Medela Breast Milk Storage Bags vs Lansinoh Breast Milk Storage Bags - A Double Take

Medela Breast Milk Storage Bags
Price: $8.99 or $18.99
Quantity in Pack: 20 or 50

Barbie's Take: When registering for storage bags I decided to go with a couple different brands. To my surprise, I received both brands at my baby shower. Since everything else I was using was Medela, I went ahead and used my my medela bags first.

Alicia's Take: I purchased the Medela storage bags first because I purchased all my other breast pump items in the Medela brand. When I first used them, I thought I loved them but decided later they weren't the best.



Pros:
- conveniently hang from the Medela breast pump to pump directly into the bag.
- have a tab at the top of the bag to label with date, name, and number of ounces in the bag.
- Stand up nicely in the fridge for thawing frozen milk




Cons:
- short/fat structure take up extra space in the freezer.
- Only hold about 5 ounces (there was one point where I could get 6-7 ounces in one early morning pump)
- I have not seen them anywhere other than BRU.
-occasionally leak when thawing. tears "magically" appear sometime during the freezing stage. I now thaw all my bags in a bowl in the fridge because I got tired of wasting, and cleaning, the milk

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Lansinoh Breast Milk Storage Bags:
Price: $6.99 or $11.99
Quantity in Pack: 25 or 50

Barbie's Take: This was the second brand of storage bags I tried. It is also the brand I have continued to use over the last several months.

Alicia's Take: One day after running out of my Medela bags I was at the grocery store. I browsed the baby aisle to see if they carried breast milk storage bags and they did! It saved me a trip to BRU which was super!




Pros:
- double zipper at the top for extra secure closure
- labeled for up to 6 ounces, but if needed, you can store more.
- significantly larger bags which makes it easy to lay them flat to freeze for more storage space.
- convenient tab for name, date and number of ounces.
- available at my local grocery store.
- cheaper


Cons:
- do not hang from the breast pump to pump directly into the bag
-occasionally leak when thawing. tears "magically" appear sometime during the freezing stage. I now thaw all my bags in a bowl in the fridge because I got tired of wasting, and cleaning, the milk. I'm not sure if this is more common with Lansinoh bags but I've heard other women complain of this happening to them as well (Lansinoh specifically).

Recommend: Medela Pump in Style Breast Pump

Price: $279.00 (available in shoulder bag and backpack style)

Alicia's Take: I had no idea where to begin when picking out a breast pump. Not only that, I wasn't 100% sure that breast feeding would with out a doubt work for me, so that thought of spending mega money on a breast pump something I needed to give a lot of thought. However, when you walk into BRU there's a whole display of Medela products, so I started there. I found that it seemed to be a reputable brand, so I went for it. I ended up purchasing mine off of e-bay unopened (it's apparently a huge no-no to use a used breast pump). I can't exactly remember how much I paid, but looking back I probably could have gotten a better deal at BRU with sales and coupons (see below) and had the ability to return if unopened. Either way, it's pretty much been a life saver beginning when I was at home and felt slightly engorged all the way to now as I return to work.  

Barbie's Take: In doing research on breast pumps I came to the conclusion that the Medela Pump In Style was the pump for me. Anyone I spoke to who had it recommended it. At my shower I was given a different pump, a pump I just would not settle for. I went out and bought myself the $279 pump I had already picked out. I was able to use coupons and got it down to $168. Of course I was worried at first that I wouldn't like the non-returnable machine, or that I wouldn't get my money out of it - but it's safe to say, at this point, the pump has paid for itself tenfold and I do not regret the purchase at all. This is an item I would recommend to any working mother who plans to pump.

Pros:

-wonderful overall

-you can find most of the replacement parts you may need right at BRU (easy to find additional breast shields, valves, membranes, etc to avoid cleaning between multiple pumps while at work).

-Medela is rumored to have awesome customer service

-discreet, easy to clean bag

-includes a battery pack (batteries not included)

-you have the option to purchase a car adapter separately

-comes with everything you need to get started

- motor is adjustable to mimic your baby's sucking

- comes with a black mini-cooler and ice pack to store milk in (perfect to put in the work fridge for storage during the day). 

- back pack as a variety of pockets and storage space for pump parts, and other personal items you may need to carry.  

Cons:

-the motor is a little noisy

-replacement tubing is hard to come by in stores. you have to go to a site like amazon.com or mybreastpump.com

-non returnable (if you're on the purchasing end this is a pro, lol)

- since all breast pump items are non-returnable, it can get costly to find the proper fitting breast shields.