Our Review of the BabyBuddha Wearable Pump, Tested by a Nursing Mom

In a nutshell:

The BabyBuddha wearable breast pump is a surprisingly effective wearable pump. Although it’s a bit of a pain to put together, and the brand doesn’t make the directions super clear, I’ve been able to pump more milk than I ever have before—even with a standard electric pump—while still being able to go about my life and get things done at home.

Pumping is one of my least favorite parts of being a mom. With my first child, I struggled so much to produce enough milk that, after trying three different pumps, I gave up and just breastfed her directly or had other caregivers feed her formula. My second child is now three months old, and while I’ve had a little more success with the electric breast pump I got through my health insurance, I’ve never pumped enough to create anything close to a surplus stash in the freezer. So when The Bump asked me to test out the new wearable breast pump from BabyBuddha, I was cautious—while the brand has a reputation for making pumps that produce a high output, wearable breast pumps aren’t generally known for being the most powerful devices. But now that I’ve had the chance to try it out firsthand, I’ve put together all the information you’ll need to find out if this pump is right for you.

Overview of the BabyBuddha Wearable Breast Pump’s Features

How We Tested the BabyBuddha Wearable Breast Pump

To get a full picture of what the BabyBuddha Wearable Breast Pump is like to use:

• I personally tested the pump at home over the course of a month. I used it while working on my laptop, washing dishes, cooking, eating, walking around the house and into my front yard, doing laundry, wrapping gifts, changing my toddler and even while helping her go to the bathroom.
• While the user guide recommends staying fairly upright, I tested how much leaning over I could get away with—without spilling milk or damaging the motor—during everyday tasks like unloading the dishwasher and picking up toys off the floor.
• I scored the pump on a scale of 1 to 10 in a number of categories, including ease of use, features and functionality, effectiveness, comfort, noise, quality, style and design and value for the money.
• I combined my ratings with product and market research by The Bump’s in-house editorial team, who looked into what others were saying about the BabyBuddha wearable breast pump on message boards, parent forums and user reviews in order to get a complete picture of how this pump performs for a wide variety of moms.

Editorial integrity is at the heart of everything we publish. Read more about how The Bump develops our product reviews.

BabyBuddha Wearable Breast Pump Review

Setting up

As much as I liked this breast pump—and as you’ll read, I did like it!—if there’s one thing I could change, it’d be the setup process. It’s absolutely essential to get an air-tight fit in order for the suction to work, but it’s tricky to get the silicone flanges and milk collector cups to line up just right—or even tell if they’re on correctly. More than once I thought I’d done it properly, only to get no milk (or worse, feel it dripping down my stomach). I’ve learned that I have to put everything together in a moment when I’m not rushed, and then always double-check the seal before starting to pump.

While I’ve definitely gotten better at assembling the pump over the course of the month of testing, it still takes me about 5 or 6 minutes, which is just long enough to make me reluctant to pump more than once a day. A different wearable pump I tried in the past was also somewhat involved, but not quite this frustrating. The process takes patience, concentration and a little elbow grease—which means it’s not something I can do quickly while also juggling a crying baby.

One thing I did love, though: The package comes with a super easy-to-use flange fit guide. It’s just a sheet with a series of different-sized holes to stick your nipple into in order to measure the size and figure out exactly which flange you should be using. This is a step I’d never done before because other pumps asked me to use a measuring tape—it’s not like that’s hard, but realistically I just wound up never taking the time to dig a tape measure out of the drawer and actually do it (which I now realize could be partly why I struggled to produce much milk). By including everything you need to measure (as well as an unusually high number of flange sizes to choose from) really set me up for pumping success. Plus, if I had any questions, BabyBuddha has in-house lactation consultants I could message via their website.

Using the pump

Any frustrations I experienced during setup were quickly eclipsed by the fact that the BabyBuddha wearable breast pump gives me the most milk I’ve ever pumped. With other machines, I’ve averaged a couple ounces or so per session. But with this pump I typically get more like 5 or 6 ounces, sometimes going up to 8 or 9. (I’ve loved showing off the full bottles to my husband!) I was shocked the first time it happened, particularly since the other wearable I tried was next to useless for me. I do find that the suction gets a bit pinchy at top speeds, so once I realized I could produce enough milk out at more comfortable levels, I’ve taken advantage and dialed things back to a 6 or 7 out of 9.

It’s great that they didn’t sacrifice this power for the convenience of a wearable model—or vice versa. Because the pump is wearable, I’ve been able to multitask easily without feeling too inhibited—I can kneel down to help my toddler or even bend over (slightly) to empty the dishwasher. The cups are the larger side, but they sit securely in my bra without moving around.

However, although the pump is convenient for using hands-free around home, I wouldn’t say it’s discreet enough to wear in public. It’s both too big and too loud. I only ventured outside the house once while using the pump: I ran outside to get a package from my yard, and prayed no neighbors saw me. I could only imagine the strange, awkward looks I would have gotten! And while the marketing claims this pump is “ultra-quiet,” I find it’s not all that different from other pumps; I wouldn’t walk into my sleeping baby’s room with it on, and my husband could hear it from the next room. But in fairness, it wasn’t so loud I’d have to raise the volume of anything I was listening to or watching.

Settings and features

One other slightly annoying thing about this pump is that nowhere on the box or in the user guide does it lay out exactly what each of the modes—soft stimulation, classic stimulation, expression and double drop—is best for. I had to Google around until I finally found a post on BabyBuddha’s Instagram account that broke them all down: Soft stimulation offers a more gentle way to stimulate letdown than the classic option, while the double drop expression pulls more times per minute for quicker milk removal than the longer and deeper suction of the regular expression mode.

Personally, I’ve found that the classic stimulation is gentle enough that I don’t need the soft option, and I like that it includes a long pull once every 10 pulls, which the soft mode doesn’t do. After a minute or two of that, I typically switch over to the double drop mode for quicker removal because, well, I’m an impatient person and I’ve found it to be plenty strong for me.

One cool feature worth noting is the small LED light in each cup. It’s bright enough to see everything I need if I want to pump in the dark, but not so obnoxious that it hurts my eyes when I’m half asleep. Even during the daytime, I find the lights helpful for quickly checking whether any milk is coming out. I also like the ridged bottom on the cups, which lets them sit securely upright on the counter when I’m done pumping. Unlike other wearables, I’ve had zero spills with these cups while transferring the milk.

Who Is the BabyBuddha Wearable Breast Pump Right For?

I’d recommend this pump to any mom who struggles to pump enough or is trying to increase her milk supply, but wants something that she can wear without being chained to one spot. My experience with it was a mixed, but overall positive bag; despite it being a bit complicated to put together, the high output I get from the BabyBuddha wearable breast pump (and the convenience once I have it on) overshadow any of my frustrations with the setup. Although I wouldn’t go out in public, it’s comfortable and secure enough to finish all kinds of daily tasks at home.

To really put it in perspective: Although The Bump only asked me to test this pump for a couple of weeks, I still haven’t stopped using it because I’ve found it actually gets enough milk to make pumping truly worthwhile—a first for me.

About the writer:
Jennifer Heimlich is a writer who specializes in health, wellness and parenting. She’s a mom of two who now pumps every day while working from home. She has a bachelor’s degree from New York University, and lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with her husband, 3-year-old daughter, and 3-month old son.