10/01/2025
Love this fl**ge fitting guide by Babies in Common! **gesizing
Fl**ge fitting is all the rage these days, and it should be.
There hasn't been research evidence related to this vital part of the breast pump since the first manual breast pump was invented in the mid-1800s (by two men, of course!).
Breast pumps come with fl**ges (the part that lays on the breast, with the ni**le pulling into the "tunnel" part of the fl**ge when vacuum is applied, manually or with an electric pump) that are size 24mm and 27mm or 28mm, and now some come with a size 21 instead of the 27/28. A couple brands some with a 25mm or 26mm.
However, for the decade or so, there have been more and more "smaller" fl**ges coming on the market. As small as 10mm.
What size is "best"?
Is a pumping person supposed to measure the base of the ni**le (where the ni**le seems to end and the ar**la starts)? If yes, that's not always easy to determine, and occasionally the ni**le tip is larger than the base!
Of course, everyone says pumping should be comfortable, but how do you know what comfort means if you haven't tried several sizes AND know how to find the best fit. Given there are about 40 different fl**ges on the market now in different sizes, shapes, and materials, it's not always so simple.
If pumping isn't comfortable, "size up" has always been the recommendation, based on a theory that "smaller" fl**ges can damage the ni**le/ar**la.
A wonderful research professor who focuses on lactation and I have recently finished the first-ever fl**ge fitting comparison study ever done.
Yes, you read that right: ever done.
No one has bothered to do a comparison study and include "smaller" fl**ges. Nor have they thought to look at HOW one should measure ni**les and what to do with that measurement.
Until our research study.
We are hopeful that our study will be coming out this Fall in a major journal, which is beyond exciting. Two more, even larger, studies are getting ready to start at two NICUs in the United States, using the Fl**ge FITS™ Guide recommendations and comparing to "standard" sizing recommendations from pump companies (as our study did).
What I can tell you is our Guide is being used in lactation practices all over the world now. Even some hospitals have changed what they do and hand out the Guide.
It's a practical, RESULTS-based guide/method.
Measure ni**le TIP.
Try 3 or more fl**ges that are the size of the tip and similar sizes (moving up and down 1mm in fl**ge size).
Find the fl**ge for that breast that feels the best AND produces the most sprays.
We can't determine true comfort until we try different sizes and shapes of fl**ges. We can't determine true sprays until we see them. But a spray is not a trickle.
Whether you are a parent-to-be, parent, or professional who works with pumping people, get your Fl**ge FITS™ Guide today! It's FREE and available in English and 20+ languages (five more coming by the end of 2024).
And if you ensure we have your email as you get the Guide (it'll ask you for it), then you'll be sure to be notified when the research study comes out!
https://babies-in-common.ck.page/ffguide
**gefitmatters **geFITSGuide
