Letter to Avent, Makers of the Avent Isis Duo and Uno Breast Pumps

Avent Products I use: I use EVERYTHING by Avent. Isis IQ Uno, Isis IQ Duo, Avent Tempo Nursers, Avent bottles, Avent breastmilk storage system (for freezing), Avent Microsteam Sterilizer, Avent Pacifiers, Avent breast pads.

Features I like: I love the pump bag for the Duo. I like the ability to change the suction rate to encourage letdown and make the pumping more like nursing my baby.

Features I Dislike: I dislike how I have to lean forward to prevent milk from flowing backwards between the massage cushion and the pump horn. If you lean forward, you get backaches, and if you don't, you leak/lose milk.

I HATE the fact that I can't purchase an extra set of horns/massage cushions. I think this is the most disappointing thing of all. Every other pump manufacturer offers this ability, and even different sized horns. I would love to have an extra set, right now I have to pump at 10:30pm before bed, and have to stay up an extra 20-30 minutes to wash the pump parts and sterilize them so that I can take them to work the next day. An extra set of pump parts would save me lots of time and get more sleep for me. This is very important as a working mom.

I dislike that the Isis DUO seems to have higher suction on the side with the control handle, and this issue is discussed by many users of the pump in online forums, and everyone who calls the Avent 800 number is told that this is "not true" but when they attempt to troubleshoot they can't fix the issue. It is very easy to see that when many moms see the same issue, it isn't a fluke.

I dislike that you can't see the power light when the pump is inside the pump bag. That is a bizarre design. I dislike that the pump horns are top-heavy and therefore empty bottles tip over if you try to set them upright. I dislike that the pump can't be used handsfree because the massage cushions prevent full on suction, and even with a handsfree bra, the suction isn't right or the angle of the pump horns causes the leakage back between the massage cushions as mentioned above.

Suggestions for Improvement: I am not a huge fan of calling your support line. The people who answer your calls appear to have no breastfeeding or pumping experience, and that frustrates me to no end. They had never heard of boiling the silicone pump parts to shrink them back to "normal" and increase suction. This is something that is widespread information on the internet regarding the Avent pumps, and listed on Kellymom, but your staff knows nothing about it. These types of things frustrate me. It also frustrates me that when I call they can give me no information about when and if replacement parts might be available. From the three calls that I have made, I frequently felt that they were reading the troubleshooting from a script, and not stating anything from memory and experience, which leads me to believe that I have as much or more knowledge about the products than they do.... this is not a good feeling and prevents me from being confident in your support.

Zzzz Zzzzz Z zz ZZ zzzzz Z z Zzzzzzz.....

Last night. Was rough. Ardyn was awake from 4am until 7:50am. Ugh. Then she woke up again at 9:50 and at 11am to eat. I drug my ass out of bed at 11. I was just putting one foot in front of the other, but We started off our day with apple cinnamon oatmeal and yogi's mother's milk tea. I got a free issue of Brain Child Magazine,and when I finished my oatmeal and banana, I held her and nursed her while drinking the rest of my tea and reading several articles. It was a nice morning. Then we wrapped ourselves up and cuddled in the glider in the nursery, and rocked for a while, and nursed. And nursed again. And rocked some more. Around 3:30 she went down for a nap, and so did I! It only lasted about 40 minutes before she wanted to eat again... but at least it was a nice nap. I felt a little better then, but alot better when Evan brought home chicken for supper, and we ate, and I got to take a bubble bath and read some of my book. Ahhh. And now she was in bed at 9:45 and I am soon to follow in case we have another night like last night.

I am really enjoying the "I was a great mom before I had kids" book. It talks about how mom's hold themself to a high standard and that they expect more out of themselves than is physically possible of anyone. It also talks about how society (other mom's included) also expect unbelievable things from moms, and it makes it all even harder. It has a great take on choice. I talks about how we have so many choices in our lives today, for ourselves, our kids, and our families in general. There are so many choices that it's exhausting to just make decisions constantly, and that while dad's may even take care of their share of household or child-rearing tasks, they don't generally make all the decisions that the wife does. Everything from what your child wears, what activities they take part in, where they go to school, who they have for daycare, what your family eats... to paying bills, household finances, fixing household items, family vacations, correspondence with other family members and friends, planning babysitters, date nights, house maintenance, etc. The book discusses how the constant decision making process puts your brain on overload on a regular basis. You are constantly investigating, weighing pros and cons, putting the decision making process in place, and then whenever something doesn't work out perfectly, no matter what it may be, you are second guessing your choice, thinking that the problem was indeed just a bad decision on your part. Then you feel guilty. You feel like you let your family down, and you feel like things aren't "right" because of your decision. So while we fought and fought to have so many choices, now we have overwhelmed ourselves with constant choices to make. Isn't THAT the truth? So I am supposed to learn from this book what is REALLY important to me, and to my family, and trying to forget and let the rest "go." Focus on what is really important in order to enjoy your life and be happy. I will keep you posted.

Well, I did try out the new Avent Isis IQ Duo breast pump tonight, and it's incredibly powerful. It was more powerful than the Isis IQ Uno pump (wow!) and more powerful than the hospital grade Medela that we used in the hospital in order to get contractions going. I was able to do the complete setup, pumping, and cleanup in less than 12 minutes. And that was the first pumping ever... so that was awesome. I think that being familiar with the setup of the Uno pump made it easier to setup the Duo. It really got the milk flowing though. I am sure as I continue to get used to this pump, the milk will flow even faster!

Have a nice night and wish me SLEEP!