medela swing pump advice

[Meathgirl]

Hello, I was wondering if someone could help. I've just bought a Medela swing pump but can't seem to set it up and am wondering if it's just me being stupid or if it's faulty. The instructions say to insert the "adaptor end" of the tubing into the pump and the other end into the motor, but both ends of the tube I have are identical and do not fit the pump end. I did manage to ram it in for a second and it worked, but then it fell out. I could just wait until Monday when the shop reopens, but I'd really hoped to get started on pumping this weekend. Any advice appreciated

[Fuschia]

I have the ameda rather than the medela but that has a piece at the pump end the tube slides on to

Maybe you can find a diagram online

[Fuschia]

http://www.breastmates.co.nz/blog/2011/4/19/hotmilk-promo-for-april-and-may.aspx

Video here ...

[Fuschia]

You can borrow my lactaline if you would like? Though I will need it for work on Monday

[Meathgirl]

Thank you, I hadn't thought of checking youtube. I found a video that showed the two ends up close and it looks like mine is faulty. Just hope I haven't broken it trying to ram it in!

[Meathgirl]

Thank you for the offer Fuschia, but I can wait until Monday. I just wanted to get started while the mood was upon me, but there's no great rush

[hellosailor]

meathgirl I had the same problem - both ends are identical - I was going to ring them and ask if it was a mistake - though I suspect not if yours is the same. I did find that by pressing hard I could ram it in and get it working so I could use the pump. though it does seem weird if medela expect you to have to ram it in so hard it hurts your hand every time you want to use it!

If you speak to medela people please let me know what they say!

[supergolden88]

Both ends do look the same on mine but it works fine. They sometimes fall out but usually because I am trying to reach something while pumping. I do have an older one so maybe they have changes it slightly since?

[cazbee]

I've found I need to use a piece of cloth (eg. clean dry tea towel or muslin) to have enough grip to wedge the tubing into the funnel. Can't do it with "bare hands". Hope that makes sense. The other end fits quite easily into the motor on mine. You would have thought they would have engineered a nice easy fit for both ends! Seems not!

[Meathgirl]

It's very strange, isn't it. It doesn't seem right that they have to be rammed in. The old medelas had two "adaptor" ends that fitted fine. The video below shows the medela swing tube as having different fittings at each end, one an adaptor type and the other a triangle type, which is why I think mine is faulty. Will try and contact them next week and let y'all know.

[ClareC]

Will look at mine when I get home- seem to remember the tube is the same both ends but definitely don't have to ram it in! Mine is around a year old

[karter]

We have this and it's great, same connections on both ends that plugs firmly into each socket, we sterilise the air tube too.

[Meathgirl]

Hello,

Well, I contacted the company I bought the pump from (Express Yourself Mums, so they should know their stuff) and told them that the tubing was too big for the connector so they sent me a replacement which is exactly the same as the one I have. So the answer appears to be: yes, you are supposed to ram it in. On the plus side, all that ramming seems to have damaged the plastic a bit so now it's easier to get in. Once you get over all that, the pump itself is really good.

I don't understand the design logic at all. It's definitely not a matter of the tubing plugging firmly into each socket, as some people have described. Mine only goes halfway in, through force. My sister has a slightly older pump and its tube connectors are different to mine, and plug in normally.

I didn't contact Medela itself, but hopefully I'll get around to it at some stage.

Fuschia and hellosailor: sorry, I tried to reply to your PMs but your mailboxes are full!