So I was wondering, if I am going to be home on mat leave for the year, do I really need an electric pump? Will a manual one suit my needs just fine?
Can you recommend a manual pump?
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I would get an electric!
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Electric! Even the $40 evenflo single electric works great but a manual is ineffective, hurts like hell and is just as much money as the evenflo electric. I was better off hand expressing than using the manual pump. Ugh never again!!
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@Coco Bee: Ooo, thanks! Good to know. I am pretty clueless and I just assumed since I wouldn't be pumping at work a manual one would be fine.
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@sslm: I was wincing in pain and couldn't do it for more than a couple minutes!!! I have a medela electric but when I needed a pump last minute, I got the evenflo electric and it worked great! It sucks batteries like you wouldn't believe but if you don't use it often it shouldn't be too big of a deal.
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I would also put off a pump purchase unless you need one, because you might not! If someone else wants to buy it for you put it on your registry, but I wouldn't buy it until you need it
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You maybe able to get an electric pump for free. Some insurance companies cover them. I was using a medela symphony plus for a while, now I am using an Evenflo double electric pump. I would prefer to have the symphony back but I can't afford it. The Evenflo works just as well it is just a bit louder is all.
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Since my five-day-old is having trouble latching and lost a lot of weight, I'm pumping every two hours. I thank the god of breastmilk every time that I bought a double electric one! I would really recommend an electric in case you end up relying on it. The freestyle is working well for me so far.
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As I sit here on maternity leave, Medela Swing pump glued to my boob because I have overactive let-down and a baby that is terrified of my squirty boobs, I'd have to say bite the bullet and buy electric.
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@sslm: I would recommend you rent an electric from the hospital for a month or two to make sure you have a good supply. Then try out a manual and see how you do. I actually LOVED my manual and stopped using an electric very frequently -- I worked a couple of part-time days in the office but was otherwise home. It was nice to feel like I wasn't hooked up to a machine, and it honestly didn't take me much longer to pump what I would have pumped with the electric.
I recommend the cheapie Lansinoh one. The Medela is a close second, but I never felt the suction was quite as good.
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I got an electric free from insurance but hospital gave me a free ameda manual ($50 at BRU). Honestly, it works just fine - doesn't hurt me. Only downside is my hand can get tired. I prefer it to the electric mostly because I'm not creating a stash, so I pump once a week if that!
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@MamaBehr: That's a good point, I may not need it for a while!
@MrsRcCar: I'm in Canada, so I don't think the insurance thing applies here, unfortunately!
@travelgirl1: Sorry your having latch problems!! I hope that gets sorted out soon
@JessicaMcB: Thanks for the advice!
@Mrs. Yoyo: Thank you for the recommendations
I'm not sure if we can rent pumps from hospitals here in Canada... I will have to look into it!@sorrycharlie: Thanks! I'm hoping to not pump much either, but I guess sometimes stuff comes up you weren't expecting!
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I'm clearly in the minority but I LOVE my manual pump! I'm a SAHM so I only pump occasionally (when I'm engorged, skip a feeding to give LO a bottle of pumped milk, or just to take the edge off as LO sleeps through the night and my boobs don't always remember that).
I've found the manual to be great - it's so easy to maintain, cleaning is a breeze, and I have never had an issue with it hurting. Because it's manual, you get to control how quickly you pump and at the beginning, when I still had sore nipples, I would only do half squeezes until let down had fully occurred when I could then do whole pumps. To fill up a 4 oz pump bottle, it takes me approximately 6 - 8 minutes on my good side, and maybe 12 - 15 minutes on my super slow side.
Honestly, if you're not going back to work and won't need to pump regularly, I'd go with the manual. Everyone told me to go with electric as well but I couldn't be bothered to spend the money and am so, so glad I didn't! My manual is an Avent by the way - here in Australia it cost about $90 (compared to $200+ for an electric) but I don't know what they run in the States.
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Electric! We started off with a manual, and it was effective, but a pain. We then got the Medela Swing. I'm hoping to get a double electric for #2 and beyond, but the Swing is more than sufficient for a SAHM.
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@Ree723: oooh, thanks for the other perspective! I'm feeling the same, like I don't want to spend the money if I'm not going to use it very much.
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Yep, I agree and say wait to get a pump at all. I got a manual when LO was about a month old because I had such an oversupply I was in so much pain. Then, I got a double electric when I went back to work that a friend gave me, and ended up having to rent a hospital grade!
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I vote for electric. It is the most expensive, but think about 1 box of formula = $40-50 and you'd roughly go through 4-5 boxes @ a month (I heard you approx go through 1 box a week). You'd already paid for the pump with 1-1.5 months worth of formula! Besides, if you go with a cheaper, manual pump and it didn't work out, you'd end up spending even more money to get a more expensive, electric pump. Plus the pump parts that maybe is unique to the different pumps!
I stayed at home for the first 3 months (EBF for the first 3 months, then breastfed+pump for the first 8+ months until LO refused breastfeeding... I am still pumping now for 2 times a day as LO is 9+ months now). I struggled but I bought the freestyle handsfree and boy I never regretted. A friend of mine gave me her manual pump which she barely used, and I also barely used it. When you had all those things to worry about (lack of time and lack of sleep, crying baby, painful nipples, engorgement, need to keep up supply...etc), the last thing you want to worry about is to squeeze on that thing manually for 15 minutes each side!! To me manual pump is not as effective which may affect your supply anyway. Then you never know what kind of issues you may run into while breastfeeding... you may never need a pump but just in case if your baby won't suck, won't latch while you are in pain in engorgement...etc. you have the pump ready to go so your supply won't tank because of any BF issues.
I am also glad I bought the freestyle handsfree because it is so small and light and portable. I see my friends carrying around the pump in style and I do not envy them!
So I'd get an electric pump regardless, if I were you. Check with your insurance / FSA and see if they cover your pump!
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I do have to agree with PP's as well. I would wait before investing in a pump to see exactly what you need. If you are able to EBF and LO has a good latch then you may not need anything. I waited to see if I needed anyone and lucky LO was a champ at BF. I did went and got a 60 dollar pump just to pump bottles occasionally if I wanted to leave LO with DH while I go grocery shopping, etc. I recently bought the Medela Pump in Style because of low supply issues so i'm trying to increase my supply. On the other hand, if you can afford it you could always have the manual handy for trips which don't have electricity or dead batteries. Also it's tough to go out and shop for breast pumps with a newborn on hand so at least you will have one handy should you need it.
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@sslm: I think you should be able to rent a pump. I'm in Toronto and my hospital offered a pump rental after I had my c-section and was not producing any colostrum.
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I have a manual And it works great for me! Not painful at all and i was able to make a huge freezer stash with my $30 manual. For me an electric would have been a major waste of money.
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I considered a manual, but an electric is so much faster and efficient
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I'd try to get the electric from insurance and buy a manual. Maybe that's overkill but I've only had a manual and I liked that I could throw it in my purse when we traveled and we traveled a lot or when I was away from baby. It was easy to clean and not heavy and I didn't have the electric to compare but I was fine with the manual and LO usually got a bottle of pumped milk a day for the first 6 months. I got the lanolish one which was $25.
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@Ree723: I totally agree! Same experience here.
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22 comments