I’m looking for a small pump that will fit in the front of my bra but will mostly be worn on my waistband. I’m considering the Ypsomed. The only pump waist clip I’ve found so far to have a really good grip is the old slim Medtronic Veo clip as per link below. Other’s aren’t grippy enough and fall off.
Tandem’s waist clip system is rather bulky in comparison with the small size of the Slim pump and you need to remove it before you can change the cartridge etc which is the same for the clip I currently use with the Combo pump. Both of these seem to encase the pump rather than having a clip on secure clipping system like the old Medtronic ones.
Has anyone used the Ypsomed pump with any of the available waist clips? Are they any good?
I use the following item for clipping my receiver to my waistband. I may end up using another one for a 670 pump next week if the included clip doesn’t work well for me.
I almost forgot, I grind down the release button so that it doesn’t accidently release an item from the clip. When I first started using those clips, a couple of times when I’d bend over, the receiver would fall out of the clip because it takes very little pressure on the release button to allow an item to slip out of the clip. Otherwise it’s secure as heck. Once ground down, it takes a very deliberate action to release the clip.
I just started on the Ypsomed pump two days ago. I am loving it so far.
I don’t have a clip yet. They are sending me the 360° clip, but last I checked they are still being shipped to Canada. I can let you know how the clip is when I get it. But I tend to be easy on clips; I used Animas for eight years and I think only once had a clip fall apart on me. I used Cozmo before that with a nice rotating clip, but it was one of the clip types that encases the pump.
The Ypsopump is SMALL! Like, not much bigger than my Contour Next One meter. Smaller than the Dexcom G4 receiver. It’s the only pump I’ve used that I could actually imagine wearing in my bra.
Good to hear you are loving it so far. I used Medtronic pumps for 19 years before using an old Combo (last month for looping with AndroidAPS) . Never upgraded from the 554 because I wanted the smallest pump I could get.
I’d love to hear what you think once you try out the 360 degree clip. It looks promising. Appreciate that. And yes agree on the size. There’s a Dana RS pump available in Australia too that looks quite small. But Ypsomed is the one I’ve got my eye on at the moment.
Thanks Dave! That looks like a really great non-bulky solution. I will investigate. Hopefully insulin pump companies will also keep wearability in mind. We are finally getting there on the tech front which is exciting and a relief, but sometimes the usability and wearability still seem to get left behind.
Really appreciate you mentioning the swivel belt clip holder.
Holy cow, Jen, I feel like you have used so many different pumps. I have never even heard of this one. You should make an entire post with your review of it.
I feel like I haven’t used many! In 12 years of pumping I’ve only used the Deltec Cozmo, Animas Ping, and now MyLife YpsoPump. Both Smiths Medical (Cozmo) and Animas exited the pump market, which forced me to switch brands. Fingers crossed this third pump is different.
It’s not available in the US. Just Europe, Australia, and now Canada.
I did make a post about the unique features of this pump in a Facebook group I’m in. Maybe I will see if I can port it over to here or FUD.
I LOVE this clip. It’s the right size to work with any pump. It’s also very low profile and the curved end keeps it clipped to my jeans when I place my pump backwards in my pocket. I can’t understand how these companies can make such a great pump, but such a crappy clip.
We very rarely use the provided Tandem case/clip but instead will either slide the pump with no case/clip into a pocket or use a different pouch that we purchased.
Agree. I think it’s the last thing they think of. Like an afterthought. But it’s such an important part of our everyday life and having a nice intelligent easy to use system makes such a big difference (to me anyway).
I use the spibelt. I can wear it higher on my waist and tuck my shirt in, and no one will see it. If I wear a button down shirt, it isn’t too hard to reach in and bolus when needed.
I like the spibelt because it is very easy to get used to, it doesn’t feel like it’s there. And it’s easy enough to adjust to different positions when/as needed.
I think I would destroy my pump if I had it clipped into place. I am always leaning over something, picking up something heavy, or just doing other dumb things that would crush the pump if it couldn’t move around more than a clip would allow for.
That’s good to know too, thank you. So interesting!
Seems we all have differences in how we prefer to wear our pumps. Quite a few people I’ve met swear by spibelts too. I really dislike wearing anything that goes right around my waist and I mostly wear tight fitted tops rather than shirts so things around my waist look lumpy. I’ve had pumps clipped to my waist for over 19 years now using the type of Medtronic clip I posted originally and it’s worked really well. It’s only now that I’m trying out different types of pumps that this issue of not so great clip options has arisen. Eg the Combo waist clip I’ve got now for use with an second hand Combo doesn’t clip tightly so eg first day I used it the pump fell straight into the loo. I’m more careful with it since that episode (!) but it still drops off my waist often. Frustrated. Thanks for the input Makes me realise not everyone is concerned with the same things I am. I could be an outlier on this.
Also I think we often just have experience with the pumps we have used and make the most of whatever we have without necessarily getting a chance to try multiple options. ie If it works, stick with it.
I’m suddenly very hard to please after all these years!
Most of the time I wear the spibelt right where my belt would sit. So it wouldn’t look any different than the pump already clipped to you waist line.
But, your right, we all seem to have different ways that work for us.
I started using it so I could sleep at night and not get rolled up into a ball (I toss and turn a lot.)
Hi @MA11, I just received my clip so wanted to let you know how it is so far. It’s the type of clip that snaps around the pump, not slides directly into the back. So it does make the pump a bit bulkier, but it’s very lightweight. So far, it seems to grip fabric better than other pump clips I’ve used, probably because there is a ribbed texture to the inside of the clip. The clip rotates 360°, so you can position the pump in whatever orientation you like, which is nice. The function button, battery cap, cartridge cap, and insulin viewing window are all accessible while the clip is attached.
Thanks so much Jen for replying and for the useful information and two great photos!
Sounds really promising. How have you found the pump so far? … including cannula options and tape? Where have you been ‘wearing it’? (if you don’t mind me asking I’d love to hear more. Your thoughtful post gave me a prompt to try and set up a meeting with our local Ypsomed rep so hopefully I’ll get to try one on tomorrow. I did specify that I wanted to try out the waist clip/belt clip so hopefully she will have it with her.
I’ve only been using this pump for three weeks, so my opinions are still forming. So far, I quite like it. It’s very small and lightweight. I love the bright screen and large icons and fonts (I’m legally blind, so this is one of the main reasons I went with this pump). I like the infusion sets, and in particular having an inserter available for steel sets, which I use. The tape on the infusion sets seems good and so far they cause me much less irritation than Contact Detach sets used to. I also enjoy using the app to calculate boluses and log events. I also love having the ability to pre-fill cartridges weeks in advance to store in the fridge. The cartridge-change process is the most simple and fastest I’ve had on any of my pumps. It takes 30 seconds and you’re done.
I do wish that the pump stored insulin on board on the pump itself (it stores it in the app), and the basal rates are a little annoying to get an overview of when changing (because you can only see one hour at a time). But those are fairly minor complaints.
The only big issue I’ve had is that I’m trying to use the pump with Fiasp and it appears to cause occlusions often in the tubing and infusion set. I’ve had five occlusions over the past three weeks, which is probably more than I’ve had in my years of pump experience. The good news is that the occlusion alarm works well!! I’m going to be switching to NovoRapid hopefully today, so fingers crossed that solves the problem. I’ve read that Fiasp causes occlusion issues with other pumps, so I think this is more of an issue with Fiasp than an issue with the pump.
Good luck on making the decision on your next pump!
Makes me realise not everyone is concerned with the same things I am. I could be an outlier on this.
