This is a long article about the Medela breast pump reviews. I will share my experience of using Medela breast pump. My colleague gave me a Medela breast pump during pregnancy. Recently, my daughter was born and the breast pump was put into use. Although I introduce the experience of using Medela breast pumps, the ideas and practices are also applicable to other brands of breast pumps.

1. Clean and put into use of unilateral silk rhyme.

I have a normal version of the Siyun breast pump, using yellow valves and white tablets, not the new Shuyue version. When I turned the breast pump out of my home for a few months, the first thing I saw was its tiny, but evenly distributed mold spots on its catheter. Then think of a way to clean the catheter. Rinse with clear water is not effective. Find a catheter brush that looks like a catheter for a baby bottle. It looks like it can be inserted into the catheter, but it can’t be inserted into the connector. Then pull out the connector at both ends and then brush with the catheter. However, the brush does not seem to be long enough, and the tube is simply cut into two, so that it is plugged in from both ends for brushing, and the half-broken tube can be basically cleaned. If you are not anxious parents, you can buy a cleaning brush directly on Taobao. The longer brush should be able to be plugged in directly from the interface and can clean half the pipe.

The machine is ready for use after cleaning the catheters and breast pump accessories. Siyun’s power supply requirement is DC4.8V, which can be powered by 4 * AA batteries or power adapters. Of course, it can also be used with mobile power. Just buy a USB to DC5.5 * 2.1 cable. When I first used it, it was actually used to open the milk. My wife found that the suction seems to be inadequate. I studied the principle and probably understood it. The host is actually a vacuum pump that provides a certain vacuum pressure. The yellow and white tablets function as a one-way valve, which closes when suckling and allows milk to fall naturally from it when relaxing. Under the action of the yellow valve white sheet (hereinafter referred to as the one-way valve), there is no need for a sealed connection between the storage bottle and the connector, and the pressure in the storage bottle when the negative pressure is generated is also normal pressure. The machine in our hand may have been useless for a long time. The aging of the white film caused the sealing to decrease, and the air leaked every time it was inhaled. At this time, the wife who was anxious to open a milk had called me to suck her milk with her mouth. So I first temporarily sealed the yellow valve white film with raw materials tape, electrical tape, clips and other materials to increase the vacuum of the breast pump. In this way, the effect of sucking milk can be stronger than the effect of my mouth- I can barely suck out a little bit, and I feel breathless, and the breast pump can provide a small but stable milk output, and you can see the milk slowly leaking out. If the sucked milk is not willing to be thrown away at this time, it can be stored in the parts of the yellow valve (normal posture), and then carefully poured out. This is mainly due to the low milk volume, which ensures that it does not flow back into the straw. In addition, the breast pump is dedicated, how long you want to use it, and your child’s dad has to work for 5 minutes and have to rest for 5 minutes. It’s night, the breast pump is the hero to alleviate the increase in milk. When the breast pump was used for breastfeeding normally, I replaced it with a new white film, but there may also be the reason that the yellow valve was not replaced.

2. Which one does Medela breast pump choose?

For users who haven’t bought yet, the most important question is which one to buy. In terms of suction, my friends told me that the manual suction of Heyun is the biggest. In terms of effect, netizens’ comparison conclusion is that Heyun Manual and High-end Heart Rhyme have the best effect. I haven’t used either of them for the time being, so I don’t make any additional comments.

The purchase decision of the breast pump is divided into two parts for discussion, one is the host and the other is the connector. The main effects pursued by the host are convenience, performance, and noise. If you don’t pay attention to convenience users, heart rhyme and rhyme should be a good choice. If you are breastfeeding in the middle of the night and you are afraid of making noise to your family, the noise of rhyme and rhyme should be minimal. If convenience is important, Siyun, Siyunyi, Feiyun and Heyun should be alternative models.

Many people say that the money-saving use of a breast pump is to buy a second-hand host + buy a new connector. I agree with this method. However, as far as Siyun is concerned, if the host has ever sucked milk (returned milk), there may be a decrease in suction or life. Brand-new connectors should also be purchased from reliable channels as much as possible, and refurbished parts may be bought if cheap.

Silk rhyme and silk rhyme wings are a pair of magical models. They are made one side and two sides, but they have the same main body shape. I analyzed the difference on the main machine just to increase the size of the motor of the vacuum pump by one size. In this way, the size of the sub-motor increases, and the size of the battery compartment can only be reduced. Therefore, the cost of increasing the weight of the motor from 200g to 220g is the original 5 Battery # 7 has become battery # 7-no doubt its relative battery life should be shorter. Personally, I despise this approach. It is a bit like pitting consumers’ money. Obviously, it is the old bottled new wine that does not change the soup and does not change the medicine, but has sold a new product to the consumer.

There are roughly three types of connector structures. One is the old model, which fits the heart rhyme, looks like it is transparent, and also uses the yellow valve white film. The second is the silk rhyme in my hand. It is not completely transparent, but the middle part is yellow. The third type is used on the current Feiyun. The structure of the yellow valve is more scientific. It is integrated in the connector and can prevent the milk from flowing back. The typical feature is that the yellow valve looks like a large disc. There may be a fourth structure called the Shuyue version connector, and it is not clear the difference from the Feiyun model. The breast shield is divided into two types, one is ordinary transparent plastic, and the other is Shuyue version shield. The edge of the cover of the Shuyue version is white silicone, the opening reaches 105 degrees, and the shape is slightly oval. It is said to be more close to the breast and improve the pumping efficiency. The official said that it can only be used with the Shuyue version of Siyun, Siyunwing and Feiyun, that is, it can only be used with the connector of Shuyue version. In this case, I would recommend that users who purchase the new Medela breast pump directly purchase the Shu Yue version of the breast pump (with Flex in the model name). If you are buying second-hand parts, you can buy a full set of Shuyue version accessories directly when you buy the second-hand host. Although it is more expensive, it is good that there are fewer fakes and good performance.

3. How to modify the machine? Purchase and use of accessories

Anyone who understands the principle of the breast pump can see that the single-sided silk rhyme can be transformed into a double-sided silk rhyme by matching a tee. Taobao can easily buy kits that change from one side to the other. It should save some money. As for how much the effect of 200g motor and 220g motor can be worse, I have deep doubts. If you care about this difference, people should also buy the Feiyun of 370g motor or the rhyme of 1000g motor directly.

The ordinary silk rhyme always has the problem of milk backflow, which is also a problem for mothers who are just breastfeeding. Even if there is no milk flowing back into the catheter, there will still be visible moisture and some strange milk stains inside the catheter. Cleaning the catheter each time is a second problem. You can purchase a catheter brush + blower to solve it, but if water and gas enter the host, it will affect the life of the host. There is also a solution to this problem: backflow prevention valves. This part is a three-way part, the appearance is consistent with the parts used by Berwick, and the yellow film idea of ​​Feiyun is consistent. Vacuum suction is transmitted through a white silicone membrane, so that even if there is backflow, milk and water will be isolated in front of the silicone membrane. Note that if you do not use it for a while, remember to clean the silicone membrane. The catheter and the host can always be cleaned without worry. The negative effect is that the suction of the machine will be weakened. If the user is only able to suck the milk in a high-end position, the part may not be suitable for use. I guess that Medela did not use similar designs like Feiyun or Berwick on the silk rhyme, mainly because the lack of suction of the motor can only be a choice. From this perspective, Siyun is more like an eclectic machine than a machine that pursues performance or the actual user experience.

The performance of the single-sided Siyun, whether it is powered by a power supply or a No. 5 rechargeable battery, is sufficient. If it is used with the cheapest No. 5 rechargeable battery, the battery life is less than 1 hour (personal test results, each The amount of suction used by people is different, for reference only), with a 2200mAh full capacity rechargeable battery, it can be used for one day, and the actual battery life is about 3-4 hours. However, I think it is more embarrassing that if you use four large-capacity batteries, the weight of the whole machine is considerable, so the convenience of Silk Yun is relatively discounted.

If you have purchased a bilateral user, you may need a hands-free bra to further improve the comfort during breastfeeding. At present, the hands-free bra is widely sold, but for users of Feiyun, hands-free accessories are also available, which are matched with the buckle of the nursing bra. However, this accessory sells less on Taobao and I don’t know how it works.

The principle of Kama pacifiers is different from ordinary pacifiers, and can be directly adapted to standard mouth milk bottles (that is, Medela’s milk bottles), but it is not very good to read the comments of everyone on the Internet. I don’t know if it is the wrong posture or the effect itself. The bottle with the breast pump is actually a standard bottle. Any standard bottle can be used as a storage bottle. I think that it is more appropriate for the user of the unilateral breast pump to reserve 4 bottles. On the bilateral side, it may be at least 6. From our current situation (10 days after delivery, supply and demand are basically balanced), we use 4 feeding bottles to basically turn around-one at the time of breastfeeding, about 2 in the refrigerator, one day of milk and one day of milk, and sometimes the refrigerator There will also be 3 bottles, of which two bottles will be used on the day. At first, there were only two Medela bottles, so I had to use a Dr. Brown standard bottle as a storage bottle, which was a bit stretched.

The one-piece cover and the split cover mean that the split cover is composed of two parts. Remove the cover and use a standard pacifier to use it as a baby bottle (but will it not be flatulent?), But Medela There are also two sizes of ordinary pacifiers for standard-mouth bottles. One is a normal size and the other is a widened one. Do not confuse. There is another kind of bottle cap which is more fancy. It can be rotated to mark the day of the week and refined into morning and afternoon, so that it is not easy to confuse the bottle stored in the refrigerator in a week. The split cap with PP bottle has leaks and it will not be completely sealed, but when the bottle is inverted, no milk will flow out. Medela itself has both PP and glass bottles for sale. It is not bad to buy his glass milk bottle. PP bottles seem to be suitable for refrigerated rooms because of the material’s low temperature resistance. If you want a safe glass bottle and you want to save money, you can directly buy things like standard mouth glass bottles or storage bottles.

The design of the yellow valve and white film seems to me a bit intolerable. Functionally, it mainly functions as a one-way valve, and the other is to leak the sucked milk. The official suggest that the yellow valve white film is a wearing part that needs to be replaced regularly. The yellow valve is a plastic part. I think the possibility of deformation is small. It is mainly used for a long time. , Plus it is a soft material, the deformation is not tight enough to understand. However, if it is made into standard parts, the size of the silicone seal ring is only a few cents. It will be very tight when it is not possible to do so, and I will be a bit unhappy about selling the consumables later. However, if you look at other breast pumps, it is also very good design. There is a commonly used method to make duckbill valves. Taobao really has duckbill valves that Medela can use. It is a three-way accessory, but it has not been bought yet. I don’t know if the effect will be better than the original solution.

Choosing the size of a breast shield is a big deal. First of all, whether you choose a normal shield or Shuyue shield, you must measure the diameter of your nipples. Generally, the diameter of the nipples before and after breastfeeding may increase by 2-3mm. It is recommended to measure after breastfeeding. Our own situation is that the breast is 22-23mm before and after breastfeeding, but the effect of using the standard 24mm mask is not good. There have been some milky knots recently. If you follow the official recommendations, you should use a 27mm shield. Whether you want to use a 27mm shield. In this regard, breast milk consultants are still necessary. If the size is not in the middle of the two sizes, it will not be such a tangle that you can directly choose the appropriate size.

I also bought a standard mouth wide mouth-wide mouth turn pigeon bottle mouth converter, I imagined that the breast pump can be placed directly in the pigeon wide mouth glass bottle. But I did n’t use it after I bought it. One was that the glass bottle was re-hanging and tired to suck milk. When the second arrived, there were already four Medela storage bottles. There was no problem of insufficient turnover of the storage bottles. However, it should also have another role: Pigeon wide mouth feeding bottle with Dr. Brown standard pacifier for feeding. It is said that Dr. Brown’s bottle itself is designed to have the best anti-flatulence effect, but it is also very troublesome to clean.

The milk collector is very easy to use. We have developed two usage methods: one is to use the rhyme to pump milk at the same time and use the milk collector to collect milk. Go to the other side of the milk. If it is in the process of in-feeding, in fact, you can also use the milk collector to suck the other breast while feeding the baby. This is silent and does not waste milk. If you don’t want to empty it intentionally, after eating one side, the mother can take a rest and let the baby or her family feed the baby. I think this is a better practice.