intro & question about PISA car adapter

[raechay]

Hi all - D14 here. There seem to be a few of us I started EP'ing about 8 weeks ago. Baby has always latched great but (like many newborns) consistently fell asleep while feeding. This led to jaundice, weight loss, and what I think of as the evil trinity of feeding: breastfeed then bottle feed then pump....every 2-3 hours for 4 weeks or so. Then the LC came by after weeks of this mind numbing/soul sucking adventure and declared that baby was still getting less than half of what he needed from breastfeeding alone (determined by weighted feedings twice weekly for 2 weeks).

Even with my best efforts after 6 weeks or so of this special kind of torture, baby was still in the 2nd or so percentile for weight (he is also very tall so that doesn't help). So I started to EP and he finally started to gain weight. And we both started to sleep. It's working for us. 

My question is - does anyone use the car adapter for your PISA? Does it work well for you? Do you find suction is adequate? I'm seeing mixed reviews on Amazon. I also see people that say they use the 12v adapter even though their pump is a 9v, and they are saying it's because they tried the 9v and suction wasn't enough. However medela says not to use the 12v adapter for the 9v pump, as it could damage the pump. Thoughts? TIA.

[gldnbearz]

I haven't tried the car adapter for my PISA. The rest of your story fits us like a tee.

I'm an N14 who as you described, encountered the evil trinity to counter the weight loss, jaundice, and sleepiness. MH and I went to pumping and bottle feeding instead of nursing when we found out how badly baby was tranferring from the breast.

She's now about 22 weeks and still getting about 15 oz of EBM a day and the rest supplemented with formula. I use both a hospital grade pump at home and at the office. I'm so spoiled, I don't like the PISA.

[haybaleinthemiddle]

I'm not am EP'r but i be pumped a fair bit in my car. I never bought a car adapter specifically for the pump, instead I bought a convertor that converted the cigarette lighter to an actual outlet. I don't know the volts but it worked fine and it was very useful for other things in the car.

[Deleted]

I use the 9volt adapter, I normally have to pump with the suction on the third dot on the dial but in the car turn it up higher to get my pump to have adequate suction.

[ellabee]

Hi, crossing over from the bfing board, but I pumped a lot for work/travel. I bought the 9 volt and also have to turn my PISA up to a higher level than normal to get the same suction.

[madalynw]

I have the non brand name adapter from Amazon. The 9 volt one. It works totally fine. Don't use a different coltage than what your punp requires. You will damage the motor.

[northernlghts]

Mar 22, 2015 5:35:14 GMT -5 @nursesouder said:

I use the 9volt adapter, I normally have to pump with the suction on the third dot on the dial but in the car turn it up higher to get my pump to have adequate suction.

Same. Love having my car adapter for long car trips or to stay on schedule

[raechay]

Mar 21, 2015 18:19:08 GMT -5 gldnbearz said:

I haven't tried the car adapter for my PISA. The rest of your story fits us like a tee.

I'm an N14 who as you described, encountered the evil trinity to counter the weight loss, jaundice, and sleepiness. MH and I went to pumping and bottle feeding instead of nursing when we found out how badly baby was tranferring from the breast.

She's now about 22 weeks and still getting about 15 oz of EBM a day and the rest supplemented with formula. I use both a hospital grade pump at home and at the office. I'm so spoiled, I don't like the PISA.

I much prefer my symphony rental but I'm
a nurse & don't have an office to lock it up in at work (and I would die if it got broken or stolen). I definitely don't get the same output with my pisa as I do with the symphony.

Thanks for the help ladies. I think I'll get the adapter.

[gldnbearz]

raechay Does your rental Symphony come with the battery? It's supposed to be good for an hour's worth of pumping. I've never tried mine. Luckily I have a place to store it at work.

[raechay]

Nope no battery.

[wicked22]

My PISA came with a back up battery pack to use that is 12 volts. I figure if the bag came with a 12v battery back up a 12v car charge would be ok as well.

[raechay]

Interesting, I've never looked at the voltage of my battery pack.

[birch113]

Mar 29, 2015 22:46:38 GMT -5 raechay said:

Interesting, I've never looked at the voltage of my battery pack.

Neither have I! I will say my PISA works great with the battery pack, but the car adapter sucks. I had to crank it to the highest setting and it still wasn't what I'd get from the third dot. It took much longer, and I didn't feel empty. LLL have to compare volts tomorrow!

[raechay]

I checked today and the battery pack is 12v. Boo medela.

[auburn]

I bought the car adapter and it works, but you do have to turn the suction up higher. I agree that the batter pack works better, but it eats batteries. I recommend getting rechargeable batteries for it.