How much do breast pumps cost? How much should I expect to pay / budget for?
One of the most critical factors in determining your breast pump choice, and the area where you may have the least knowledge and confidence, is likely cost. Fear not! As moms ourselves, we’re here to share our experience to help you get started in choosing the right pump for your budget.
If you have the time and grip strength, manual pumps are the most cost-effective solution and highly portable, with prices ranging from thirty to one hundred dollars. While certainly less expensive, this method is more time consuming and less efficient to use since it’s “powered” by you and therefore nearly impossible to do more than one of the girls at a time.
Like us moms here, we’re guessing though that you don’t have a lot of extra time, or energy for that matter, so you’re probably aiming for an electric pump where prices can range from a few hundred dollars to over a thousand. The final cost will depend on a couple key factors.
If you have a more limited budget and more time to spend pumping, then consider a single pump version which can also be a bit more portable. Generally speaking, these should run you a couple hundred dollars while a double pump which gets the job done in half the time and may actually allow you to express more milk, starts at around three hundred dollars and goes up from there depending on the brand, features, and accessories.
Beyond pump type, other things that contribute to pump cost include materials used and the pumping action itself, unit size and portability, system hygiene, and the overall quality and reliability of the components and brand. These are all critical elements which we[‘ll] cover in more detail in future posts.
For now though, we just wanted give you some general cost ranges and a few high-level considerations to begin your decision making process. As always, we’re here to listen and help.
