Hand-pumping technique

[erigeron]

I normally pump with a double electric pump, but i bought a hand pump this week when I was in a clinch. Tonight I was feeling pretty uncomfortable because small one hasn't nursed properly all day (argh) so I thought I'd see if I could relieve some of the pressure with the hand pump without having to haul the big pump out. I'm still getting the hang of how much to depress the lever and for how long, so I started trying different things and realized that since the milk comes out only on the down-stroke, not the release-stroke, I could lengthen the amount of time that I depressed the lever and get more milk. So I could draw milk for much longer at a stroke (like, to a count of five or more) than I can with my electric even on the lowest cycle setting. Obviously this doesn't mimic the baby's suction, but by doing this until the milk stopped flowing quickly, then pumping more rapidly to stimulate another letdown, I pumped 4 ounces in 7 minutes.

Is there any reason I shouldn't pump like this? Does anybody ever consistently get better results with a hand pump than an electric, or was this a fluke? If this is something that will work consistently it's making me contemplate ditching my electric and hand-pumping both sides at work, since normally it takes me twice that amount of time to get that much milk from a side with the electric pump. Thoughts?

[LaughingHyena]

I pumped full time for a couple of weeks when DD was in the NICU. I had access to the hospitals electric pumps while I was there and at home I had a hand pump.

In a lot of ways I found the hand pump better, I think partly because I was paying a bit more attention to what was happening, and how my technique was working. With the electric one there was a temptation to turn it on and then ignore it.

I also felt less "hooked up to a  machine" when using the hand pump, since I'd spent quite a while in hospital hooked up to various drips and monitor it was quite nice not to have that feeling.

That said I'm not sure I could have kept up my supply with just the hand pump, for one thing it was a killer on my wrists. I think (though with no scientific evidence to back it up) that the pumps provide slightly different stimulation and switching things around a bit seemed to work well for me.

[erigeron]

At work I tried pumping one side with the hand pump and one side with the electric... I got a LOT of milk with the hand pump, but that side was also quite full since she hadn't nursed off it in the morning. I did not empty it entirely but I mostly stopped because I was about to overrun the bottle. I think it might give comparable results to the electric, but I'm not sure it gives better results. I'm going to keep trying it, and report my experiences for the edification of the group.

[anjsmama]

I returned to work for a brief time when DD was 3 months til she was 4.5 months. I pumped twice/day at work with a manual pump, (2 15 minute breaks) and always brought home at least 12 oz of milk. I also pumped once in the morning before I left (I'd feed one side and pump the other). So during that time I was pumping 18 oz of milk/day with the manual pump. It never bothered me. I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it nearly as much as I hated the time consuming, enormous double electric I used when I returned to work with my DS. 

I found I was able to adjust the manual pump in anyway I wanted - I could mimic DD's exact feeding pattern if I had the time, or draw out for a long time if I needed to get milk out quickly. I could adjust my position and pull if it seemed painful or uncomfortable. 

I only work 7-11 pm now so I don't pump when I'm gone at work, but I have occasionally left DD with family for things and I just pump a bottle with the hand pump before we go. Takes less than 10 minutes. I know some moms hate the effort but I always preferred my manual pump. The one downside, if you need to pump very often, is that the pump will wear out fairly quickly.