Medela Sonata Breast Pump Review (Un-sponsored)

Building Up a Milk Supply Postpartum

I’m writing this Medela Sonata breast pump review because I know every breastfeeding mom understands the importance of building and upkeeping a healthy milk supply with consistent feedings and pumps. I, for one, had an unexpected postpartum experience leading to a rough start to my pumping journey so it was even more important for me to build up my milk supply. In the beginning I wasn’t able to produce that much milk for my baby so I was particularly preoccupied with the performance of my breast pump.

At the hospital, I had the opportunity to pump with Medela’s hospital-grade pump, Symphony, which I believe is the breast pump provided to new moms at most hospitals. I wasn’t producing a whole lot then so protecting my supply was my top priority. The lactation consultant advised me to keep using that particular pump after I leave the hospital since it is designed especially for building and maintaining milk supply.

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Starting with a Hospital-Grade Pump

Returning home, I rented the Symphony pump for one month from a local medical supply store. It was a great pump and I definitely saw my supply increase dramatically. I remember being so frustrated in those early days when I wasn’t producing enough to feed my baby. Knowing the beneficial properties in mother’s milk, even the few millimeters I pumped were carefully fed to Bibi via a small spoon. READ: How to Find Time to Pump with a Newborn

I kept up with a consistent pumping routine and stay plenty hydrated. Eventually my supply increased to a point which allowed me to donate the excess to the Children’s Hospital’s Milk Bank to be shared with babies in the NICU where my baby also stayed. READ: How I Pump 1.5 Liters a Day and How to Increase Milk Supply

Seeing the results, I felt it was imperative that I keep using the Symphony pump. However, I felt it didn’t make economic sense for me to keep renting it beyond the first month if I were to keep pumping exclusively. Furthermore, it’s not a very portable pump. I remember the inconvenience of lugging around a big hardcover case that housed the Symphony pump when I went to visit at my in-laws for the day. It also needs to be plugged into the wall while in use.

A Portable Alternative

After a lot of online research, I found the next best thing to the Medela Symphony pump was it’s little sister, the Sonata. The Sonata is the newest pump in the Medela family, it is inspired by the Symphony pump to offer hospital-grade performance. It met almost all my needs for a breast pump. It’s more portable and quieter than the Symphony but just as good at yielding the same results. In fact, my only main complaint would be that it’s not completely hands-free.

Even though the Sonata is more portable than the Symphony, it is not completely hands-free like the Medela Freestyle. Since the pump weighs around 2 lbs. and needs to lie on a flat surface, you will have to be prepared to pump mostly stationary with the occasional movement if you really need to tend to your baby.

Adding to that is the weight of the valves. I didn’t notice how heavy it was until I used it with my pumping bra and discovered that once the bottles started filling with milk, the weight of the valves, bottles and milk would be too much for my bra to handle and the flanges would lose its suction. Nowadays I pump without the bra because I never liked setting it up. I just hold onto the unit by the flanges. Since the pump works efficiently for me, my pumping sessions usually only take 8-10 minutes so for me it was more time saving not to use the bra with it.

I hope you found this Medela Sonata pump review useful. Keep in mind that finding the right pump is only the first step towards feeding baby. Learning about breastfeeding and making alternative arrangements if you can’t breastfeed is one of my top 5 newborn essentials that require no money, read more here.

Overall, I am very happy I purchased the Sonata pump because it helped protect my precious milk supply when I needed it to and it’s very efficient and emptying the breasts. All the other additional features are bonuses for me and there are many. I’ll go through each one of them below. I would definitely recommend this pump to anyone who needs a very quiet and portable pump to maintain their milk supply but they should have the ability to sit mostly stationary through a full pumping session.

XOXO,
Mimi

Pros of the Medela Sonata Pump :

– Designed to mimic Medela’s highest grade pump, Symphony
– Very quiet like the Symphony
– Gentle efficient suction
– Let-down phase
– Built-in handle for portability
– Rechargeable lithium-ion battery
– Moderately portable
– Includes pump bag and freezer bag
– Includes 2 pairs of breast shields (24mm and 27mm)
– Easy to wash
– Light-up dashboard
– Timer
– Bluetooth connectivity to smarphone
– Beautiful Design

Cons of the Medela Sonata Pump :

– Valves are heavy
– Parts are not interchangeable with any of the other Medela pumps
– Tubing cannot be purchased separately
– Not conveniently portable
– Pump bag could be bigger
– 2 different pumping rhythms are indiscernable
– Milk can get into tubing

Pros In Detail

– Designed to mimic Medela’s highest grade pump, Symphony
I found I was able to maintain my milk supply with the Sonata just as well as with the Symphony. (This might be due to the fact I already used the Symphony for one month prior to this.) For me, it takes the same amount of pumping time to yield the same results.

– Very quiet like the Symphony
One of the biggest reasons why I chose the Sonata was for how quiet it is. I listened to a sample model of the Freestyle at the store and it was a lot louder than I preferred. The Sonata is the quietest pump in the Medela family and it’s even quieter than the Symphony, measuring in at 31.9 dB compared to the Symphony’s 37.3. Most of my mid-night pumping sessions involved pumping next to my daughter as she slept; I can do that confidently without waking her up. In fact, I think she kind of likes the rhythm, it’s sort of like white noise.

– Gentle efficient suction
I found the suction to be gentle and effective. There are 10 levels but I found Level 4 worked best for me.

– Let-down/expression button
Pressing the let-down/expression button will cause the pump to switch between let-down and expression mode. Let-down phase mimics the fast, fluttering suckling that a baby does to stimulate milk flow. It lasts 2 minutes and moves onto the expression phase. If more time is needed, press the button and another 2 minutes of let-down will begin. (Some pumps have a continuous let-down phase which some pumpers prefer to use during their whole session.)

– Moderately portable with built-in handle
It’s not the most portable pump in the Medela family. The pump is 2 lbs. and needs to lie flat during use. A built-in handle helps transport this pump around from place to place.

– Rechargeable lithium-ion battery
The pump can be charged with the adapter and then disconnected to pump anywhere around the house or for short trips outside. For me, pumping on level 4, it lasts roughly around 1 hour and 15 minutes. That’s about 3 long sessions or 6 short ones.

– Includes pump bag and freezer bag
The black bag it comes with has many small compartments both on the inside and outside to better organize pumping tools. The separate freezer bag holds 4 small bottles (5 oz.) and comes with a special ice pack that hugs the curves of the bottles to keep expressed milk cold.

– Includes 2 pairs of breast shields (24mm and 27mm)

– Easy to wash
The pump parts are sturdy and easy to disassemble and wash. I don’t see too many tiny nooks and crannies where milk would get stuck when given a good rinsing. This is useful for when you only have time to rinse parts first and wash later. (Some owners of other pumps noted that there are more parts to wash with the Sonata.)

– Light-up LED dashboard
Dashboard lights up for visibility during night sessions.

– Timer
Timer keeps track of pumping time elapsed. It works reversed as a countdown clock too.

– Bluetooth connectivity to smartphone (the only Medela pump with this ability)
Bluetooth technology helps keep track of the time and duration of each pumping session with the Medela phone app. This is one of the most marketed feature of this pump but it doesn’t bring much value to me personally because I also pump with a manual pump and I use the Baby Manager app to keep track of all my pumping sessions along with other baby related activities like feedings, diaper changes, medicine and more. I only found the Medela app useful for referring back to when I forget the time and duration of my last pumping session. Having said that, it doesn’t remind you to pump or feed like the Baby Manager app does. And the app and the pump don’t always connect.

– Beautiful Sturdy Design
This one is subjective but I personally found the pump to be aesthetically pleasing and sturdy. The gender-neutral pastel yellow color will blend in with most nursery schemes. The construction of the pump is also very sturdy and high quality. I appreciate the smooth matte finish of the surface and the flat LED screen that lights up at night. It’s so pretty, I actually really like displaying it on my pumping cart.

Cons In Detail

– Valves are heavy
Once the bottles fill with milk, it might weigh down the unit and cause the flanges to pull away from the breasts.

– Parts are not interchangeable with any of the other Medela pumps
Except for the bottles, all the other pieces in this system are unique to the Sonata. If you have other pumps in the Medela family, none of those parts with work with the Sonata. Even more frustrating is the tubing.

– Tubing cannot be purchased separately
Sonata tubing cannot be purchased by itself, it only comes bundled in a complete pumping parts kit. There are reviewers who have said that milk got into the tube and a new tube was needed. I didn’t have any problems with this.

– Not conveniently portable
It weights 2 lbs and is not very portable like the clip-on Freestyle as the Sonata needs to be on a flat surface while in use.

– Pump bag could be bigger
As you can see in the photos, it is pretty hard to fit everything provided inside the pump bag without playing a smart game of Tetris.

– 2 different pumping rhythms are indiscernable
The 2 different pumping rhythms (separate from the letdown mode) are pretty similar and I didn’t see any real effective difference with either.

– Milk can get into tubing
I didn’t have an issue with this but I have read reviews on this issue

– Milk can leak from the bottle
I did have this issue. On occasions when I would need to lean over to pick up something (a common task for multi-tasking moms) and I would tip the bottles, the milk would leak from the flanges.

Faulty Battery Issues

Updated on March 10th 2020: I have used the Sonata pump for one year now and I have really loved it. Unfortunately, the battery has stopped working and it cannot be replaced according to the Medela website. One day I saw that the battery symbol was flashing when I had it was plugged into the wall outlet. When I turned it on, it could no longer pump without it being charged at the same time, defeating the purpose of a portable unit.

Because of the many reviews I read online about this exact issue, I was actually hesitant about picking the Sonata but most of it’s other features won me over and I vowed to be very careful with it by not keeping it charged for long periods of time. I’m not sure why my battery broke down, I’m just relieved I use it a lot less now than before when I really needed it!

I have reached out to Medela with this issue but it has been over a week and I still have not heard back from them. (This is during the global health crisis of Spring 2020 so it’s understandable.) For now, I use it plugged into the wall. It’s definitely a nuisance but considering everything else going on in the world right now, I am just grateful I still have a pump to use. I also have my trusty backup pump, Medela Harmony Manual Breast Pump – a simple but always reliable pump. I thought I would give you an update on this issue so you can make an informed decision.