AVENT Comfort Double Electric Review

Philips is a highly-regarded manufacturer of baby products that are generally sophisticated in the design and performance.



Efficiency

It landed middle of the road for a couple factors. First, the pump was mostly efficient in rendering milk, but it wasn't quite as strong as some of the other pumps we tested. We feel the efficiency would increase if it weren't for the rubber inlays you place inside the breast flanges. We found that when pumping, the inserts were very bulky and made it difficult to line your breast and nipple up correctly. Often we found that the nipple would be pulled and tugged and almost get stuck to the rubber insert. It is an option to remove the rubber inserts and for our testers this made the pump more efficient and comfortable.

Comfort

This pump scored pretty low on the comfort scale. As stated before, the rubber inlays are supposed to make for a more comfortable pumping experience, but we did not find this to be true. Some reviewers mentioned that it was comfortable while others complained about it. One of our testers even said it felt like a “tittie twister” when she wasn't lined up correctly in the breast flange! It seems that the rubber inlays were a great concept in theory, but in practice, we found them to be more problematic than helpful during our pumping experience.

Ease of use

It is very easy to set up and use. The tubing simply connects to the pump and then to the adapters for the bottle. It's a different setup than we were used to for the adapters, as you have to kind of “pop” them into place. There is a round, concave feature that you place a plastic inset into, which creates the “suction” for the pump. Although easy to do, it's not the most intuitive (or hygienic) setup. Luckily, the operating buttons are easy to use and pretty self-explanatory, sitting right on the top of the pump.

Portability

The pump unit itself is very small. This makes it very easy to fit into the tote bag they provide. Still, the tote bag is on the smaller side which makes it difficult to then add the bottles and tubing very easily. This pump also does not come with an insulated bag so you would need to have your own insulated bag or refrigerator available.

Hygiene

This pump scored relatively well on hygiene. While the parts are easy to dismantle and clean, they can be a little stubborn to actually pull apart from the adapter due to the tight fit. Still, it is recommended to clean these parts, and once they are clean the pump is very hygienic. We never experienced any issues with condensation build up in the pump adapter or the tubing which we had experienced with the Medela Pump In Style Advanced.

Acoustics

This pump really wasn't very loud compared to some of the other electric pumps. It scored just behind the manual pumps (which make hardly any sound) and the Spectra S1. It's not something people could hear down the hallway, but if you are planning on pumping next to a sleeping baby or a sleeping partner, it may wake them up.

Conclusion

This pump is a good pump that will get the job done. It procures milk in an efficient manner and is easy to tote around. The parts are a little tough to clean, but still remains an overall hygienic pump. It doesn't come with a insulated bag to store your milk so don't forget to add that on to your purchase.