Why You Need A Haakaa Silicon Breast Pump

silicon breast pump - haakaa — All 500 oz saved using my Haakaa!!!

Have you ever heard of a silicon breast pump? The most well known brand in the game is the Haakaa. Right after I weaned my first baby I learned about them. If you haven’t, don’t feel bad. I didn’t learn about these until after my first baby had weaned. After my second baby was born, I couldn’t wait to give them a try! The second night after I got home from the hospital, I started using the pump during my night feedings. To my delight, I immediately began collecting large amounts of breast milk. Total game changer for me!

How does it work?:

The concept is pretty easy. You attach the Haakaa it to the breast that you are not feeding your baby on. Rather than losing the breast milk that would normally be released during your let down, you collect it in the silicon pump. The silicon pump provides suction, so it collects more breast milk than other passive breast milk collection devices. I found that I could easily collect 2-3 ounces from the side that I was not feeding on.

How to use:

In order to put the pump in place, you flip back the flange. 2. Squeeze the bulb of the pump to create a suction. 3. Then you position it so that your nipple is inside of the opening of the pump. 4. Before releasing the pressure on the bulb, flip the flange back so that it is cupping your breast. 5. If done correctly, it should stay in place when you completely let go of the pump.

Tips:

Angle the bottom of the pump to the outside of your body to create more leg room for baby.
If you are an over producer, keep a second pump on hand so that you can collect even more milk!
Remove the pump before you move baby- this reduces the chances of an accidental spill.
The pump will lose its hold on your breast as it fills up. Keep an eye on the breast milk level and be ready so that your breast milk doesn’t spill.

Other benefits:

If you are like me, than you have woken up more times that you would like to admit, covered in breast milk. Having half my shirt sopping wet, isn’t comfortable and it definitely isn’t an attractive look. The silicon breast pump helps to avoid that, because rather than feeding baby and going back to sleep with incompletely drained breasts, you are removing more of the milk.
Using the pump during your let down also keeps you from soaking your breast pad or a cloth diaper. I always used a cloth diaper to catch the milk on the side I wasn’t feeding from and hated how much laundry I created each week. Feeding Adalyn has been less of a hassle because of this!

Limitations

I have attempted to use my silicon breast pumps to actually pump instead of simply using them to collect my let down. I find that while they will express some milk, they do not empty my breast completely. I maybe can express 1 oz whereas I usually could collect 4-5 oz from the same breast if I were using an electric pump. They are good though, when you will be away from baby for a short while and do not want to return with completely empty breasts.

Which to buy?

A quick search of silicon breast pumps will show you that there are a ton of options. The best option is the Haakaa version that comes with a lid and a suction cup base. Why? Because these two features make a HUGE difference in terms of limiting the chances of you accidentally spilling your pumped milk before you are able to get it into a bottle.