Tips and Techniques for Inserting Your Breast Pump Cushions Into Your Flange
Your first pair of BeauGen breast pump cushions have arrived at your door. Hooray! All of us at BeauGen are so excited to help you finally make peace with your breast pump. Now that your cushions have arrived, you may be wondering the best way to insert our soft, stretchy cushions into your breast pump flange.
Every mom uses our cushions slightly differently, but to help get you started BeauGen’s Founder & CEO, Tu-Hien Le, wants to share her suggestions for getting your cushions to fit perfectly inside your flange.
From Packaging to Flange
Once you remove your cushions from the packaging, you’ll notice that they ship flat. Open them to a cone-like shape before trying to insert the cushions into your flange. Use your thumb to gently insert your cushion into the flange, and your pinky finger to help smooth out any creases and guide the cushion into the tunnel.
Try not to insert your finger down the tunnel into the flange as you may find the cushions will stick to your finger. Gently use your pinky to get rid of any creases.
You may also notice that the tunnel of the cushion is not flush to the tunnel of the flange. Don’t worry, this is okay! As long as the cone of the cushions are flush to the cone of the flange, you will be able to achieve proper suction in order to have an effective pumping session.
Helpful Tips
If the cone of the cushions are not sticking to the flange, we recommend first washing the cushions in warm water with mild soap. When drying them, place them cone-side down on a flat surface so that the outer rim is opened up. This will help “relax” the cushion into its cone shape, allowing it to better adhere to the plastic flange.
Another way to help the cushions relax is to stretch or "train" the cushions around a flange. Both of these techniques should help loosen up the cushions. For more tips on training your cushions click here.
Using Lubrication to Insert Your Cushions
Sometimes the Breast Pump Cushions might be a bit sticky or tacky. This means that the tunnel of the cushion might stick to the tunnel of your flange as you try to insert the cushion. Using a bit of lubrication can help reduce this stickiness and allow your cushion to move with your skin inside your breast pump flange. For more on lubrication and our innovative cushions, check out this post.
Sizing
All of these tips and trick are great! But what is even more important is making sure that you have the right size flange to accommodate your cushions and still maintain the proper fit you need. Fit is what helps for the seal needed to create suction. The wrong fit can cause pressure on your milk ducts and actually restrict the flow of milk. Get more information on sizing, plus a free download to check your flange size here!
These handy tips will help you get started towards a more comfortable, customized breast pumping experience. Still have questions? Email our Mommy Care Experts anytime you have a question about the proper fit or care of our cushions. We’re always happy to help!