I am so excited to finally share my Elvie pump review, and that I am teaming up to giveaway a set of ELVIE PUMPS ($500 value!) to one lucky expecting mama! Please see my Instagram post for rules and to enter in the giveaway. I’ve received a lot of questions about my Elvie pumps so I wanted to share my experience here.
The Pumps
Elvie kindly provided me a set of pumps to review, and I can honestly say that these pumps are a BIG reason why I can continue to breastfeed even after going back to work. The pumps are extremely light at 0.5 lbs per pump and completely mobile and tube-free, allowing you to be hands-free and move about doing whatever you need to do. They easily fit right into your bra and are the most silent pumps I’ve ever seen or experienced. They connect via Bluetooth to your Elvie app on your smartphone, where you can control the suction, see how much milk has been pumped (more on that below), customize your settings, view your history of pumping times and amount, and update your pump software.
The pumps consist of three main parts: the pump, the flange, and the collection unit. There are 5 parts to clean: the flange (breast shield), the pump seal, the bottle, the pump spout, and the valve.
There are 3 sizes of breast shields, so if the 24 mm standard doesn’t fit you, you can always purchase a different size.
Opening the box felt like opening a well designed high end Apple product; everything was beautiful, well packaged, and beautifully presented. The elvie pumps themselves are sleek (I never thought I’d say that about a pump!) and very straightforward to assemble, charge, and use.
The Experience
The Elvie pumps are very user friendly, and I am able to pump the same amount of milk as I did with my Spectra over a very slightly longer period of time. For example, if I pumped out 4 oz from each breast in 11-13 minutes using the Spectra, it took me 15-16 minutes to do the same with my Elvies. As I got more used to the Elvies, I turned up the suction, so I am able to empty in about 10-12 minutes now.
The actual suction itself is not painful the way other pumps are, and you can adjust the strength to your comfort. The pump is extremely quiet, and the only sound you hear is the milk splashing against the bottle when your letdown occurs. Once there is milk in the bottle you don’t hear splashing anymore.
I have not worn the Elvies to see patients in clinic, but I know many of my colleagues have. Personally, I would not feel comfortable squatting down and moving all around while performing total body skin exams, because I feel like the Elvies would lose their suction with so much movement. The Elvies are small but they will be noticeable in my scrubs; if I were to wear a white coat over them, it would probably not be noticeable at all. I wear the Elvies daily while charting and doing administrative work.
Tips
I had a lot of trouble getting consistent output from one side, but after I learned to fix the valve, I no longer have problems. Elvie was very responsive to my requests and sent me a comprehensive troubleshooting guide which fixed the problem. This is probably THE BIGGEST tip I could give you: make sure the valve lip is not tucked under the pump itself!
Also, make sure to wear a tight bra so the pumps fit snugly against your chest. This makes a difference in milk volume output and how long it takes to pump. I wear these sports bras from Amazon.
Make sure all pump parts are completely bone dry as well; otherwise, the suction may be off.
The Elvie comes with extra bottles and caps for transport as well as the spout and valve; I purchased an additional pair of breast shields so I could have a backup pair readily available without having to wash pumps constantly.
Comparison to Other Pumps
It took me a little while to learn how to use the Elvies effectively. Initially I started off my pumping journey by using the Spectra, which has more settings and stronger suction, which was helpful in getting my milk to come in. While the Spectra is more powerful than the Elvie, I became tired of feeling chained to one spot for 20 minutes at a time, multiple times a day. I transitioned to using the Elvie for hands-free pumping within 1 month, alternating between using the Spectra and Elvie, and I have been exclusively using the Elvie for the past 7 months.
I have not used the Willow pump before, but according to my friends who have used both, the Willow pump has stronger suction and holds more milk. However, the Willow pump is also heavier, bulkier and more noticeable, and is louder. You have to weigh the pros and cons and see which wearable pump fits into your lifestyle better.
Areas for Improvement
The Elvies are my pump of choice, but there are a few areas for improvement:
- The valve getting caught under the pump: I mentioned this above and this is easy enough to fix, but until I found out about this issue, I was so frustrated!
- The volume of milk pumped in the app is not accurate. Sometimes it overestimates, sometimes it underestimates. It gives a ballpark figure but you still have to check the bottle measurements once you are done.
- The bottles holds 4.5 oz on each side before the pump tells you to empty the bottle and resume. This is not an issue for me because I don’t pump more than that in one session, but for mamas who pump more than that each time, you will need to switch bottles.
- The Elvies do not pump directly into storage bags or bottles the way other pumps like the Spectra do (the Spectra can be hooked up to adapters that you can use to pump directly into Kiinde bags). You have to pour the bottles into your storage bags or bottles.
Overall, these Elvie pumps have been a big BIG part of my breastfeeding journey, and I am so thankful they were invented so that I can pump while multitasking!
Don’t forget to enter the giveaway to win a set of Elvie pumps of your own on my Instagram post. Good luck!
Leave a Reply