Please Don’t “Just Try” the Willow 24mm
There is a new line I am hearing from Willow’s customer service and from Willow focused support groups (that are not overseen by individuals with skilled lactation training):
“Just try the Willow 24mm to see if you even need inserts.”
Lots of bad advice circulates in breastfeeding support groups, but this advice isn’t just bad, it has the ability to derail your breastfeeding journey and cause serious harm in one tiny little sentence.
So why is this advice bad?
Because it places your nipple health in jeopardy by ignoring a simple step (measure your dang nipples - some free or low cost methods) that could prevent injury and protect the milk supply. Seriously…MEASURE THEM!
What can happen if you “just try” the 24 mm to see how your breast tissue responds?
It may work just fine. This is certainly a possibility that either the 24 mm is the correct size for you, or you are part of the small percentage of people who do better with a larger flange. You may never have any issues at this size and be perfectly fine long term.
You may experience a honeymoon period where the flange works well and over time the milk output lowers, pain sets in, and possible nipple damage begins. The extent of these issues will vary by person, and the speed at which they progress may vary. We have no way to identify who will experience some slow building warning signs, and who ends up in agonizing pain with bleeding and raw nipples needing a lot of TLC to continue their breastfeeding journey. For some milk production will pick back up with better stimulation, but for others the milk supply lost may never be regained.
You may experience pain and possible damage quickly, but will also experience swelling. This will complicate getting properly fit for the willow, and sizing down on swollen tissue often carries a significant risk of tissue trauma.
You may get to be the unlucky soul who has almost immediate traumatic nipple damage. I’ve seen and been responsible for helping to craft creative care plans to address serious tissue trauma caused by only one pump session with the willow with overly large flanges.
So who ends up with what outcome?
Sadly, there is no way to know. If you follow this advice, your results could be fine, or they could be catastrophic. It’s anyone’s guess.
But Willow says this is fine to do?
I’m going to say this in the nicest way possible....Willow is a breast pump manufacturer with a great product. They are not the ones charged with cleaning up their disastrous advice’s poor outcomes.
The support groups echoing Willow’s advice mean well - they are just repeating what the manufacturer is saying. And again, they are not the ones cleaning up the aftermath. And for the ones saying they are seeing this work, I do have a few questions:
How are you assessing the nipple size? Are you a trained LC qualified to assess the size, shape, and condition of the nipple to be providing guidance? If no, please don’t risk parents’ breastfeeding journeys by role-playing LC even if with the best of intentions.
If you are basing it off of what parents are reporting, there are an abundance of parents out there who can not properly measure themselves. They either don’t know where the nipple base is, they use unreliable tools and methods, or they read even good measuring tools wrong. So, parent reporting is notoriously unreliable. Take a peek at this blog to see how things are panning out when we have verifiable sizing in place with follow up support: “What Does the Flange Sizing Data Say?”
What is making you so comfortable with giving out advice that could do harm? BTW, you shouldn’t be comfortable with this.
I genuinely believe you have the best of intentions, and that if you saw what it is I see with nipple damage, you would not be giving this advice. We have better options to use then “try it and see.” Please think of those for whom this advice is harmful and shape your recommendations to protect THEM instead of focusing on those who escaped unharmed.
Still not convinced this is not logically sound advice?
Here are some examples of this type of logic applied to other areas and problems:
Testing the fit of a new running shoe by running a marathon on race day.
Buying your wedding dress is a guess size and trying it on the morning of the wedding.
Checking if the stove is hot by touching the burner.
Testing the temperature of the bath water by jumping right in and just hoping its not freezing or scalding.
Not being sure what dosage of medicine to give your baby so just winging it.
What do all these scenarios have in common?
They presented a high level of risk with no need for assuming said risk. All of these scenarios have options available to reduce risk and increase your chance of success. You could get professionally fit for your running shoes, and try them out on a short run several times before trying a longer distance. You could measure yourself for your wedding dress and try it on ahead of time. You can use lights and careful judgment about the burner versus touching it with no idea. You could test the bath water before jumping in to make sure you are not going to be scalded. You could consult with a health care professional for structured guidance unique to your baby to prevent under or over dosing.
These are all situations in which we expect people to use logic and proactively take steps to minimize risks.
So how can you do this with the Willow Pump?
Measure your nipples. START your journey with properly sized inserts.
Is it a guarantee of success?
Not quite. Sometimes, we do have to play with sizing a touch, and sometimes that means sizing up.
But, we do so carefully, a millimeter at a time, after verifying that alignment, nipple condition, other breastfeeding issues, or bra fit are not the actual culprits of the discomfort or poor output. We do this in this way because nipple damage is something we avoid at all costs. Nipple pain is a common reason that parents stop breastfeeding before they intended to, so we work diligently to minimize the risks of this happening. And once damage happens, it can be days, if not longer, before we can get back to comfortable nursing or pumping with no short cuts to relief available.
So please if you are hearing this advice, don’t do this. If you are giving this advice, stop doing this. Treat your nipples with the same respect you do all of the other situations in which you take the time to minimize your chances of a bad outcome.
As for the pumping support group I oversee, this advice will not start being doled out.
I won’t allow your breastfeeding journey to be derailed by encouraging you to take a bizarrely necessary risk with your nipples.
