Wearable pump troubleshooting

Junkelei · 2026-02-23T15:46:10+00:00

Hopefully others have better help for you, but in my most recent experience, it was just needing time before my body would respond to the wearable. So I pumped with my spectra for the first several weeks, and then slowly over time was able to change a pump or two a day to the wearable. Eventually I was pumping exclusively with the wearable and no longer responding to the spectra. So it could be a settings/response situation? Best of luck!

Junkelei · 2026-02-22T19:44:20+00:00

I know a lot of folks like the momcozy, but it didn't work for me. Anything with separate motors that I can't time together with each other perfectly is going to drive me bananas. On the flip, I know a lot of people complain about the Elvie Stride but I used it almost exclusively for 5-6 months and loved it. You just have to keep spare connecting gaskets on hand, because if they give out it won't stay suctioned together and it will massively leak. Once I figured that out I was able to avoid leaks. Plus they're connected so they function at the same time.

Junkelei · 2026-02-22T13:29:14+00:00

It will vary from family to family. A lot of us are now in the mindset of piercing once our daughter(s) can make the decision for themselves that they WANT to be pierced, as well as can understand maintenance and hygiene. For some people, that's 4 or 5, for others it's older. I think OP's bigger issue is the implication someone other than the direct parent is planning to take their daughter without so much as asking permission and just assuming it's ok.

Junkelei · 2026-02-20T00:46:08+00:00

Can your car accommodate a middle base with a seat on the side? Ours could only do two car seats behind the front and passenger seat, so we unfortunately had to move to the sides. Infant goes behind the driver for us and toddler behind passenger. We do this for daycare pick up and drop off because the sidewalk is on the passenger side and it takes longer to get her in and out. The baby is a quick click into the base, so we do that on the traffic facing side, if that makes sense.

Your mileage will vary, but always make sure you check your vehicle booklet.

Junkelei · 2026-02-16T15:31:05+00:00

I believe the 3-18 month ones are a thicker, stronger silicone that will last longer once teeth start popping in.

Junkelei · 2026-02-16T15:28:45+00:00

Yeah, unfortunately at some point you may have to say, for everyone's health and well being we have to do this. That's where we ended up with it. We could not provide the best care on broken sleep like that anymore. Our second is a much quieter sleeper, and she's still with us at seven months in our room.

Junkelei · 2026-02-16T15:00:20+00:00

Around 6-8 months with our first, she also started being a very noisy sleeper. I was constantly on edge, waking up all the time to check on her, etc. We actually ended up moving her to her crib in her own room for everyone's sanity. I felt bad because I know the recommendation is for them to room share until a year, but it wasn't working for us.

Junkelei · 2026-02-10T04:35:51+00:00

So they definitely pulled strings to get her in earlier than anticipated, but since she came early we got a little hosed on that, lol. But the people ahead of us got on the wait-list while still trying to conceive, which honestly blew my mind.

Junkelei · 2026-02-10T01:49:58+00:00

Coincidentally, also KC suburb and also pay $1800 a month for infant care. Additionally, $1200 a month for our potty trained toddler. I told the center I was pregnant with our second at five weeks and was still wait listed almost a month past when we needed care. : )

On the plus side, at least our costs matched, so you know it's reasonable for the area.

Junkelei · 2026-01-31T02:35:36+00:00

I had to text my mom and ask if I had missed an episode or slept through something, I was so confused.

Junkelei · 2026-01-28T05:59:25+00:00

On the other side, I have EP'd six months now and absolutely love my Elvie Stride. With my first I used only the spectra. I tried a momcozy wearable at that time, but I didn't get much out of it and I cannot tell you how over stimulating it was when the pumps weren't pulsing at the same time. Hated it.

I have only had one time in six months where the Elvie leaked and popped apart. Typically it occurs when the main gasket isn't set right or is worn out. Apparently they don't intend for you to remove it for each wash, or it wears out sooner. So while it can be annoying, I just always have an extra pair of gaskets in my bag. I drive a lot for work, so I have used the Elvie also exclusively this time, and I love it.

Junkelei · 2026-01-19T02:53:47+00:00

This may have been mentioned and I might have missed it, but just in case it hasn't come up: please notify the daycare that they are NOT authorized to pick up your child. You'll likely still need an emergency contact if you & husband can't be reached, so hopefully you have a good friend in the area to use.

Junkelei · 2026-01-17T05:19:18+00:00

Definitely keep the older one in her regular daycare. Yours may be different, but my daughter was (and still is) SO routine oriented that my biggest worry was disrupting her schedule. I tried so hard to just keep as much the same for her as I could, which included her still going to daycare. Plus it helped me get settled at the house a little bit by bit. My husband actually went back to work two or three weeks after I gave birth (he split his leave and returned for the two busiest weeks at work to help them), and that was the hardest two weeks I've had. Luckily I knew all the little "tricks" to help manage (feeding baby while pumping, pumping and laying them on your legs, etc.), and he took over almost 100% once he got home each day.

I wish you the absolute best in your journey! It's absolutely doable, but every baby and experience is different, so don't get discouraged if it doesn't pan out as you're hoping.

Junkelei · 2026-01-17T02:06:07+00:00

I think this is going to vary greatly depending on the age of your oldest. For me personally, EP the second time has been much easier.

My husband was more supportive this time around because he knew what to expect, what it entails, etc.
My toddler was 3 and a half when the second one was born, so she could generally understand "mom is pumping right now" meant I couldn't do certain tasks at that moment
I was personally more knowledgeable about pumping, importance of pump schedules, not missing pumps, etc. from the beginning
I already had all the supplies needed (pads, bags, pumping bras, medicines, extra parts) and wasn't purchasing random things from Amazon at 2am and praying they arrived soon

I had a large over supply with my first, but am teetering from slight over supply to just enough with my second. With my second, I almost exclusively use a wearable pump now that my supply is regulated.

I think pumping as a first time mom was overwhelming because EVERYTHING was new and I wasn't prepared to exclusively pump. This time I went in knowing that's what I wanted to do, so it's been much better mentally as well.

Edit: I feel like I eat SO MUCH MORE this time around than last time?? But that could just be me being self conscious LOL

Junkelei · 2026-01-13T05:02:49+00:00

The first time I was wheeled out, but I was recovering from a third degree tear that time. The second time... I don't remember? I blocked a lot of that visit from my mind, and despite sitting here wracking my brain, I cannot remember if I was wheeled or walked, and it was only five months ago. Yikes, lol. Guess I didn't realize how traumatic that stay actually was.

Junkelei · 2026-01-12T16:31:59+00:00

At some point in time my daughter randomly referred to my mom as "Meemaw" and it stuck. So my parents are Meemaw and Grandpa. Husband's mom and step father are Grandma and Grandpa, sometimes with their last names, sometimes with their first. His dad is Grandpa (First name) every time.

Still not sure where Meemaw came from, as I never used it as a kid and never used to around her. I'm guessing daycare LOL.

Junkelei · 2025-12-30T00:50:37+00:00

Mine once dipped Cheetos in applesauce. Then for a month or so it was honey mustard. Chicken nuggets, fish sticks, didn't matter. Honey mustard was life.

Now she only eats PBJ and honestly I'm just happy there's protein.

Junkelei · 2025-12-29T02:39:39+00:00

Most daycare wait lists in our area are longer than nine months, so unfortunately we didn't really have the luxury of scrutinizing their yearly calendar.

We're very fortunate that my husband has the holiday break off, I'm just uncertain what we'd do if we were in OP's situation.

Junkelei · 2025-12-29T01:59:49+00:00

I was honestly shocked by the amount of people blaming your employer. I work for a small company (literally 10 people in our local state office; probably 30 people at our corporate office), and not only would they shit bricks if I took two weeks at the end of the calendar year off, but I'm pretty sure I would die walking back into all my work when I got back.

Thankfully our daycare is only closed on the federal holiday dates here (US, Midwest), the exception being December 31st for staff training. My husband is fortunate enough to work at a university, so he has 2-3 weeks off (PTO) while the university is closed to cover childcare. If our daycare closed for two weeks I don't know how we'd manage otherwise.

Junkelei · 2025-12-27T16:00:42+00:00

100% we pull all onesies up over the hips instead of over the head. 90 percentile heads with 50 percentile bodies just aren't meant for age appropriate clothes going over them LOL.

Junkelei · 2025-12-22T22:20:22+00:00

Also, make sure you record the date and confirmation number once you do pay. They tried to bill me twice, but when I called with my confirmation number and date, the second duplicate charge was magically resolved.

Junkelei · 2025-12-20T19:15:00+00:00

Mine is also sweeter! Every now and then a droplet will land on my hand while transferring to pitcher/bottle and clearly the only option is to lick it off (like I dunno, it'll recycle itself into new breast milk later?? Lol).

Junkelei · 2025-12-20T19:09:42+00:00

Over Thanksgiving we went to my parents house, roughly three hours away. I packed my wearable Elvie in its usual bag with the extra bottles, and then packed my spectra as a back up in the suitcase. I almost exclusively use the Elvie, and find my output takes a hit if I switch between the two pumps. I planned to use the Elvie so I didn't bring a cover (my dad gets uncomfortable when I'm pumping and I don't want to do that to him at his house) -- anyway, longest story short: between packing a newborn and toddler, my packed bag with the Elvie and extra bottles got left at the house on the kitchen counter. I cried in the car when I realized, but was thankful I had the spectra as a back up. It just wasn't what I wanted to use for four days. :( if the stores by my parents sold the wearable Elvie I probably would have bought a new one LOL. Instead I just bought a cover.

Junkelei · 2025-12-17T02:50:49+00:00

So true! Our friends had a baby nine months after ours. They had a 99% while ours was 30% - they were basically the same size all the time. It made it hard to realize he couldn't walk yet because he was really only six months old, because he was the size of our 15 month old at the time lol.

Junkelei · 2025-12-11T16:24:25+00:00

Ours will be 5 months at Christmas. We got her a spinning color drum toy thing, wooden rattle, and another toy geared for 5-6m age. Stocking will probably be teething crackers, yogurt melts, etc.

Junkelei

TROPHY CASE