13/05/2026
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/18zrvApD6r/?mibextid=wwXIfr
Long article but please read . Post questions here if you have them.
Silicone suction based milk collectors are, in my opinion, some of the most damaging products currently marketed to breastfeeding women.
Please do not use them.
Please do not gift them.
Please stop recommending them to new mothers.
These devices are often described as “passive collectors”.
They are not passive.
They are not breast expressors.
They create vacuum suction against the breast and extract milk through negative pressure. They are not simply catching little drips of milk that would otherwise be lost. They are removing milk from the breast, often milk intended for the baby’s next breastfeed.
This understanding matters.
Breastfeeding is a hormonal, biophysiological process. It is not mechanical. The breast is living glandular tissue with a delicate network of ducts, blood supply, lymphatic tissue and milk making cells. It is not a container to be emptied.
In the early days and weeks, breastmilk volume is still regulating. Your baby is stimulating the pituitary hormones, prolactin and oxytocin, as your breastmilk volume gradually increases.
When milk is repeatedly extracted with vacuum suction during this sensitive time, particularly while the baby is feeding from the other breast, it can substantially increase breastmilk volume beyond what many babies can comfortably manage.
As the breast becomes fuller and under pressure, milk flow becomes fast.
Many babies then struggle to coordinate the finely synchronised draw, swallow and breathe rhythm of breastfeeding.
We may begin to see gulping, spluttering, choking, clicking, pulling back, drooling milk, arching, vomiting, crying after feeds, green or explosive stools, frequent feeding and babies appearing unsettled or uncomfortable.
They may seek the breast again and again to soothe.
That is a neurosensory survival skill.
Many mothers understandably interpret this as hunger or low breastmilk volume.
So they remove more milk.
More suction.
More extraction.
More pressure.
More milk removed.
Higher volume.
Faster flow.
More gastrointestinal discomfort for the baby.
More frequent one sided feeding.
More worry for the mother.
And the cycle continues.
We then commonly see:
High breastmilk volume and fast flow.
Breast congestion and ductal narrowing.
Ni**le compression.
Ni**le pain and trauma.
Bruising.
Milk blebs.
Blocked ducts.
Breast inflammation.
Mastitis.
Babies unsettled with gastrointestinal discomfort.
Mothers being told they have “colic”, “reflux”, “allergy”, “tongue tie”, or “low supply”.
When the baby is trying to slow the fast flow, we may see the ni**le being compressed into the hard palate. The baby may use the gums to slow the flow. This is one reason ni**le pain and trauma can develop.
Used aggressively, suction devices may also place excessive strain on the delicate breast tissue, ducts and glandular network. Breasts are not designed to tolerate ongoing high negative pressure from silicone suction devices without consequence.
And then there is the longer term concern.
These devices extract milk. They do not stimulate the breast in the same rhythmical way as the baby at the breast. They do not support pituitary hormone release in the same way as the baby’s draw, swallow, breathe rhythm or carefully simulated breast expressing.
So while they may increase breastmilk volume in the early weeks, ongoing use may contribute to low breastmilk volume around three to four months.
This is an important part of the cycle that is rarely explained.
Early on, suction extraction may create high volume and fast flow.
Later, because the hormonal rhythm has not been protected, breastmilk volume may reduce.
The mother is then told she does not have enough milk.
And the true physiology has been missed.
One of the most concerning things for me is the culture that is developing around breastfeeding volume.
Women are being encouraged to fill deep freezers with breastmilk, build “stash” supplies, or freeze dry enormous amounts of milk, as though more and more milk is somehow the goal.
But breastfeeding is not like upsizing a meal at a fast food restaurant.
More is not always better.
Excessively high breastmilk volume can create significant breastfeeding complications for both the mother and her baby.
A baby’s stomach is tiny, relative to the size of their own little closed fist.
Breastfeeding has never required women to calculate, measure, compete, compare volumes, or produce the same volume as formula feeding.
Women are not machines.
Breastfeeding is dynamic, responsive and hormonal. It changes across the day, across feeds, across weeks and across the baby’s development.
For millions of years, breastfeeding occurred without suction gadgets, freezer stashes, apps tracking every millilitre, or pressure to constantly extract more milk from the breast.
There is no place in routine breastfeeding for suction based extraction devices.
And no, using a suction collector with warm water and Epsom salts does not treat mastitis.
Mastitis is an inflammatory condition. Applying suction to an inflamed breast does not address the underlying reason inflammation has occurred and may increase pain, swelling and tissue trauma.
What concerns me deeply is that these products are marketed aggressively to vulnerable pregnant and postpartum women, often before they have even had the opportunity to establish breastfeeding or confidence in their own body.
Women deserve honest information before these products are promoted as “must have” breastfeeding tools.
Please do not buy them.
Please do not gift them.
Please stop recommending them to new mothers.
Breastfeeding works best when we protect the mother’s confidence, respect the baby’s physiology, and observe carefully.
Sometimes the most protective thing we can do is less.
Less suction.
Less extraction.
Less pressure.
Less obsession with volume.
Less fear.
More quiet observation.
More gentle guidance.
More trust in the mother and her baby.
https://www.thethompsonmethod.com/
