Willow Breast Pump Review

I heard about the Willow Pump through google searches when I was envisioning my first born successfully latching on right after his birth. That never happened and I was tethered to my Spectra (the pink one). It was miserable – not the pump but being confined to one room sucked – I also didn’t have a hands free pump bra so not only was I tethered I couldn’t use my hands to scroll through Instagram or Reddit.

I was hesitant to buy the Willow before my baby was born because I wanted a pump that had a reusable container. I had read other reviews and users complained of having to purchase bags for the pump at 50 cents a piece. Yikes. I also found a youtuber who had found a way to reuse the bags by putting a small hole in the bag to get the milk out and then putting the bag back in the refrigerator until the next pump. That seemed like a lot of work and unsanitary so I waited. I knew that they would need to eventually release a reusable container since Elvie recently crossed the pond was encroaching on their market.

Willow announced their reusable container on September 23rd and I ordered my Willow pump on October 2nd. I ordered in time to take advantage of the introductory offer for a free container set (2). My Willow Pump promptly arrived a few days later. I ordered the pump plus 72 bags and the 27 MM flangers. The pump comes with the 24 MM flangers and the container comes in 24, 27 and 21 (new) flanges.

As I’ve mentioned, the bags are 50 cents a piece. The bags from Willow are spill proof and propreitary to Willow. You can only order the bags directly from Willow and they come in packs of 48 starting at $23.99.

I did have a little hiccup when I didn’t have enough bags on hand (I was expecting my container – it was late) and I had to go back to my spectra. Now that I have the container I don’t plan on ordering more bags unless I’m traveling for work.

In order to use the Willow Pump you’ll need to download the app. The app connects to the pump via bluetooth and allows you to see how much each breast is pumping. You can pump up to 4 oz in the container or bag but I’ve gone to almost 5 oz without a problem. I don’t do that a lot but I couldn’t get my pump off quick enough after it paused. That was an accident. After the pump has paused it will continue to swallow (makes a galloping sound) any leftover milk in the flange even if you’ve hit 4 oz.

You’ll find that there is extra milk in the flextube and flange, Willow has a flip to finish so that you can get all that liquid gold. I hate the flip to finish and do a manul flip to finish as I was instructed by customer service. I pull the bag from the flange, re-attach the pump, and press play. This allows me the pump to get all the milk from the flextube and flange.  A little tip, I would stuff some tissue in the flange when doing the flip to finish as I’ve spilled milk over myself many a time!

The pump will shut off after you’ve hit 4 oz or you’ve been using the pump for 25 minutes. You can always start the pump back up after you’ve hit the 25 mark. If you’re using a bag or a container – you can empty the container (hello reuse!) or switch in a new bag and keep pumping.

Personally, I love my Willow pump and prefer it over the Spectra. I can get 4 oz out of each breast in less than 15 minutes. at the lowest suction. It took me a few tries to get the plastic bags just right within the flange but once I got it we were off to the races. I could finally pump and hold my child or do the dishes. I’ve pumped on the way to Target, during a target run, making dinner, picking up dinner…you name it. Now that I have the reusuable container I am able to pump and place it directly into bottles without wasting a 50 cent bag.

All in all, I highly recommend the Willow Pump. The price point is a lot higher than other pumps on the market but I think for the freedom (especialy with the new container) it is well worth it. I would recommend ordering multiple flanges, containers, flextubes and container inserts if you’re an exclusive pumping Mama like myself. The willow parts (not the pump) are dishwasher safe (top rack only) which has helped with the washing but it can be time consuming to wash all the parts. Willow does provide the pump cleaning tools to make sure that you’re parts of squeaky clean. I have two sets of flanges plus a set of container parts. I pump 6 – 8 times a day.

The pump is $499 and includes 24 and 27 flanges.

The container (set of 2) is $49.99 – this comes in 24, 27, and 21 size flanges.

Extra flextubes are $29.99 – this nifty tool connects the bag to the flange so that your milk go in the bag and not the pump. You can’t get the inside of your pump wet.

Milk Container Inserts are $19.99

Reusable Container: