I have been testing breast pumps for the previous few months, which implies I spend a substantial quantity of my time washing breast pump elements. Day-after-day I am washing elements that I’ve used, and elements that I will be testing subsequent. There’s all the time both a bottle or wearable cup, numerous rubber items, and generally additional shields or sizers. All of which should first be boiled after which washed after my each day pumping session.
Which is why after I noticed the Medela Freestyle had solely three elements—two items to the wearable cup, and one rubber piece—I used to be embarrassingly excited. Much less washing? No tiny duckbill flange that always tries to go down the disposal? Sure!
Transportable and Wearable
The Freestyle is technically only a transportable pump, because the pump itself and controls are in an exterior gadget exterior the bra. However the cups are wearable, which implies they will match totally in your bra as a substitute of needing a pumping bra and hooking as much as a bottle.
That wearable cup is likely one of the issues I really like greatest about this pump. It has precisely three elements: two sides to the cup, and one rubber piece that acts as each the backflow protector and the duckbill flange. That rubber piece stretches throughout the center of 1 aspect of the cup, after which the second half is positioned on high of it.
I am in all probability biased after testing half a dozen pumps, however the simplicity of meeting was so thrilling to me. It is nonetheless a complete of six elements you want to wash (or pop within the dishwasher, as they’re all dishwasher protected), nevertheless it was a lot simpler to maintain observe of than the same old 10 or extra elements I’d wash, dry, and should construct in a sure method. Particularly with wearable pumps, placing them collectively might be lower than intuitive.
After constructing your cups, tubing connects the cups to the pump itself. The pump is a cute little handheld gadget, and it has the same really feel to a Roku remote (although just a little bigger and heavier). If you flip it on, it lights up with LED buttons and just a little show that tells you the battery life, how lengthy you’ve got been pumping, and what mode and degree you are on.
It is easy to determine easy methods to join every part collectively and begin utilizing it. You possibly can pair the pump to your telephone through the Medela app (Android, iOS), however not one of the core performance is constructed into it—you do not want it to information you thru setup, and there is a minutes timer on the pump itself (although the app will present you minutes and seconds). The Bluetooth connection did not all the time keep steady, however the app would reconnect and decide up your pump session the place it left off.
Execs and Cons
The three-part cups are tremendous light-weight in comparison with true wearable cups, since there isn’t any motor and fewer elements. They’re comfy to stay in any current bra, and straightforward to put on and stroll round in. The pump itself comes with a brief lanyard that you may put on round your wrist or tuck right into a pocket as you progress round. However the high has a gap, so that you should not bend over whereas sporting this pump.
