It seems like every new mom is talking about the Haakaa, right? Well, I’m here to confirm that it’s for a good reason! This little gadget was a game-changer for me in the early months of my breastfeeding and pumping journey.
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What Is A Haakaa Breast Pump?
The Haakaa was initially designed to catch milk from the opposite breast during letdown to catch milk that would have otherwise been spilled or absorbed in a breast pad. Since its first design, it has become a staple brand with tons of uses for
It is a single pump (pumps on one breast at a time) with tons of uses.
What Is A Breast Milk Letdown?
If this is your first baby or you are new to
Let’s go over this first to clarify how the Haakaa collects milk.
You might be surprised that no milk comes out when your baby first latches on to your breast! The baby needs to stimulate your nipple for 15-90 seconds before the milk starts to flow.
P.S. This is so that milk doesn’t continually flow from your breasts 24/7 and leak everywhere!
The suckling tells your body to “let” your milk start flowing. Hence, we call it a letdown. Once your letdown is over (about 15-30 seconds) your milk will still be flowing, but will require your baby to suckle to express it.
When you have a letdown, milk flows from both breasts simultaneously. This is why you might notice your bra or shirt get wet on the other side while
Mom Tip: Did you know you can get many
You can also experience a spontaneous letdown (maybe from hearing a baby cry or thinking about your baby lovingly). I recommend nursing pads in the first few weeks of
How Do You Know When You Have Your Letdown?
There are a few different ways to know when you have your letdown:
- Tingling: Many women report feeling tingling, prickling, or even pinching when they have their letdown.
- Nausea: Some lucky women–like me ?–feel a sudden wave of nausea when they have their letdown.
- Slower Sucking: To stimulate the letdown, babies will suck quickly and shallowly. Once your letdown has occurred, your baby will usually slow down and take longer, deeper mouthfuls of milk.
- Noises: Your baby will likely make very adorable noises when the milk starts flowing. You might hear a gulping or slurping sound. You might hear a sigh of relief.
How Do You Use A Haakaa Breast Pump During Your Letdown?
Remember how I said your letdown is triggered in both breasts at the same time? The Haakaa is designed to catch the letdown from the opposite side that your baby is feeding on.
By catching the letdown, you are collecting extra milk that would have otherwise been wasted!
To attach it, you place the flange around your nipple, squeeze the base, and release. It’s that simple.
How Does It Work?
You might be wondering how the Haakaa works to collect milk without any electricity or pumping motion.
Until your milk is regulated, you will likely leak during letdown from gravity. It uses gravity coupled with gentle suction to collect milk.
When you attach it, gently squeeze the air out of the base. This causes the suction. The more air you squeeze out, the stronger the suction will be.
Even though it isn’t a super-powerful suction, the constant suction, paired with the natural effects of gravity, provides surprising results.
Attaching The Haakaa
There are three ways to attach the pump.
Primary Technique (watch demo video):
- Position the flange over the breast with the nipple centered in the flange.
- Hold the flange firmly against the breast.
- Squeeze the base to release some air.
- Let go of the base.
- Your nipple will be gently pulled into the flange, and you’re ready to go!
Advanced Technique (best if you’re having trouble getting it to stay on):
- Fold the flange back on the base.
- Position your nipple so it is in the center of the collection cup.
- Hold the flange firmly against your breast.
- Squeeze the base with one hand to release some air.
- Let go of the base.
- Your nipple will be pulled farther down into the collection cup.
With a Pumping Bra (the most secure attachment):
- Put on a pumping bra.
- Attach the it using the primary method listed above.
This will give you peace of mind that it won’t fall off while you are nursing. You could also consider buying the Lady Bug Milk Collectors, which slide right into your bra.
I liked the Lady Bugs, but they collected much less milk (they don’t have any suction, so they work with gravity).
Things to Consider When Attaching:
- Comfort: Comfort is the number one priority. If the advanced technique creates too much painful suction (I did), experiment with the basic technique. You should not feel any pain or even pressure.
- The Baby: Those squirmy little hands and legs? They will knock off your Haakaa a few times before you get a system down. You’ll get milk all down the front of both of you, but don’t worry; practice makes perfect! If you’re struggling, try feeding the baby in a football hold to keep them as far away as possible.
- Overfilling: You might be tempted to let your pump fill to the top. I did as I would collect about 6-8 ounces each session. Be careful; once it fills, it is heavy, and gravity, suction, and the baby all work against you. Ultimately, the pump will fall off, and you will be soaked. The less full the Haakaa is, the more suction you will get, and the easier it will be to stay attached to the breast. Keep a bottle to empty your stash into partway through the feed.
- Tipping: Unless you go into it with a game plan, you will undoubtedly experience a tip-over. The newer models have sturdy suction cup bases to prevent tipping (although my suction cup base still tipped a few times). Have an empty tall glass or coffee cup to rest the Haakaa in for more stability.
Collecting Milk With the Haakaa FAQs
Every mom is different, but generally, you can anticipate 0.5-1 oz per breast during letdown. It doesn’t sound like a lot, but if you’re nursing eight times a day, that’s two full bottles collected!
The initial milk from your letdown is called foremilk. It’s watery and doesn’t have as much fat or nutrients. It’s meat to quench your baby’s thirst.
Hindmilk comes later in the nursing session. It’s creamier and thicker. It has a higher fat content and more nutrients. Hidnmilk fills your little guy’s tummy.
If you are collecting your letdown with the Haakaa and removing the pump, you’re probably collecting mostly (if not all) foremilk.
You could, but you probably don’t want to. It’s not that foremilk is bad for babies, but it’s more watered down and won’t fill them up as fast or as long.
Too much foremilk can also give them an upset tummy.
Try This: Instead of taking the Haakaa off immediately after your letdown, keep it on while you collect a few more ounces of milk. This will provide a good blend.
Tip for Pumpers: If you’re pumping in addition to using your Haakaa, blend the milk collected from the Haakaa with your other pumped milk before storing.
Once your breastmilk has settled in a collection cup (after a few hours), it will separate into three layers.
- Top Layer: Almost solid. This is the fat.
- Middle Layer (Foremilk): Will be liquid and very light in color. It might almost look watery.
- Bottom Layer (Hindmilk): Will be liquid but very creamy and thick.
Pro Tip: If you’re having trouble seeing the layers, try holding your collection cup up to the light.
You will notice the consistency of your breastmilk is constantly changing. Sometimes, you might have tons of fat, a little foremilk, and a bunch of hindmilk. Other times, you might be wondering if it’s all foremilk.
Your body produces precisely what your baby needs, so it is constantly adapting. Don’t be worried if the milk looks different from session to session.
Absolutely! Here are some ways you can experiment with collecting both foremilk and hindmilk with your Haakaa:
- Leave Your Haakaa on All Feeds: This worked well for me! I would collect 3-4 ounces per side during a feed (this is more than average). It allowed me to create a freezer stash effortlessly when I returned to work.
- Mix Your Haakaa Collection With Other Milk: If you’re pumping, mix your milk from the day together before storing it.
- Mix With Formula: If you’re supplementing with formula, prepare your formula first, then top the bottle off with your collected Haakaa milk. Don’t mix your formula directly with breast milk.
Don’t stress too much about your foremilk/hindmilk balance. In most cases if you feed too much foremilk is a hungrier, gassier baby.
If you think you might have an imbalance and it is causing more issues like an extremely fussy baby or a baby that isn’t gaining weight properly, talk with your pediatrician and a lactation consultant.
Safety Tip: Never mix room temperature breastmilk with refrigerated breastmilk. Always mix breastmilk at the same temperature (either room temp or refrigerated).
- Collect milk in your Haakaa during your nursing session.
- Pour each session into one storage bottle.
- Keep the storage bottle on the counter at room temperature until the bottle is complete or has been sitting out for four hours (whichever comes first). Place the bottle in the fridge.
- Repeat this process all day.
- Mix the collected milk first, then separate it into bottles or storage bags for freezing.
Pro Tip: Don’t skip STEP 5! Your milk changes throughout the day, so mixing it together provides your baby with the most well-rounded bottle.
100%! The Haakaa is my favorite way to build a freezer stash. A freezer stash is a collection of milk that is kept frozen in the freezer.
Pumping with manual or electric pumps can be time-consuming. Using the Haakaa collects the milk that would otherwise go to waste.
If you are nursing 8-10 times daily, you can expect to collect 4-10 oz of milk daily. That means 1-2 bottles per day!
If you’re collecting less than 1 ounce (total between both breasts) per session, try these techniques:
- Reposition the Haakaa: Attach it from a lower or higher angle than you are used to. Position it slightly to the left or right. Instead of positioning the flange straight up and down, tilt it slightly to one side.
- Massage Your Breast: Gently massage your breast to encourage milk flow.
- Increase or Decrease Suction: Try increasing the suction by attaching with the advanced technique and squeezing out as much air as possible. If that doesn’t work, try decreasing the suction. It might seem counterintuitive, but a gentler, soothing suction might be more effective.
Yes! Milk is a supply-and-demand game. The more milk you take from your breasts, the more milk your breasts will produce. Leaving your Haakaa on after your letdown will cause your body to produce more milk over time.
If you’re only catching your letdown and then removing the Haakaa, no, it won’t cause any oversupply. This is milk your body would have otherwise expressed that would be caught in a shirt, bra, or nursing pad.
If you collect additional milk in your Haakaa you are telling your body to produce more milk. This could lead to an oversupply. If this happens, decrease the amount you collect each time you use it.
In theory, yes. You can keep adding room-temperature milk together for up to 4 hours.
I would strongly caution against this. The more full the Haakaa is, the less suction you can create and the less secure it is on the breast. You wouldn’t want to accidentally tip it over, or have your baby knock it off while nursing.
Instead, empty the Haakaa each time you use it, and give it a quick wash.
Maybe! If you can collect enough throughout the day with your Haakaa that you don’t have to pump, awesome! There’s no need to use an additional pump unless you’re not collecting the required volume. I loved using the Haakaa instead of a traditional breast pump.
Mom to Mom: Once your milk supply regulates (between 5 and 6 months), it will be less easy to collect milk with the Haakaa. Expressing milk will require more suction and stimulation like a baby, manual, or electric breast pump provides. It’s sad when this happens (the Haakaa is so convenient!), but it happens over time, not all at once.
Yes! As long as you can stimulate a letdown, you can collect milk in your Haakaa.
Stimulating letdown is easier for some than others. You can sit in a quiet place and relax, use your fingers to massage the breast gently, look at pictures of your baby, or, my personal favorite, listen to videos of your baby crying ?.
If you can’t stimulate a letdown on your own, you will need to use a manual or electric breast pump instead.
Yes! If your breasts are engorged, traditional pumps (and even nursing) can be painful. Using the Haakaa will be much more gentle. Place the Haakaa on the engorged breast and massage lightly with your fingers. You should see milk gradually flow. It could take a while! So be patient.
The Haakaa can fit any size breast (AA to FF, and everything in between!). The unique design accommodates almost any breast.
No. Unlike traditional pumps, Haakaa is one size fits all!
There isn’t any reason why you can’t use the Haakaa if you have cracked or sore nipples. The Haakaa will be much more gentle on sore nipples than your baby or traditional pumps.
You might see some blood in your breast milk (especially when you have cracked nipples). It is generally safe to serve. I always felt a little weird about it, so I’d save that milk to treat rashes topically or to put in bathes for diaper rash, Eczema, etc.
Yes! Engorgement can be painful when your milk initially comes in. Engorgement can lead to clogged milk ducts and other infections like mastitis.
The Haakaa will allow you to gently express a minimal amount of milk to stay comfortable and avoid these complications. A Haakaa Gen 1 is so inexpensive compared to other breast pumps and is going to be more efficient and comfortable than trying to hand-express engorged breasts.
How To Clean:
- Clean your Haakaa before each use.
- Fill a dedicated basin with warm, soapy water.
- Use bottle soap (regular soap doesn’t remove all the milk and causes build-up over time).
- Scrub with a round bottle brush.
- Sterilize once a day.
Pro Tip: The Haakaa is dishwasher safe, but if your dishwasher doesn’t have a sterilize function you’ll still need to sterilize it separately.
What If it Gets Discolored?
Like all clear silicones, over time, your Haakaa will get cloudy. This doesn’t mean it is dirty; it is just a result of the washing.
You can try to soak it for a few hours in equal parts water and vinegar to eliminate the cloudiness, but if it doesn’t bother you, it’s OK to keep using.
Tip: Use It To Remove A Clogged Milk Duct
I don’t know which momma ever thought about using her Haakaa to remove clogged milk ducts, but whoever you are, THANK YOU ? The Haakaa makes quick work of even the most stubborn milk duct.
A clogged duct is a milk duct that is not draining properly. You can get one if you don’t fully empty your breast during a feed if your breast becomes engorged if you go too long between feedings if your bra is too tight, or even from stress and hormonal imbalances.
They can be painful and lead to more serious complications like mastitis.
To unclog the duct:
- (Optional) Add one teaspoon of unscented Epsom Salts to the base.
- (Optional– but effective) Get in the shower.
- Fill the base with very warm water (as hot as you can stand directly on your nipple).
- Attach the Hakkaa as you usually would.
- Make sure your nipple is submerged. If it’s not submerged, reposition it with more water.
- If you’re in the shower, allow the warm water to hit your breasts.
- At the same time, use your fingers to massage the breast gently.
Pro Tip: Clogged ducts can be notoriously stubborn. If you don’t feel relief immediately, consider leaving the Haakaa on while watching TV or reading a book. If you don’t have time, repeat the hot water process 2-3 times a day with massage until it clears.
So Many Haakaas ??
Since I had my kids, Haakaa has expanded its product line immensely! It’s hard to know which one you need.
For 99% of cases, I recommend the original Haakaa with the suction cup base to avoid tipping.
? Let’s look at some of the other models, and I’ll review their features and why you might consider them.
A simple necklace design, this strap is an extra layer of security to prevent the Haakaa from falling off (or getting kicked off) while you are nursing.
Final Thoughts
This simple gadget has become a must-have registry essential for new moms, no matter which model you choose.
My only other advice is to break out the Haakaa as soon as you get home from the hospital to catch the opposite letdown to use for bottles, freezer stashes, or topical use.
