I’ve seen a LOT of good things said online about the Haakaa breast pump. It’s a non electric silicone little suction pump, available on Amazon and there’s “off brand” available as well. I want to love it so bad but I just don’t. It sucks half my boob in and leaves the non nipple area SO RED I feel like I’d get a hickey if I left it on for a long period of time. It sort of hurts too. When I use my electric pump I can painlessly pull about an ounce between both breasts (milks just coming in), but with the Haakaa, I get maybe 5ml. Can anyone speak on their experience with the Haakaa or any very similar “pumps”?
Edit: thanks so much for all of the responses!! I will readjust my expectations from “pump” to “let down catcher”. And will be giving the Haakaa another go when my milk is established.
@enealexandru I leak pretty bad from the non feeding boob so I use it to catch the leaking rather than having it go to waste. Yesterday I got 200mL over the whole day using it. There's a method to put it on - flipping the flange inside out and then positioning the nipple before flipping the flange back over.
I'm 7weeks pp and for the first 3 weeks the haakaa didn't collect much so if you can stick with it it might pay off. Also I never get anything in the haakaa unless I'm feeding from the other side.
@melintokyo I’ve learned a trick where you put a rubber band around the neck of the haakaa and then another rubber band that connects from that band to the hook on your nursing bra. That way if it gets kicked off it stays upright and doesn’t spill or fall
@melintokyo Yeah- my daughter would yank mine off or I'd be using it while putting something away and it would get knocked off. Maybe it has to do with boob shape or something?
@katrina2017 Pendulous breast owner checking in to say, I’ve had a similar problem. It’s practically sitting in my lap, so if I turn it gets torqued off pretty easy. Kicking legs made it more difficult.
@dyhfjsjf Yeah this is why I am not a fan of the haaka. It falls off my saggy boobs very easily and after crying over spilt milk one too many times, I put it in the back of the drawer and I bought a “milkie milk-saver” from buy buy baby. It’s WAY better on my opinion. You tuck it in your bra, no suction, won’t get knocked out of place, it just catches your letdown. I was afraid it wouldn’t fit in my bra or that it would be awkward but I highly recommend it!
@enealexandru Like others have said, it was really only useful to me when I would leak during let down on the opposite side. Not useful as an actual pump!
@vanessastudentresearcher This is my experience as well. Once my supply regulated a bit and I stopped leaking, I stopped catching anything with the Haakaa.
@enealexandru I used it when my kiddo was BFing, and I think calling it a “pump” is a misnomer. Like most commenters I used it to catch whatever was leaking, especially when I only pumped one side at a time (because I guess I preferred to spend my time pumping rather than washing pump parts? Shrug??)
Where it really came in clutch for me was hand expressing. Y’all I can not recommend enough learning how to hand express. It is so freeing, because you don’t have to be scared of getting stuck somewhere without the baby or without the pump and being painfully engorged. Find yourself some extremely awkward how-to videos and practice in the shower. It’s a great skill to have, and I preferred using the Haakaa to catch milk when hand expressing.
@dustinlayton That's actually a really interesting way to use it, during travel or whatever that could be super useful and the haakaa is definitely the lightest/easiest "pump" to pack ever, and the easiest to clean up
@dustinlayton I had an oversupply and loved the Haakaa for hand expressing. I had terrible engorgement for the first six months and loved that I didn’t have to bring my spectra when I traveled. My Haakaa was my safety blanket.
how???! with the suction / inverted flange, i have to break the seal pretty deliberately for it to go anywhere.
