The Haakaa: a great buy for nursing parents everywhere by Gina Boling

Super easy to use and convenient too!

Welcome back! We’re here with another blog from our clinical director and IBCLC, Gina Boling! Gina talks about the wildly popular and client approved Haakaa! The Haakaa is a manual breast pump that is not only user friendly, convenient and compact, but also budget friendly. We invite you to gift yourself a Haakaa or a nursing parent you know, they’re bound to love it! Shop the Haakaa on our website here.

—

Do you leak breast milk from one breast while your baby is feeding from the other?

Do you need to collect milk for an occasional bottle?

Do you feel engorged, or have a plugged duct?

There is a simple tool that can help with all of these situations, and more.  The Haakaa (or similar manual silicone breast pump) is a portable, low-tech and versatile tool.  To use the Haakaa, you simply turn the flanged part inside out, squeeze the base of the bottle and apply to the breast.  It will suction onto your breast and remove and collect milk.  Clean up is quick and easy with only one piece to wash, it saves time and effort!

If your baby is feeding, and suddenly your shirt is soaked with milk on the other side, or your breast is spraying milk you can use the Haakaa as a “milk collector.” Sure, you could place a burp cloth or towel over that breast and soak up the milk, but with a Haakaa, you can collect and save that precious milk.  If baby has not yet fed on the side that is leaking, you only want to apply for a short time, or just catch the milk.  Be careful that you do not remove too much milk, as we want to leave milk available for baby when they feed.

While an exclusively breastfeed baby does not necessarily need a bottle, many families want to ensure their baby can take a bottle when parent goes back to work, or so the other parent/support person can give a bottle occasionally.  While electric breast pumps are great tools, they require a lot of set up, and cleaning.  If you are looking to collect only a few ounces per day, a silicone manual pump may be the answer for you.

There are many strategies for treating engorgement and clearing plugged ducts.  Effective latch, various massage techniques and hand expression can be helpful.  Many mothers find that using a silicone hand pump can be filled with a warm saline solution and applied to the breast to help draw out plugged ducts or blebs (blocked nipple pore).