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After trial and error, I found my favourite hack method.
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- easy,
- maintain its closed system and
- does not decrease the suction power.
You need:
- Medela tubing (you can also use Maymom tubing which is designed to fit Medela system). Cut 0.5 cm after the end of the yellow plastic piece.
- 2-cm long plastic tube with 5-mm inner diameter
A lot of mom simply get this by cutting the Spectra tubing, but if you don’t want to modify your Spectra, you can use the mouth piece of straw from children water bottle. I suggest you to buy a new replacement straw set and use the mouth piece.
UPDATE: There have been some questions where I got my replacement straw. To be honest, it’s from an unbranded water bottle from my local kids store.
If you stay in Singapore, you can get it from Kiddy Palace.
Here’s the picture of that water bottle.
As I said, no brand, but it seems to resemble SkipHop water bottle (this is the compatible replacement straw sold in Amazon).
My daughter is currently using OXO twist-lid water bottle and it seems its replacement straw can also be used for this hack. I’ll update this post once I get my OXO replacement straw.
Let’s continue to the hack…
This is the replacement straw I use for the hack
This tube should be big enough so that you can insert the clear part of Medela tubing into it without any difficulty.
5-mm inner diameter, cut 2 cm long
Things you need to connect Medela breast flange to Spectra pump
How to assemble:
- Insert the end of Medela tubing (the clear one) into the big tube.
- Now insert Spectra backflow protector into the other end of the big tube
- Now pay attention to the connection.
- Make sure that there’s very minimum gap between the end of Medela tubing and the end of backflow protector
- If you still see a gap, cut the big tube shorter to get a better fit, because a bigger gap can result in suction loss.
- Now you can use Spectra breast pump with Medela flange, yayy!
You can connect Medela breast flange to Spectra, while still using the backflow protectors.
- Usually, I will leave the hack intact to the backflow protector and the pump, so that I don’t need to fiddle with it every time I pump.
You can use the same method to connect Maymom breast shield to Spectra.
Maymom connected to a Spectra breast pump
GOOD NEWS!
Here are your options:
The little yellow adapter connects Medela breast shield to Spectra backflow protector. Source from here
Source from here
Sydney says
I also need to use a smaller flange which I think I purchased but it seems to me that now my shield will not fit the top of my spectra bottles. We Exclusively breastfeed so I’m pretty much just pumping to build a stock. Do you have any suggestions for me on what bottles to use? I don’t have a big selection.
Rina says
Hi Sydney,
You can still use your Spectra bottles. You just need an adapter to connect your breast shield to your Spectra bottles.You can use Avent narrow-to-wide-neck converter to do this. I think I show it in the hack picture (the one with Medela shield), the difference is just I’m using Avent bottles, but Avent and Spectra wide-neck bottles are compatible. Hope this helps.
Kelly says
Hello,
Does the maymom adapter or extended back flow valve fit the medela swing connector directly ? Or do I need to use personal fit system for the adapters to go with a S2.
I haven’t brought them yet, do you recommend one over the other? Swing connector or personal fit?
Thank you
Rina says
Yes, it can. Once I was able to purchase the Maymom adapter, I use it all the time with my Swing connector. I don’t see any difference between using Swing connector or persona fit connector. If you already have one of them, you don’t need to buy the other one. Why I chose Swing in this post? It’s because I already have Medela Swing =) so I just reuse what I already have.
Hope this helps.
Deusiana says
Hi, do you know what are the dimensions of the little yellow connector that goes in the flange?
Rina says
Let me check and get back to you, soon.
Kelly says
Hi, Spectra’s tubbing fits well to my medela connector, hence I’m thinking if I can leave out the backflow proctor? Will it affect the function? Thank you.
Rina says
If you use Spectra without back flow protector, yes, it works, but it is against the warranty coverage, so you are at risk of losing your warranty.
Aby says
Hi, I just wanted to find out if you tried using your spectra pump without the backflow protector? I’m curious, I tried using it once but the tubing started condensating so I stopped, but I was able to get about 5oz in less than 3 mins!
Rina says
No, I didn’t try. Theoretically, you can do that, but you risk loosing the warranty should anything happen to the pump motor due to not using the back flow protector. If you are using medela breast shield, I highly suggest you investing for the small yellow adapter. It’s not expensive. You can leave it attached to the back flow protector and the tubing, no need to mess around every time you pump.
June says
Hi! I just bought the medela swing connector and the Lon stem back flow protector to use with my pumpin pal flanges and s9+, but I’m not sure why it doesn’t seem to work. My nips doesn’t get any suction at all. What am I doing wrong?
Rina says
Have you checked if you set up the back flow protector part correctly? I.e, the 3-part consisting the ‘white’ membrane?