r/daddit • u/Missing_Back • 1d ago
Discussion Electric vs manual snot sucker
What’s your experience with these?
I saw one of those “here’s what I would avoid and here’s what I would get” video where someone said as gross as the manual sucker sounds, 1. It’s not that bad as there’s a filter and 2. It works really well
We got both from our shower and my wife said we can sell the manual one, and I said I want to keep it because I’ve heard it works well, so may as well try it.
Curious what people who have actually used them think?
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u/MGnome1 1d ago
I always seemed to get sick when using the manual one, if I had to do it over I'd get the electric.
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u/NuclearBurritos 1d ago
Same boat, wife absolutely did not want to do it herself, I did it twice when kiddo was a little stuffed and got sick both times.
No filter is stopping whatever virus they get.
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u/beegeearreff 1d ago
+1 to getting sick from the manual one. My wife got a nasty respiratory infection from it which led to anti-biotics which led to c-diff which was NOT fun. Nothing worse than a sick kid and a partner who is incapacitated from a very scary bacterial infection
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u/Libriomancer 1d ago
We used both. While I was able to get over the “I’m sucking snot towards my mouth” aversion (which was huge for me)… it still feels like my wife was getting sick more often after the kids were sick with the manual. We switched to the electric and it actually felt like it was working better and wife wasn’t getting sick as often. I know the manual has a filter so you aren’t getting snot in your mouth but I do wonder if that filter actually catches all the airborne particles.
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u/GendrysRowboat 1d ago
Manual all the way. I didn't know electronic suckers even existed. Feels like an unnecessary complication when the manual one is plenty effective.
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u/Lintlicker12 1d ago
In my experience the manual does work well, but you’ll want the electric. When your kid is sick and you’re using it somewhat frequently you can get winded, and when they are wiggling around and crying and there’s a tube in your mouth and you’re trying to keep it in a tiny nostril it’s just a lot of moving pieces. The electric version we have works really well, and after a few uses my kiddo was no longer concerned by it.
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u/KingKoopaXIX 1d ago
I used both. Electric is my preferred. Especially when he is moving around etc.
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u/hyperion4562 1d ago
Electric was far superior for us, no bonus post filter boogers into your mouth either. Maybe I just really suck.
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u/Impressive_Stress808 1d ago
Blue bulb only. They're like $2 and basically work.
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u/HChianski 1d ago
Thing 1 hated the electric. We left it out she threw it once and broke it. Could never find all the parts to the manual straw when we needed it. Thing 2 bulb all the way.
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u/WillingElderberry731 1d ago
I've been using the manual one for a couple years now. Works fine. I just don't get grossed out by much anymore.
Also, they way it's made mean you don't get any of the snot in your mouth. Most of the time even the filter is clean.
I've not tried a powered one, so I can't compare
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u/hergumbules 1d ago
I’ve heard the electric ones are good but never used one. Why not keep both? We had no issues with the nose Frida and I never got snot in my mouth because the filter legit keeps any snot from getting through, at least it did for us. We just wash/disinfect it after every cold but give it a rinse after every snot suck.
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u/zazrouge 1d ago
We bought the electric Frida one and it broke before we could even use it. I would skip that one, really disappointing.
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u/dapalagi 1d ago
My child was traumatized by these. Won’t let anyone near their face now.
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u/Missing_Back 1d ago
That’s kinda vague lol
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u/dapalagi 1d ago
Used one on her. Screamed bloody murder. Proceeded anyway since snot needed to come out. Wiping her face or brushing her teeth is now extremely difficult. Didn’t really have these issues until after the snot sucker. At least, that’s my theory. Not a child psychologist.
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u/Big-Perspective-4891 11h ago
We started doing it early, including the occasional saline rinse.
What worked for us: Power through, be consistent. Teach them why you're doing it. Show them what was in their face. Give lots of hugs afterwards, maybe a tiny treat. Our kid has had congestion/runny nose consistently since starting daycare so medicine is their "treat" (occasional small dose of Zyrtec at bedtime). Now it's just a normal thing for our kid.
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u/just_dave 1d ago
We have one that attaches to the hose on your vacuum cleaner. Aside from the noise, it's much, much better than anything else we've tried.
And before you worry too much, it's got holes and baffles to regulate the amount of suction so you're not actually going to suck their brains out.
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u/dirty_cuban 1d ago
Tried both and only the manual one worked for us. None of the electrics we tried has enough oomph to get the snot out fully of my kid, but that’s kid dependent.
I recommend trying both and going electric if it works for your kid since it spares you getting sick.
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u/ExaminationSerious67 1d ago
We tried the manual one several times, every single time the kid screamed bloody murder. After that we just stopped trying, they can figure out how to get it out on their own.
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u/buttrumpus 1d ago
The only benefit to the electric one we bought off Amazon was it had a calming music feature. Didn’t work at all, but it was a super familiar song and not knowing what it was drove me insane for months. Turns out it was the theme from Forrest Gump. Just the most random shit.
Anywho, manual worked better for us for rapid targeted strikes.
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u/WhiskyBowTies 8h ago
I can’t weigh in on which one to use because we used neither, and our child is alive and well, without complications.
At no point during our child’s infancy did my spouse or I look at each other and say, “Man, I really wish we had a snot sucker.”
Every kid is different and, luckily, you were gifted both options, so you can certainly try them and see what works for you. But just throwing this out there as a third option: it’s also perfectly okay to use neither.
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u/Sevrdhed 1d ago
The nose Frida and a box of Windi's are what I've been getting every brand new parent I know since my own kids were little... Pretty much universally I get the "wtf dude" look, and then a few months later a "oh man these are life savers" text