breast pumps and see for myself which is the best. I have known breastfeeding mothers who have used a single brand of breast pump and recommend that its good, but more often than not, they use only one brand and don’t quite get the chance to try the other brands. Partly because a breast pump can be quite costly and i guess people just make do if they already own one set. In that sense, i find their testimonies is usually based on their one-sided experience, and i’m quite skeptical.

You see? Mum A who uses brand A breast pumps say brand A rocks. Mum B who uses brand B breast pumps says brand B rocks. Now, i am mum C and who should i believe? Do you find yourself in such a situation and not sure what to do? I know right. I have been there before so i’m here to help!

I have thus far tried 2 brands of breast pumps previously and this is the 3rd breast pump i have personally tried my breasts on. This is a single electric breast pump from Tommee Tippee (i love the aesthetics of the milk bottles) and it is not my first experience with the brand. I have used their bottle warmer and sterilizer previously but am no longer sterilizing my bottles now.

The first thing that i was looking out for is.. what does the Tommee Tippee Electric Breast Pump comes with? The answer is on the box itself! How convenient!

The storage pot + sterilizer box kinda piqued at my interest. What is that?!

Here’s a quick glance of all the items included in the package, of which, the milk storage pot is the small container to the right of the breast pump and the sterilizer box to the back of the breast pump. The sterilizer box is a real nifty tool – just put your just washed parts into the box, load with water and microwave! No additional sterilizer required or sterilizing bags. I really like the idea of it even though i am no longer sterilizing my bottles because a sterilizing bag doesn’t come cheap! For me, the box is useful because I use it as a storage box to keep the pump parts.

So i have used the breast pump for the past month, though not all the time. I did continue using my current double breast pump especially in the mornings when I’m rushing off for work simply because the double pumps saves me quite a bit of time since I can express milk from both breast at the same time. Here’s some facts of the Tommee Tippee breast pump for your reference.

Here’s how the actual pump look like – a big ON/OFF button right in the centre of the pump, with 3 degrees of strength marked clearly with the dots. The centre button is the ON and stimulation mode to promote the milk let down, and then there are the 3 other buttons with various degrees of strength in expressing. The pump is super comfortable to use, but i find the suction a little weak for me personally. That said, i must disclaim that i’m so used to very strong suction for the longest time so i need a little getting used to. If its your first time trying a breast pump, I am sure the suction strength is way more than sufficient. I remember the first time i tried on a pump, the lowest suction strength felt like pinching because the boobs were still ultra sensitive then. Now, i think they lost all their sensitivity! (oops, is it too much info? haha!) And oh, if you see the picture, you might have noticed that i threw the adaptor and tubing inside the sterilizing box. That’s because i used it more like a storage box. If you are gonna use it for sterilizing, please don’t put the tube and adaptor in there.

I also like that the buttons are illuminated in the dark. I don’t have to fumble for the lights and can still operate in a dimly lit environment, especially while expressing in the middle of the night. The pump operates on both a electric adaptor or batteries. I mostly use it on the adaptor because i’m too cheap to spend on batteries but the batteries option is cool because it provides the flexibility to pump anywhere (even if there is no DC input) and it also means being able to move around and do light chores around the house while expressing milk!

Here’s the batteries compartment of the breast pump. It requires 4xAA batteries and unfortunately, it is not compatible with rechargeable batteries. This probably means there is a possibility to chalk on high expenses on the batteries, but I don’t really see this as a major issue since the nursing rooms these days are quite well equipped and mostly comes with a electric socket.

The funnel comes with a silicone insert, which provides a lot more comfort during the expressing. It’s like a soft massager on the breast. I do find it a little hard to fit on the silicone insert when i have to assemble the breast pump after a wash. It is supposed to wrap around the plastic funnel on both ends of the funnel so it takes a wee bit more effort to fit it nicely. The good thing about it is that there isn’t any real contact with the actual funnel so if you are lazy and if you don’t mind (i know a lot of anal people when it comes to anything milk/pump related), you can skip washing the funnel since it wouldn’t have any real contact with ebm (expressed breast milk).

Here’s the pump up close and when in use. There is a tube attaching this to the breast pump, but other than that, this is it! A word of warning though, by itself, the funnel is too heavy for the bottle and it will topple if the contents are not filled to the brim (i.e. a full bottle of edm), which means.. there is a tendency for spilled milk! Horrors right?! Fret not, the manufacturer must have already know that would happen…

The set comes with a bottle stand to keep your bottle upright always, and secure. I actually think this bottle stand is quite ingenious, because.. you flip it over and… tadah!

Very clever design right? Honestly, if i hadn’t glanced through the manual briefly… i wouldn’t have known! 🙂 Here’s how the storage pot looks like up close.

Here’s how the bottle looks like with the milk storage pot fitted in. It’s quite a cool idea because… one can don’t wash the bottle as there is absolutely zero contact with the milk bottle in this set up. Pretty cool right? I know I’ll be super thankful for every one less piece of item that i have to wash if i am a new mum on a round the clock feeding schedule. The only uncool thing is the 60ml capacity. I don’t know what’s the usual amount, but i can express up to 200ml on one side so i would need loads of pots. But that’s just me, using the pump exclusively and not latching the kids. If you are using the pump to express out excess post latching your kids, then this could be a brilliant product for you.

What i do notice while using the pump is that sometimes, there is milk trapped within the milk body after i am done with expressing, so if you are like me where every single drop is mad precious, then you might want to take note of this. The good thing is, it is easily poured into the milk bottle and does not occur all the time.

Here’s all the pump parts if you wash them all. I do find it a little overwhelming with the various parts to put together the breast pump, but thankfully, they are all super easy to wash and clean, which kind of cuts down the cleaning time required. I guess that because it is also a single pump, the effort in washing is also reduced hence i still feel its pretty manageable! I’m usually done in less than 5 mins. Also, there are some parts that doesn’t really come into contact with the ebm so you can really not wash those on a regular basis if you aren’t that anal.

Oh oh. One last piece of information – the funnel/horn only comes in ONE size. It is supposed to be a one size fits all funnel. I didn’t have any issue with it despite having to purchase larger sized funnel for the first pump i owned so i guess it should fit most people.

Are you wondering about the price? The breast pump normally retails for $299 and i believe it is one of the cheaper brands for electric breast pumps available in the market. And guess what? I also heard that there is a super good deal going on right now where you get the breast pump + Close to Nature Breast Pads + Close to Nature Insulated Bottle Carrier for just $179 (U.P. $331.80). SUPER DUPER AFFORDABLE CAN?

The Tommee Tippee Electric Breast Pump Bundle at $179 can be found at Mothercare, Kiddy Palace, Takashimaya Singapore Ltd, Robinsons & Co. (Singapore) Pte Ltd, Isetan (Singapore) Limited, OG Private Limited & Pupsilk Studio.

So, here comes the big question – Do i really like it?

Compared to the pumps that i have used before (higher-end models), this is really a basic model and here’s what i like about the breast pump:

• Very pocket friendly. Am sure affordability is something that ranks on everyone’s list of considerations
• Pretty much a all-in-one, end-to-end product. You get the pump, the sterilizer, the bottles – You don’t need to buy anything more if you don’t want to! I remembered the first breast pump i ever purchased (back then, not sure if they have improved now) doesn’t come with bottle teats. They come with bottle caps to store the milk, but i can’t feed baby without having to make a nipple/teat purchase.
• Convenience of the storage pot, just pump, cap the storage pot and store i the fridge! No washing of bottle required as well, just the pump body. Easy and fuss free. And guess what? You can also use the storage pot as a sippy cup for your kids. My only grouse is that 60ml is really too small to contain my output so i had to use the bottle.
• Having the option to use batteries – this can come in handy at times where you wouldn’t expect (e.g. expressing on board a flight where there is no proper electrical socket available) and while i typically won’t use it in normal circumstances s, i like knowing and having the option of being able to!

What i thought could be improved:

• Having the bottle to stand by itself without the stand, because there are times where we just don’t have enough hands to grab the stand and place the bottle on. But i also found a quick solution to that – just remove the funnel/horn and the bottle is able sit on the table top and not topple
• The connection between the funnel and the pump body can be improved. It can be easily removed and it does have the feeling that it would slip out although during the expressing, but it has never failed me or fell out before. I guess the suction of the pump helped keep it in place, but i just don’t feel secure enough because breast milk are oh so precious right?
• Pump suction strengths – i don’t feel much difference between the 3 strengths, so maybe the difference in suction strengths between the 3 levels can be increased

Having said all of the above, i find this quite a steal at the price it is retailing. Just for the record, the price i paid for my first pump could buy me 5 of these! It serves its function well enough, is very comfortable to use and if you are a little low on the budget and want to get a more affordable electric single breast pump, i guess you can consider this as one of your options.

If you have any questions about the breast pump, do leave me a comment and i can try to answer to the best of my knowledge! Otherwise, you can also read about the other breast pump review that i wrote previously. I never actually reviewed the first breast pump i used but honestly would love to write about it soon! I hope you enjoyed the post and do share the post with your friends who might be considering a breast pump purchase.

Disclaimer: I received a Tommee Tippee Electrical Breast Pump from Mothercare for review purposes and no other form of compensation has been received. All thoughts, opinions and breast milk are of my own!