How to Use Manual Breast Pump

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Do you have a manual breast pump at home?

A manual breast pump is usually used for occasional pumping or as a back-up pump.

However, have you learnt how to use it efficiently?

In this beginner’s guide, you will learn how to use a manual breast pump to get the most milk from your breast.

Learn how to use manual breast pump in this beginner’s guide

Before that, let me share a bit of my story.

I bought my very first manual pump when I was expecting my first baby. When he was born and suffered from jaundice, my lactation counselor suggested me to try pumping (we were having a phone consultation). Imagine how sad I was when noticing only a few drops of milk on my pump flange.

I pumped on and off. Sometimes I got nothing, and it was so demoralizing. Sometimes, I could get up to 1.5 oz in a session. I couldn’t understand why, until it was time for me to go back to workplace. Only at that time, I realized that I used manual breast pump wrongly.

Ugh… how I wish information like this was easily available at that time. Once I got to know my pump, I learnt how to pump better, and finally got consistent result.

Now, I don’t want you to do the same mistake that I did. That’s why I created this beginner’s guide so that you can master how to use manual breast pump right from the start.

Let’s begin!

First, assemble your manual breast pump according to its user manual. In general, your pump will come with a bottle to collect the expressed milk, breast shield and valve, and a handle that you use to apply suction rhythmically to your breast.

Place the breast shield on your breast with your nipple located in the center of the shield. Make sure it is sealed properly. When you cannot create a good seal, it indicates that the breast shield is too big. You may need to try the smaller size one.

This is how you are going to use the pump handle. When you squeeze handle, you will feel the suction applied to your breast. When you release it, the valve will open and release the milk to the bottle. You will do a cycle of squeeze and release to mimic baby’s suckling.

Now, remember that there are two phases happening when you feed or pump.

The first phase is initiating let down stage, when you are trying to stimulate your let down reflex. You won’t see any milk at all at the beginning of pumping and that’s normal. Your goal in this stage is to get the milk flowing.

The second phase is expressing stage, where your milk will flow abundantly. This is where you are going to extract as much milk as possible.

A cycle contains these two phases is called one let down, and during one pumping session, you may be able to have two, three, or even four letdowns.

Thus, you will experience set of cycles such as:
initiating let down – expressing – initiating let down – expressing – initiating let down – expressing, and so on.

Initiating let down reflex

Let down reflex is typically triggered when you apply a fast, low suction to your breast. To do this, squeeze the handle half way in a fast motion. You may speed up the let down by applying nipple stimulation to the other breast not covered by the breast shield. Well, it may sound gross, but it helps wonder. You can also do things to encourage faster let down by following this let down tips.

Expressing breast milk

Once your milk begins to flow, you are moving into expressing stage. Apply more suction by applying more pressure (squeeze the handle further). The maximum suction you can apply is when the handle hits the collection bottle.

As you squeeze the handle, you will see the milk sprays from the nipple. Release the handle when the sprays stop, and squeeze again to get the milk flowing.

Do a trial error, find out with which vacuum level works best (i.e. how much squeeze do you need to get that milk out). Usually, you will use slower speed in this stage, compared to when you are trying to stimulate your let down. Don’t forget to use your other hand to massage around your breast to get better and faster milk flow.

When the flow has slowed down, switch to another breast. Squeeze and release again until you see no more milk coming out. I would typically switch side twice during a single let down.

Once you see no milk flowing from both breast, try to initiate the second let-down, then repeat.

PS: Some manual breast pumps has a special technique to initiate let-down. For example, in Medela Harmony you can use the shorter / front part of the handle to initiate let-down, and the longer part for expression. Lansinoh, on the other part, has a mechanical switch to differentiate let-down and expression stage.

When to Stop Pumping?

You may stop pumping by looking at either of these two indicators:

Time. It is recommended to have 15 minutes of pumping for each breast. So, in this case, aim for 30 minutes if you are pumping both breasts.
The number of let downs. After pumping for some time, you may get a better understanding how many let down you typically have in one pumping session. As a general rule, if initiating the subsequent let down (say, the third or the fourth) takes too much time yet yield too little milk, it may not worth it. If you are a beginner pumper, stick to two or three let downs and see the result.

Tips for Getting More Milk with A Manual Pump

Choose a manual breast pump that allows you to switch breast shield size. Sometimes, the standard breast shield that comes with our manual breast pump does not fit our nipple properly. When this happens, pumping becomes ineffective. Either you feel pain or your breast is not fully drained. In that case, you will need to use different breast shield size (see this guide to learn how).
Massage your breast. Yes, this is one of the secret key to thoroughly drain your breast, be it with manual or electrical breast pump. With a manual pump, you even have more flexibility on maneuvering your pump and massaging your breast.
Pair with a silicon breast pump. You see, when you feel let down, essentially your milk is ready to flow from both breast. For some moms, the milk will leak automatically. In order to save this milk (and the time), it is always a good idea to catch the milk with a silicon breast pump such as Haakaa. This silicon pump also applies a little bit of pressure to further promote milk flow, even when you are not pumping that side with your manual pump.

So, It’s not that difficult to operate a manual breast pump. If you use it efficiently, you can even empty your breasts faster compared to an electric pump.

I hope this little guide can help you to understand how to use a manual breast pump and get the best result with it.