Willow Go Review: Pump And Run

There are a few minimal bodily controls on the Willow itself: an influence button, a mode button, and a plus and minus button to alter the suction degree. You at all times flip the pump on manually to begin a session, however you will want the Willow Go app useful to see see what mode or degree you are utilizing (you may sense a distinction in these, and the Willow at all times begins on the bottom degree) and the way lengthy you’ve got been pumping.

The Willow Go has two pumping modes: a stimulation mode and an expression mode. Both have a number of ranges of suction and rhythm to select from within the app. The Willow Go will begin out in stimulation mode for 2 minutes earlier than switching to expression, to attempt to replicate how a child begins feeding and activate let down. You can manually swap modes on the highest of the Willow and throughout the app, and alter across the depth, too, to search out the perfect setting. Each aspect is managed individually, and also you’ll see a timer within the app to point out your general pumping time for every pump (however not how lengthy you spent in every mode). It guarantees hospital-grade suction just like the basic Medela Pump in Style Advanced, and I pumped the identical variety of ounces that I might with my Spectra S1.

I attempted the Willow Go with each a sports activities nursing bra and one in every of Willow’s personal pumping bras. Both have full protection and a hook to permit the bra to return all the way in which down after which safe round each the pump and breast, which is what it is best to search for in any bra you utilize with a wearable pump. It match nicely in each bras and was comfy sufficient to put on, however it actually wasn’t discreet.

Parts Party

Each aspect of the Willow Go has six elements: a container bowl, a duckbill valve, a diaphragm, a flange, a container again, and the pump itself that sits in the midst of all these elements. Total with two pumps, that’s 12 items for the pump. The Willow additionally comes with two USB-An influence cords to cost every pump, however no energy adapter.

All these elements, plus stuffing it into your bra, make it laborious to get a visible of how a lot you’re pumping. If you’re making an attempt to test your progress or determine whether or not you’ve wrung each ounce of liquid out of your physique, it’s important to do some head angling to see if something remains to be popping out of the duckbill valve. It’s really useful to pump for round quarter-hour, however it is best to be capable of determine after a number of makes use of how lengthy a pump session your physique wants.

While you don’t wash the middle pump, you do wash the opposite 10 elements. That’s no small quantity, however the Spectra S1 has an identical variety of washable elements. But I want washing the Willow Go’s items. They’re bigger, making them simpler to deal with and simpler to air or hand dry versus a number of the smaller breast pump elements that I’m continually afraid I’ll drop down the sink drain. I particularly love that the container bowl pops all the way in which off for me to scrub, reasonably than scrubbing one more child bottle. These elements are all dishwasher protected, too.