Experience with Medela Symphony pump?

[Swirly]

Hi all. I have been EP'ing for my baby for a long time now and have had endless supply issues. I was using a PISA for 8 months, then swithced to a Lactina. the Lactina helped a lot, but tore my nipples to pieces and was very loud. I got a Symphony delivered to me today, hoping ti might help (and it is quieter). I am in the middle of a hideous supply decreasedue to AF, and am worried my milk may entirely dry up this time.

Anyway, it seems to me, having only used it twice, that the Symphony may be worse for my supply. My output today has sucked and I am not engorged at all.

Anyone have good or bad luck with the Symphony? Any advice?

I am so sick of supply struggles.

[CathMac]

Swirly,
I remember one of your earlier Supply related posts.

I have no direct experience but I do have a couple of thoughts. Is it possible you need a larger flange (Horn) with the Lactina? On the other end of the spectrum, would "flexishields" cushion the impact?, so to speak. These are soft silicone inserts that supposedly massage, to speed let down and improve production; however, they effectively reduce the flange size so if you need a larger size it would probably make things worse. I think "Flexishields" are made by Ameda but I think they fit the standard Medela flange. Medela may have a similar product of their own.

Once upon a time someone gave a link to a Medela page that shows what it looks like when you need a bigger flange. But I can never find it when I go looking for it. One of the tip offs is Vasospasm or blanching.

Of course, none of this would explain why the Symphony isn't working for you.

Since these are both Medela products I'd give customer service a call and ask them for help trouble shooting the Symphony and while you are at it ask them for a link to the page I mentioned and/or see if they have any tips on how to make the Lactina more comfortable.

Good luck, ~Cath

[Swirly]

Cath, thanks for your ongoing support

I do use thelarger flanges already. We did some things with teh Symp[hony yesterday which seemed to help, but then last night at my 4 am pumping and this morning, I got almost nothing again. No idea now if it is the pump or if my supply is just shot. I swear, if I cna just make it to one year and get her on more solids, I will be so relived to not be completely desperate if I will be able to feed her from day to day. It is so incredibly stressful.

[magdale]

A symphony breast pump trick/tip

I read on another site from a woman doing an experiment with symphony pumps a trick/tip for production. The experiment was to pump in increments of five minutes. The symphony does a down pump of three drops for two minutes at start and then does the heavier suck. Start off with that two minutes and let the machine go to the heavier suck, but do the heavy for only three minutes. When the three minutes are up, go back to the light&three droplet suck followed by three minutes of heavy suck. Continue this 5 minute switching for a total of 20 minutes or a total of four rounds. Some women found a better production. I've tried it. It did cause greater output for me! More milk for the babe! However, I did not see the output to be much greater every time. I certainly suggest it though! I have been using the trick on an off and that has been successful. Do not forget to drink constantly while pumping! Do both breasts simultaneously. Massage the breasts very gently if needed. I've tried using warm wash cloths by keeping a hot bucket of water to keep dipping and wringing out the water from. That worked several times too. I've noticed that if my baby cries, I lactate. If you are pumping as opposed to letting the babe breastfeed directly, concider letting the kid cry a little while pumping. It could give some result, although I have not been able to measure that result. I only know that it makes my breasts go crazy and suddenly get full to the point where it hurts. The hurt part could be normal or just a complication of my own. I don't really know about that. But those are my tips from my experience and from what I found on that site. That site did the experiment between two different breast pumps and found the symphony superior for output, gentleness, and effectiveness.

[GatorNNP]

I used the symphony at work. Around the 9-10 months is when the pumping would be less productive, but I could really only let down with the symphony by that time (I was bonded to it I guess, the lactina looked like somebody elses kid kwim?) I am on the smaller side and had lost weight so I actually needed flange inserts and that helped alot. I found also that I would just think about the pump on the way to the room and skip the stimulation phase on the pump and go straight to the expression and that would do it for me.

Other things that helped for later on pumping were compression during pumping. Now my DD is 14 mos and I really cant get any pump to do much unless a baby is on the other breast. The same thing for my 1st child, I pumped to donate when he was 13 months with a lactina and the only way I could get much was to nurse on one side and pump the other. I am not sure what else to tell ya since you are EP'ing. If you can't get more with the tricks try not to beat your self up too much, pumps are good but they are only so good and sometimes they just can't match what a suckling infant can do, unfortunately.

[BakerALM]

Hi Swirly!

As you have probally saw in some of my other post on the EPumpers thread I love my symphony! It totally saved my supply but I can see how it could be hurting yours. I found the lactina much more violent on my nips, and the symphony almost very "soft" incomparison. I imagine that your nips after pumping for so long with the lactina have toughened up and become acustom to the feeling of it, even if it is uncomfortable. With the softer toutch could it feel like it is not even doing much even when you put up the suction? What if you do the opposite to what seems logical and switch to a smaller flange so that you get a bit rougher pumping experence and more physical stimulation of the nipple? (Not so small to cause major constriction though.) Could be worth a shot at least a few times, especially if you have the horns in the house.

Also I use compressions like crazy with my symphony and keep the suction low since I like a very soft pumping experence, keeps my nips from getting enflamed and raw.

(BTW, our babes were born the same month!! A year is almost here can you beleive we made it this long EPing!! : )

[Amris]

Do you do breast compression at all, or do you tandem pump?

Personally, I found that (while it takes longer), single pumping and using compressions really increased my supply immensely.