Hello, Lactnetters,

      Maybe someone from M.... will write in officially, but in the mean
time, this is what I've learned about this new pump.

     The Little H pump is marketed to compete with those awful toy store
pumps made by Gerb..., evenf...., etc.  Like the other hand-held pumps, it is
NOT designed for the mom who will be separated from her baby on a regular
basis, i.e. the employed mother.  It is a "Saturday Night Special" (thank
you, Jeanne Rago) as in, My sweetie and I are going out on Saturday night
without the baby and we need to leave some milk...

    Unlike the other little pumps out there, the Little H pump literature is
honest enough to tell the mothers that it is NOT appropriate for situations
where there is prolonged or regular mother/baby separation.  There is a chart
with the pump listing situations in which a pump may be desired, such as
hospitalized infant, low milk supply, occasional and infrequent separation,
employed mother, etc.  Then the chart lists all of the M.... pumps and puts a
little heart next to the pump that would be appropriate for the particular
situation (cute ;)).  Unfortunately, I *think* that the chart is inside the
packaging, which means that moms must buy the pump before they see the chart.
 I may be wrong on that, and hope that I am.

     This pump has automatic cycling, suction levels equivalent to the
Mini-E, and is quieter than the mini-E.  It is NOT compatible with other M...
products, nor do the new Little H manuals convert for use with the other
pumps.

     I am  glad that moms who will buy a dime store pump will have something
a little better to work with.  I am sick that moms buy pumps that actually
hurt them and that the manufacturers get away with it.  I am glad that M...
tells the moms when the pump is not appropriate, but sorry that many moms
will still try to *make due*, to the detriment of their milk supply.  And as
a Rental Station.......I forsee even more pumps going back to McHenry, IL.
 But then that's not the mothers, problem, is it?

Debi Ferrarello, in Abington, PA, where we're having record breaking highs
(wheeee!)