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I’ve written quite a comprehensive review about Haakaa silicon Pump in this post.
But I think it would be interesting to write a separate post about how Haakaa can be used by a mom who does not leak.
This post is part of PUMPING AT WORK series. Other articles in this series.
- A Breastfeeding Mom’s Guide To Returning To Work After Maternity Leave
- How to build breast milk stash before returning to work
- 7 Ways To Collect Breast Milk With Haakaa
- How to Collect Breast Milk With Haakaa Even If You Don’t Leak
- How much breast milk stash do you need | A case study
- How to freeze breast milk | 10 Things You Need To Know
- How to rotate breast milk stash
- How to thaw and warm frozen breast milk
- Breast milk storage systems | Milk Bag vs Bottle, Which One To Choose
- 10 tips on introducing bottle to breastfed babies
- How to maintain milk supply at work
- 30+ pumping hacks for working moms
To be honest, when I researched information about Haakaa, I was a bit skeptical if Haakaa will work for me, even though there are moms out there reporting that it works for their non-leaking breasts.
For your info, I never leak in my 3 breastfeeding journey, including this. So I thought, hm.. could Haakaa work for me? Perhaps I can only collect drops with it.
The first time I tried Haakaa was in the afternoon, not while nursing my baby (so definitely no let down here), and I noticed there’s a few drops collected inside.
Hm.. I thought, if it can collect drops even without let-down, how much milk can it collect with let-down?
So I started using it the very next early morning. As I nursed my baby around 4 am, I lattched Haakaa on the other breast.
To be honest, I fell asleep a few time while nursing, so when my baby was finally done, I took Haakaa carefully (my room was dark) and check how much milk I got.
And there it was, 20 ml milk collected without effort.
I could not believe my eyes, really? So this little thing really work even for me?
That was similar to what I get in a single dual pumping session!
And this, without lugging bulky pump and fiddling with the tubing and such.
The very next day, I tried again and collected even more. I was able to collect anywhere between 20-50 ml (the highest so far).
So by using Haakaa in my early morning feeds, I was able to reduce the need of pumping in the afternoon, down to only one pumping session in late morning.
This is a huge accomplishment, considering that I usually need to pump at least 3x daily to get the same amount.
Now, everyday I was able to collect at least 60 ml (~2 oz) with Haakaa, on some days I was able to get 3 oz.
Imagine, if I am trying to build a milk stash in preparation of returning back to work, in one month I would be able to collect at least 60 oz (enough for 5-day feeding, assuming 9-5 working hour). And this is very easy to do.
PS: If you are looking for silicone pump but Haakaa feels too expensive for you, here are some more options with good ratings:
I prefer using Haakaa compared to the conventional pump because:
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You don’t need to allocate separate time to pump. You get the milk while nursing
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Simple preparation and cleaning. Unlike regular pump whereby you need to set up the bottle, flanges, connect to the tubings and turn on the pump (and adjust the setting some more), using Haakaa is super duper easy. Just ‘latch’ it to your non-nursing breast, and that’s it. Switch side when your baby wants the other side.
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Unlikely to create oversupply. The ‘not-so-nice’ thing about pumping regularly is you can get oversupply pretty easily. And that means, welcome to clogged ducts and all those breast discomfort. I hate clogged ducts! With Haakaa, it just collects the milk that flows with the letdown, but not requesting more than that.
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Get let-down easily. Some moms take longer to get let-down when pumping with a regular breast pump. When you use Haakaa, your baby stimulates let-down for you (and naturally it is easier to get let-down with the baby’s suckling). I just proved this recently. I was doing power pumping for 2×10 mins and barely get any let-down. I only got less than 10 ml in those 20 mins. About 15 mins later, my baby nursed and I used Haakaa on the other side. Guess what. In just 5 minutes, I got 20 ml easily from just one side. Whoa.. Of course, don’t expect to get 4 oz in one nursing session like those moms who leak and produce a lot of milk in one go. But for extra 2 oz daily, I’ll happily take it.
RELATED: 7 ways to use Haakaa to collect breast milk effortlessly.
A few tips on using Haakaa to maximize the amount of milk that you get:
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Utilize the golden hour of milk production. That means, past midnight to early morning is a great time to get more milk with Haakaa. I usually nurse 2-3x to get 2-3 oz combined. You can still use Haakaa outside this time window, but expect to get less milk, probably 10 ml the most.
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Invest in the flower stopper to avoid spilling. Although Haakaa comes with a yellow lid, bear in mind this lid is not leak proof. To avoid spilling, flower stopper is a must, especially if you are in sleepy state. Just to share, I spilled my milk a few times because I was too sleepy (either the Haakaa slipped out from my hand – I was nursing in craddle position), or I put Haakaa on my bed side and it got kicked by my elder daughter, lol.
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Do some trial and error to find the best position to ‘latch’ your Haakaa (especially with older babies). If it is latched without enough suction, you won’t get a lot of milk. Too much pressure is also no good, because it can be painful. Usually, once I latch my baby and Haakaa, I wait until my milk lets down and check if the milk drips in the Haakaa side. After that, you can go to half-asleep mode =D. PS: If you have difficulties getting your let-down, these tips may help.
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Notice your baby’s longest sleep window. My baby has one 3-4-hour sleep stretch, and this is when I collect a lot of milk with Haakaa.
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Put Haakaa in your productive boob. Usually, I will latch my baby on my slacker boob first, so I collect more with Haakaa. After that, I let my baby finish up the remaining milk in the productive boob while I put Haakaa on my slacker boob (sometimes I still get some milk, sometimes not). Note: a reader reported after using this tip, her baby’s growth plummeted. So please monitor your baby’s behavior when trying to collect milk with Haakaa. If s/he is much fussier than usual, you can switch technique by only using Haakaa in the boobs that s/he has nursed. PS: Are you trying to build freezer stash but feeling despaired because all you can collect is less than 1 oz. A friend of mine was able to collect up to 300 oz even though she collected only 0.5-1 oz. Read her story here.Or my own story in building my little stash.
Note: If you are desperately trying to increase your milk supply, Haakaa may not be your best option. You may need a reliable heavy-duty breast pump. Here are my two favorites:
2. Super Genie breast pump review (much more variations in pump setting, I got my let-down much faster with this pump!)
I hope these tips are useful for you who wants to use Haakaa even though you don’t leak at all. Don’t despair if you didn’t get any on the first trial. Try a few positions or different timings and hopefully you can get more milk with Haakaa.
I’m not the only mom who can collect milk with Haakaa even though I don’t leak. Check out what other moms have said about Haakaa.
Have you tried Haakaa before? Does it work for you? How much milk did you collect with it? Share your story with us!
Michelle says
I legit LOLed when I read about the slacker boob!!! I never really leaked, but love the idea of collecting milk with little to no work (I guess I identify with the slacker boob!). Thanks for posting this – am about to have my second and am thinking of getting the haakaa.
Rina says
lol, Yes, Haakaa is very useful for milk collection.
Emma says
Hello!! I just started to use it and yeah got little drops from my nursing time!! Question: if i got drops less than 1 oz, what should i do with that? Can i save it for the next feeding time? Im confused with that! Thanka for the info on your article!!
Rina says
Yes, you can use it for next feeding or just put in chiller if you want to keep as stash. After a few times collecting, you may accumulate up to 3 oz and combine them together. Don’t forget to label it with the oldest collection date.