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Nursing/Pumping Question

I'm planning on nursing, and will be pumping once I go back to work. For those that pump, do you have both a manual and an electric pump? If you have both, how often, and in what situations do you use the manual?

TIA!

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Re: Nursing/Pumping Question

  • bobceebobcee member
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    edited September 2013
    I only have a double electric and don't see/haven't had the need to ever have a manual.

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  • I do have both.  I bought the hand pump while waiting for my electric to come in (my insurance wouldn't let me order it until he was born, and then it was on backorder), but ended up renting a hospital pump anyway.  Now I have the hand pump in the diaper bag, just in case.  I haven't used it, but people say it is good to have one just for back up, in case your pump breaks or there's a power outage or something.
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  • I just had a double electric pump.
  • @NotMrsSmith11 - that makes sense about power outage. It's always good to have a backup plan, just in case.

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    “You can have your wishes, your plans, but at the end of the day, it's out of your control"
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    "People talk about escapism as if it's a bad thing... Once you've escaped, once you come back, the world is not the same as when you left it. You come back to it with skills, weapons, knowledge you didn't have before. Then you are better equipped to deal with your current reality."
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  • double electric!  A manual would be nice for if you're on the go and you need to pump a little off teh top or something, but other than that, it seems like a whole lot of work.
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  • @NotMrsSmith11 - that makes sense about power outage. It's always good to have a backup plan, just in case.
    I wasn't necessarily planning on getting one, actually, but now that I have one I'm glad I do, just in case.  I didn't think I would really need a pump at all right away, but I had such supply issues that they had me pumping in the hospital.  I bought the manual one two days after being discharged, when we saw the pedi and found out A was still losing weight.  The manual one wasn't enough to build my supply and supplement him, so we rented the hospital pump while waiting for my regular pump to be delivered.  Of course, for us, the hospital pump wasn't enough either so we ended up supplementing.

    All that to say I'm not sure I would have ever bought the manual pump, certainly not right away.
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  • I exclusively pumped and only had a double electric.
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  • @NotMrsSmith11 - that makes sense about power outage. It's always good to have a backup plan, just in case.
    Not sure if it's true of all electric pumps, but I know at  least the Medela PISA can also run on batteries, so I keep those in the bag as a back up.

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  • I have heard of people keeping a manual pump at work as a back up just in case they forget to bring their pump one day. I was given a manual pump in the hospital so you might want to wait to see if they give you one.
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  • I have used a single electric, double electric, and manual.  I do agree with bobcee, a double electric is all you really need.

    I used the single electric while I was waiting for my insurance to tell me how they'd cover a double.  It worked great whenever I'd feed Lucy from one side only.  Then I could pump the other side to freeze. 

    Double electric is fantastic for work.  I could pump on my 15 minute break and be empty.  Highly recommended.

    Manual is lame.  Mine worked fine (I failed to bring my pump on a weekend at the IL's), but if you want a single you can find a single electric for just a tiny bit more $ with less effort put in by you.

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  • Also, I do like the idea of keeping a backup at work.  I never forgot my whole pump, just different pieces now and again.  It would be great not to need to run home at lunch to get what I forgot.

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  • Thanks for all the input, ladies!

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    My new bff Gayle Forman!

    “You can have your wishes, your plans, but at the end of the day, it's out of your control"
    - Gayle Forman
    "People talk about escapism as if it's a bad thing... Once you've escaped, once you come back, the world is not the same as when you left it. You come back to it with skills, weapons, knowledge you didn't have before. Then you are better equipped to deal with your current reality."
    - Neil Gaiman

    Married Bio

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  • Like @NotMrsSmith11, my insurance wouldn't let me get a pump until A was born, so I bought a manual as a back-up. It has been a life-saver! In our first couple of days home from the hospital, A was giving me some trouble latching, so we occasionally did a bottle of pumped milk. I also got pretty engorged at the beginning and A wouldn't latch, so I would pump a bit off. I still haven't managed to get the hang of hand expressing. I haven't gone back to work yet (just two weeks left home :(( ) so I actually haven't broken out my double-electric yet since my manual pump has been so awesome. Once I go back to work and regularly pump, then I'll be primarily using the double-electric.
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  • I used my manual overnight and found it so much easier and quieter than the electric. I didn't have to worry about hooking anything up. I had both a PISA and a Harmony which was nice because all of the parts are interchangeable. I also would use my manual during long car rides and while I waited for my electric to come in through my insurance.
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  • I use my hand pump almost exclusively bc I just have issues with the double electric. I'm working on it, but I bought a hand pump after I produced .5 oz in a 30 minute session. I made my entire stash with my hand pump and haven't had to dip into my stash with what I've produced in the week I've been back to work. I wouldn't recommend it, but it's better than giving up bf (not that there's anything wrong with ff. I'm just not ready for it yet.)
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