Working and Pumping

Review of Whisper Wear pump (m, EPIC!!!)

I received this pump via UPS last Thursday, and tried it for the first time on Friday morning. It takes 2 AA batteries per breast. My kit came with 50 bags plus all the pump parts and a spare set of the tiny purple valves. The first trial was assembling the pump. Putting the batteries in is easy. Doing the rest is somewhat harder. I did not correctly assemble the pump on Friday, or Saturday. Sunday was the first time I used it as it was meant to be used.

The hardest part of assembling it is getting the breast cups seated properly. The pump itself is this hard plastic breast-shaped thing that the soft plastic breast cups attach to. But there’s a little ridge on the breast cup that has to snap under a lip on the pump, and this was not made obvious in the manual, nor was it obvious from looking at it. I had to watch a video on http://www.whisperwear.com to figure it out.

The other hard part is getting the bags onto the straws (I don’t remember what Whisper Wear calls them) that move the milk from the pump to the bag. DH and I struggled with this for a few days, then figured out that we could use a thick rubber band to open the tiny little neck of the bag, and to help slide the bag onto the straw. Think of this as opening one of those annoying produce bags at the grocery store, only the bag is just ½ inch wide, and the plastic is heavyweight. Then sliding that slippery bag onto a plastic straw. Not simple, and even with the rubber band, this is the part that takes me the longest every morning.

Ok, pump all assembled, time to wear it. This really is a hands-free pump, which is great. The pump sits inside your bra, the straw snaps into the bottom of the pump, and the bag hangs below your bra. You can see pictures on the website. It takes a little getting used to, to put the straws in, but it’s not too bad (if you’ve seated the breast cup correctly).

When you start the pump, it goes into a short pre-latch auto cycle. I don’t think you can control this cycle. It doesn’t do a whole lot for me; maybe it helps me let down, but if it does, it’s not reliable. After the pre-latch, you have a choice of three cycle speeds, and a completely variable vacuum level. I’ve only used it on the fast cycle so far; I’m not sure if that’s optimal, but I’ve really only had 4 days of using the pump correctly. I’ll play around some as I get used to it.

The vacuum doesn’t feel very strong, but I wonder if it’s a little stronger than I perceive it to be. I’ve been using it on the middle of the range, but I’m still playing with that as well. I think women who like the feel of very strong vacuum might not like this pump. In addition, it seems to me the fast cycle rate is just as fast as my PIS. I was hoping for something a little faster, to better match my moo’s nursing pattern. Oh well.

Now for the part that matters: results. Every day I’ve used this pump I’ve gotten a little more milk, but I’m still not up to the amounts I usually get from my PIS. And several mornings, I’ve pumped with this and then followed up with my PIS to get enough to leave for moo. I’m an LVP, so I usually get 2-3 ounces in my 20-minute morning pump; with the WW, I’m getting 1-2 ounces, and that’s after 25 minutes of pumping. I think I just don’t let down as easily for this pump as I do for the PIS. I’m guessing I can change that with time, but I’m not sure yet. I am still taking the PIS to work. I hope next week I can start taking the WW instead, but I have to be convinced that I’m going to pump enough with it.

The pump itself is fairly comfortable to wear, and it is fairly quiet. Someone standing near you will hear it—it sounds a bit robotic. But if you had to pump in your cube, probably no one outside the cube would notice, as long as you were willing to turn it on and off at the cube (the on/off switch is, of course, inside your bra). It truly is hands-free, as long as your bra is the right size to hold it. I’m wearing it right now. It is difficult to pick up your moo while wearing it, because you basically have an inch of hard plastic sitting in front of your breasts, and it’s hard to believe it would stay there with a child rubbing against it. But I’ve managed to hold my moo a few times, and certainly have been able to sit on the floor and play with her. One thing, though: I think this pump might not be comfortable for women with large nipples. I haven’t measured the opening, but I think it’s about the same as that of the regular PIS horns.

So, preliminary opinion: not a bad pump, but probably not as good as promised. I’m not sure I’d buy it again, but I’m giving it a try for a couple of weeks before I give up. It is portable, it’s really nice to be able to move around while pumping, but I’m not seeing enough milk getting pumped yet. Plus, it takes a while to get used to assembling it; it’s certainly not as easy as the PIS, in terms of setup. If I were using it at work full-time, I would probably get a few sets of straws so that I could attach the bags the night before, instead of having to attach them at work.

I haven’t figured out a way to use it with other bags. It might be possible, but my guess is that it isn’t. The narrow neck has to fit inside part of the pump, and I don’t think you could get a regular bag in there. Maybe I’ll try it this weekend.

-Sarah with moo Rebecca (7 months)

Thanks Sarah - questions if I may? <m>

Do you actually have to wedge the baggie into the pump? I corresponded withthe WhisperWear folks because it does appear that you have to use THEIR bags, and 4oz bags just are not sufficient for this Old Bear. I was kinda wondering if you thought you could shove tubing onto the straw thingie & hang a bigger bag on it?

Do you feel like this pump (or these pumps) is/are robust enough to stand up to daily use? How fast do they eat batteries? Can you use rechargeables? How do you clean the thing?

Thanks so much for posting. You are the first human being I've heard from who has actually used the thing and is not trying to sell it.

Hugs,

SHaron

Answers... (m)

I'll look tonight and see if you could use tubing, but I'm not sure it would work. The straw (they call it a stem, I think) has to snap in place on the pump, and then a little bit lower on it, it has two holes for the milk to drip through, and then turns into something more like a coffee stirrer, kind of like this:

        |  | <- This part attaches to the pump, and the bag
 hollow |  |     comes all the way up here
 straw->|  |
        \  /
 holes-> \/
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 open    ||
 part  ->||
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The neck of the bag comes all the way up to the top of the wide part. The wide part is a straw, basically, with holes in the angled portion, and then an open, channeled piece of plastic going down into the bag (the open part is what's like a coffee stirrer). So maybe you could use a bit of tubing on the wide part, and connect a larger bag to the tubing. I'll have to play around a bit.

It's hard to speak to robustness. I tried rechargeables, and I'm not quite convinced they give enough voltage, although they are supposed to work. I will have to try them again, I don't think I tried them after I figured out how to assemble the pump properly. I've been using alkalines since Sunday.

Everything can go in the dishwasher, except the pump motor itself. The breast cups come off and can go on the top rack, and the valves and stems can go into a little bag (they include the bag) and go on the top rack. The pump motor can be wiped off with a damp cloth, but not submerged.

-Sarah

Cool. Thanks! Please keep us posted <n/t>

Wow! Great job of reviewing this pump! Keep us updated on how it works for you. nt