Can You Put & Store a Haakaa Breast Pump In The Fridge?

Last Updated on August 8, 2023 by Jada Glover

For a new mom on her breastfeeding journey, a breast pump can come in real handy. There are tons of options out there, but the Haakaa breast pump stands out for many reasons.

If you own one, you know how this breast pump can be such a huge help when it comes to prepping your freezer stash and boosting your milk production. You might also be wondering if you can put a Haakaa in the fridge.

And from there if you can then portion it out into individual breast milk storage bags. We’ll answer those questions and more in this post.

Please note that this article contains affiliate links, and that means that I may earn a commission if you buy something (at no additional cost to you). Read my full disclosure here. I only recommend products I use and love and recommend to my clients.

Why Use a Haakaa Breast Pump?

The Haakaa breast pump is an excellent manual pump, designed to help you, as a breastfeeding mother. It’s not only useful in the early days of your breastfeeding journey when you’re still figuring things out, but throughout.

This silicone pump is perfect to be used while you’re already nursing your baby. You can just use it on the opposite side to capture milk flow and store the collected milk for later. Think of it as a milk collector that you can use on your non-nursing breast.

It is literally one of the best products crafted specifically for busy moms who want to make the most of their feeding sessions and keep their breast milk supply up. The Haakaa silicone breast pump is one of my top recommended products for a breastfeeding mom.

It is important to note that Haakaa is not an electric pump. It is a manual breast pump designed to help you extract your precious milk from the opposite breast, all at the same time while you’re still nursing your baby. Cool right?

Can You Put a Haakaa in the Fridge?

To put it simply, yes, you can put a Haakaa in the fridge. That said, you’ll need to keep a few important things in mind when you do this.

While the best way to store breast milk is definitely using silicone milk storage bags, you may want to collect small portions during nursing sessions. Using a milk storage bag for each session just doesn’t make sense.

And that’s when you can put your Haakaa to use! Once you’ve used it to collect your breast milk during a nursing session, refrigerate it immediately until you’re ready to use it again.

A Haakaa breast pump is a reliable hands-free silicone breast pump that doesn’t use any harsh chemicals as opposed to a lot of other breast pumps out there. You can even use the stopper that most come with (or the silicone lid) to keep bacteria out in the refrigerator.

Can I Store My Haakaa In the Fridge Between Uses?

While transferring your expressed milk in storage bottles or bags is highly recommended, you can choose to just store the milk in the pump itself. Just refrigerate it until you’re ready to put it to use again. This method may seem like the easiest way for a new parent, and it truly is.

I would recommend storing this way for no more than 24 hours. After that, transfer the refrigerated milk into a silicone storage bag and label it. Next, freeze it or use it within four days if kept in the refrigerator.

Can I Store My Milk in a Haakaa in the Fridge?

With its suction base, it can be a great option to safely store your excess milk for later use. This is especially true if you want to use it in the refrigerator, and don’t want to go through the process of transferring the milk into airtight containers or a storage bottle.

However, I would still recommend exercising caution and using a clean storage bag or container to store any pumped milk for later, even if you’re planning to use it within a day or two.

How Long Can Milk Be Stored in the Haakaa at Room Temperature & In The Fridge?

You can store your milk in your Haakaa breast pump for 3-4 hours at room temperature. Or, for up to a day in the refrigerator.

While the milk can surely last for longer than that, your Haakaa pump can have some bacteria that might cause the breast milk to get spoiled. In contrast, when you transfer the milk to a clean storage bag or freezer trays, there’ll be less chance of bacterial growth.

Can You Use a Haakaa to Collect Milk Overnight?

If you want to use your Haakaa Ladybug milk collector overnight, you can actually do that too!

How Long Can Breast Milk Stay at Room Temperature?

As a lactation expert, I would recommend storing breast milk at room temperature for no more than 3-4 hours. That’s actually what Haakaa’s official website recommends too.

The best way to store your breast milk stash is to refrigerate it or freeze it- depending on how long you want it to last. Regardless of what storage method you opt for, remember to use a clean container made using food-grade silicone or a convenient breast milk storage bag.

I would really recommend the Haakaa silicone milk storage bag. The only thing you’ll need to keep in mind is to keep the breast milk away from direct sunlight.

How Long Can You Refrigerate Your Liquid Gold?

Fresh breast milk, when refrigerated correctly, can last for up to 4 days without going bad according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines. Cold temperatures help slow down bacterial growth, which can help the fresh milk last for days.

Refrigerating breast milk is actually a great way to have a stash of milk handy. Just remember to always label your milk storage containers with the date and time. This will help you keep track of whether or not the milk is safe to be fed.

Simply empty the Haakaa pump right before you go to sleep, store the milk in your choice of storage containers or bags and freeze or refrigerate it, making sure you label it with the date.

Then, all you need to do is clean the pump with warm, soapy water, reattach the pump, and let it stay on overnight or until you feel the need to empty it.

Why I Love Using the Haakaa

As a breastfeeding or expecting mom, you’ll find quite a lot of manual and electric breast pump options. The Haakaa breast pump is one of my favorites and also a popular choice among many mothers. I highly recommend it as a lactation consultant for a few reasons.

Just like a traditional breast pump, the Hakkaa breast pump helps you relieve engorged breasts and also gets you ready for the next feed, having a supply of milk handy.
The pump flanges are just perfect which help adhere to the breast in the most comfortable way and use gentle suction, helping you collect milk easily even if you’re using the football hold.
The Haakaa pump has simple breast pump parts, which are easy to clean.

The Haakaa Gen 2 and the version with the flower stopper and suction base are two of my absolute favorites.

How Do I Clean the Haakaa After Using it?

The best way to clean your Haakaa breast pump after you’re done using it and storing the pumped milk for later is to use warm water and mild soap to manually clean the pump.

Remember that a Haakaa is made using food-grade silicone. While this is great, the silicone material can easily pick up smells and odors, so you might want to use the most gentle cleaning liquid you can get your hands on that is unscented.

If you’re looking for an easy breast pump parts cleaner, try the Medela Quick Clean Breast Milk Removal Soap. This works great for all pump parts, including a Haakaa to remove residue from milk.

If you use any bleach-based agents or sterilizing tablets to clean your Haakaa pump or practically any other silicone-based product, it’ll end up getting cloudy after a while. Also, silicone is an absorbent material, which is why you are better off not using any harsh cleaning agents.

How to Clean Your Haakaa Pump Between Uses

Cleaning your breast pump is just as important as cleaning your feeding bottles and milk storage bags and containers. Here is the step-by-step process you should follow to clean your Haakaa pump between uses.

Start with a gentle soap. Look for eco-friendly and baby-friendly organic cleaning agents made using natural materials that don’t harm your baby.
Use warm water to rinse the pump and remove any visible traces of milk.
Add the cleaning agent with a little water and use your hands to rub the soap all over the surface of the pump.
Wash the pump once again with warm water, ensuring that it is clean and you’ve removed all the detergent.

This Haakaa silicone cleaning brush can really come in handy for those hard-to-reach places at the bottom. Save it for use only on your breast pump parts. Do not use it to clean other pots and pans in the sink so that it doesn’t pick up food bacteria.

You can also choose to use the dishwasher to clean the Haakaa. Just make sure you read the manufacturer’s instructions carefully or just go through my detailed blog post about putting your Haakaa in the dishwasher.

Do You Need to Clean Haakaa After Each Use?

I would strongly recommend cleaning the Haakaa pump after each use, just to be on the safe side. You can clean it using a good quality natural, unscented soap or even sterilize it, especially if your baby is under 3 months old. I would recommend sterilizing the pump after a few uses.

To sterilize the Haakaa, you can use your choice of sterilizing system or let the Haakaa pump sit in boiling water for a few minutes. Make sure the surface of the pump doesn’t touch the bottom of the pot, especially when it is still on heat, or it may cause the pump to get burned.

Now that you know that you can put your Haakaa in the fridge, you can get started using it to store breast milk in between uses.

Use caution when saving breast milk so that it is used within the ideal time after pumping. You can also use nursing pads to catch milk on the opposite side while nursing.

We love any tip or trick that makes mama’s life easier! We hope you found this article useful when you’re using your Haakaa breast pump.

You might want to check out these other posts on breast milk and pumps that you might find helpful: