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March 2012 Moms
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Manual or Electic: Breast Pump

Babycakes29Babycakes29 member
in March 2012 Moms

I've been freaking out about the price of electric breast pumps. It just seems so insane to me that you have to spend that much money on a breast pump.

Today however, a girlfriend of mine who JUST stopped breast feeding said she bought herself a manual breast pump from Target and found that she could efficiently pump almost as quickly as with the hospital grade electric pump she had used initially. She said obviously the electric pump offers ease of use but that the manual pump isn't difficult at all and definitely efficient enough to skip out on paying hundreds of dollars for an electric pump.

In your opinion, how true is this???

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Re: Manual or Electic: Breast Pump

  • CplusJ=SCplusJ=S member
    I'm going with a manual pump. My boss said the same thing as your friend. She told me that since I will be SAH, all I need is a manual. If you are planning on working, you may want to invest in an electric. The Madela Harmony received good reviews which is the one I registered for.
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  • Babycakes29Babycakes29 member

    imageCkanownik:
    I'm going with a manual pump. My boss said the same thing as your friend. She told me that since I will be SAH, all I need is a manual. If you are planning on working, you may want to invest in an electric. The Madela Harmony received good reviews which is the one I registered for.

    I'm going to be a SAH too so that's good to know.

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  • MotherMonsterMotherMonster member

    I'm kinda torn over it because I will be working, but only part time so every other weekend and then I will have school starting in June. 

    Originally I wanted to use the Medela Harmony ones, but I don't know if I will have the energy to use a manual pump... 

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  • bamfsbamfs
    I'm a SAHM and have used both kinds... I started out with a manual pump and it was ok, but when I switched to the madela electric pump I was SO impressed and would NEVER go back... I got SO much more milk, so much quicker and with less pain and was able to have a huge stock pile... I've seen electric pumps on things like craigslist for less money and I would consider buying one from there and then getting all new tubing and bottles and things that the milk touches...
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  • Irisheyes1247Irisheyes1247 member

    I think it is all how your body responds to it. I used both and while I never had a great supply, if I had stuck with a manual pump I'm pretty sure my hand would have cramped up and fallen off before I got what would equal what I could pump with an electric pump.  

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  • sunnyday016sunnyday016 member
    I think it totally depends how you're using it. I think a manual for a SAHM is fine since you probably will be nursing many more feedings than you'd be pumping. For a full, time working mom a double electric is probably best. I work PT so I have a single electric and it worked out well for me with DD.
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  • mrs.geemrs.gee member

    This was not my experience. I had used a Medela PISA and a Medela Symphony (hospital-grade rental) and then had to use a manual Avent when I was abroad. It was a nightmare. I think it must depend on how well you respond to the pump, but since I was always using my pumps on maximum setting (per the advice of my LC), the manual was a very sad substitute. I barely got any milk after 20 minutes of pumping... and after that I first had to do the other boob. Plus, the internal suction mechanism of the Avent pump kept coming undone and I would have to take the whole thing apart, fish the gasket out of the pumped milk (thereby contaminating it with my hands) and start again. That may work better on other manual pumps, though.

    Also, you can hands-free pump with a bustier with the electric and you can't do that with a manual. Something to consider if you're doing this at work or need to be dangling stuff in front of your kid while you pump at home.

    Another option is to rent an electric for a month, buy a manual, and see what you prefer. 

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  • LisichkaLisichka
    I originally bought a manual pump (but not a double, so that may have been my mistake) and after a couple of weeks I ended up going out to buy an electric. I had a Lansinoh and was very happy with it, the difference was night and day. This time I'm planning to get a new one, since my Lansinoh broke (I used it for almost a year and a half), I'm deciding between Philips Avent and Ameda.
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  • Fergie+1Fergie+1

    Never used a manual. H wanted to get one when he went out and bought it for me, but I firmly told him NO. Electric only. I can only imagine how much your hand would hurt if you try and pump both breasts at once (I never tried block feeding- it was always one side first, burp, then the other) and if you pumped more than once a day.

    I have a single eletric pump by Medela, and my sister's sending me her double pump. I'm thinking the double will be much quicker, time-wise.

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