What is a Haaka?
So a Haaka is a silicone container (for lack of a better term) that you put on the other breast while you are breast feeding and using negative pressure it will catch milk from your let down stimulated by your baby. In the beginning this is great because your body hasn't figured out to not let down on both sides so if you don't have the Haaka on you will most likely leak into your shirt/bra. As you get more established with breast feeding your body will stop letting down on the other side but if you continue to use the Haaka with the negative pressure it will give you a little bit of milk each time. I would take this little bit of milk after each feeding- put the Haaka in the fridge with the milk in it and then as I got ready to feed him again I would pour the cooled milk into a bottle of pooled milk from that day. Doing this- I was able to get about 3-5oz per day (depending on my hydration level and how many times per day I used the Haaka- I didn't use it if we were out and I was feeding him). By the time he was 6 weeks old (which is unfortunately the time that a lot of moms go back to work in America) I had a small stash built up that could easily help me get started if I had to take my child to day care or be away from them for more than 2 hours. This totally blew my mind- basically I was doing minimal extra work and I didn't need to pump.
I had heard a lot of good things about the Haaka prior to having my baby but I honestly didn't realize how much it could help me. I had planned on starting to pump a little extra each day around week 4 to have a slight oversupply so that I could have a small stash ready to go should I need to be away from my baby for a few hours and when I eventually went back to work.
Let me start with this statement- you do not need a huge freezer stash. I have heard so many people say this is their biggest regret is spending so much time pumping for a huge freezer stash that they didn't end up needing and donated instead. Don't get me wrong donating is great- you can help other babies that don't have access to breast milk get great nutrients however pumping is so time consuming and it is taking away time that you could be doing more productive things like sleeping or holding your baby. When I became a mother I had a better understanding of why these giant freezer stashes happen- there is this natural anxiety as the sole supplier of the food for you to be constantly thinking "what if?" and how you cope with that anxiety is you pump and stash more "just in case". But it can easily get out of hand. Unless you are going to be away from your baby for weeks at a time you don't need such a large stash.
All of my stored milk from my Haaka when I was 6 weeks postpartum
Pros and cons of the haaka
Pros-
- it's dishwasher safe. I ended up getting 4 of them- most of them as hand me downs from other people and I would get a new one every morning to use for that day and keep it in the fridge in between nursing sessions. After 24 hours of using it I would just throw it in the dishwasher and get a new one- easy peasy
Cons
- The suction can be kind of uncomfortable especially in the beginning when you are getting used to it. Keep in mind you don't need to have it on the entire session. I usually took mine off after 10 minutes or so
- If your baby is squirmy they can accidentally kick it off and spill breast milk. This has happened to me multiple times and it sucks because you've just lost that milk and typically it ends up on you so you're wet. This is why I only keep mine on for 10 minutes and if he was really squirmy sometimes I would just forgo it or I would take it off earlier to avoid milk being spilled.
- It's a wobbly little bastard. They made a new one that is more stable and has a suction cup at the bottom but I only have one of those because they are $25. Unlike the weebles the Haaka will wobble and it will fall down if you aren't careful. I've also lost milk this way as well and then it ends up on my floor.
- They can be expensive brand new- I was able to get some from a buy nothing facebook group but you can also find them at trading hands or just between friends sales in your area.
I will say there was a bit of a learning curve with the Haaka so go into it expecting to lose some milk and know that it's ok.
When should I introduce a bottle to my breastfed baby?
There's not a ton of great advice as to when to start introducing a bottle. A lot of people used to say to wait at least 6 weeks until your milk is established and more regulated. I would say even if you plan on staying at home and exclusively breast feeding you want your baby to be able to accept a bottle should a situation occur that someone needs to give them one. However I have heard of a lot of babies refusing bottles if they are older than 6 weeks old. So you want to find a sweet spot of young enough to accept a bottle and old enough that
The biggest issue with introducing a bottle to a breast fed baby is that they start to prefer the bottle and refuse to breast feed. The biggest reason why babies will prefer bottles over breastfeeding is if they don't have to work hard to get the milk from the bottle. We may not realize it but babies actually have to work hard to get milk out of the breast. You can avoid this issue by doing a few things
1. Continuing to breast feed as the main source of food- so limiting to no more than 1 bottle a day in the beginning
2. Using a nipple flow that mimics a breast- typically the smallest size made by the bottle company
3. Practicing paced feeding- this is when the bottle is held horizontally with the baby's mouth rather than tipped up to allow gravity to help the baby. This forces babies to work for the milk by sucking and thus mimics the breast as best as possible.
We introduced a bottle when my baby was 2.5 weeks old. By this point I felt like my milk was established well enough and he was meeting his growth marks. I used milk that I had collected from my Haaka and waited to make sure he took the bottle before I pumped. That way if he refused it I could breast feed him. He did just fine with it- but I like to think he still prefers me. From then on we would give him a bottle every few day just to keep him used to it. This can be really nice if you had a really bad night and you just want to sleep for more than 2 hours. Typically if he had a bad night my husband would let me sleep and he would give him a bottle. Remember especially before they are 6 weeks old and your milk supply is more regulated- any time your baby is taking a bottle you need to pump
Overall
Eventually I stopped using the Haaka because my baby started sleeping longer stretches at night and I was having to pump off the excess to relieve engorgement and needed to pump more than the Haaka could handle. Overall I found this to be a great tool to help me get started on a small freezer stash while on maternity leave without having to pump extra.
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