Spectra flange sizes6/12/2023 I knew for sure that I was using the right size shield because in the hospital when my son was born, I really struggled to get him to latch. She commented that most people are not a size 20 (which happens to be what I was using). (Bear with me, I know this seems like a different topic, but I promise it’s related!) Shari was explaining that if you are using a shield, it’s important to have it sized correctly. She was doing a breastfeeding Q&A and she was discussing nipple shields. If you are not familiar with her she is an IBCLC and you can find her Facebook page here. How did I finally figure out I was using the wrong size? Believe it or not, I was watching a live stream on Shari Criso’s page. I also doubt that I would have wanted to nurse my son directly after pumping with my nipples in that state if I was pumping multiple times a day. I imagine that my nipples would be sore and that I would likely not have pumped for over a year. If I was an exclusive pumper… this would be a much bigger problem. However, when I pump using the bigger size I get less milk output and my nipples look reddish purple and slightly swollen after pumping. The flanges that I was using were OK… I mean, if I’m being completely honest, I’ll still reach for them in a pinch if my other sets are in the dishwasher. We all come in different shapes and sizes and it’s unfair to assume that what works for one mom will work for another. I had to pump in the beginning when my son was a newborn to protect my supply because he was so sleepy but after that I pumped primarily to have the option of bottle feeding around family members who were not crazy about my choice to breastfeed or to be able to leave milk for another caregiver if I was out without baby.Įvery one’s anatomy is totally different. The other reason that I waited so long is that the flanges that I had were working and I wasn’t exclusively pumping so I figured it wasn’t worth stressing over. Sure, I read the instruction book that came with my pump and there was a diagram in it that showed what a too big and too small flange should look like but do you have any idea how hard it is to judge if your flange fits the way it shows in the picture? (Below is a picture similar to the diagram in my user manual) I mean my pump happened to come with two sizes of flanges and I knew for sure that one size was too big but if the other one was right? It seemed OK! To be honest I didn’t even know that there were additional sizes available that didn’t come with the pump and when I did find out… I assumed that they only came bigger (because that what was always discussed when I heard/saw it brought up) rather than the smaller size that I actually needed. This topic wasn’t even touched on (as far as I can remember) in my breastfeeding class that I took before my son was born and unfortunately with breast pumps and their subsequent parts, there’s no “try before you buy” option so I didn’t have anything to compare. One of the biggest reasons that it took me so long to realize that I was using the wrong size is that as a new mom I had no clue how the flange was supposed to fit or how the pump was supposed to feel. I discovered about 8 months into my nursing/pumping journey that I had been using the wrong flange size and I WISH that I had known this much earlier on.
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