- Pregnancy
- Baby & Toddler
- Parents
- Getting Pregnant
- Baby Names
- Product Reviews
-
Registry
- Community
-
More
Want a personalized experience?
Download the free app
Working Moms
Kimmy683
member
traveling and pumping...
Kimmy683
member
in Working Moms
I know this has been posted before but tomorrow I go out of town via airplane for a night and next week I'm gone Monday thru Thursday....so for you working/pumping moms who have traveled please please please tell me how to keep my milk cold while working during the day when I dont have access to a fridge and what the best way to package it is for traveling back home? bags? bottles? I'm overwhelmed but know I can do it...Oh and next week when I'm gone will baby still want to BREASTfeed after not doing so for three days?
This discussion has been closed.
Re: traveling and pumping...
I just got back home after traveling for four days without the kids. DD is almost 4 months old. I booked a hotel room with a fridge in the room, and a microwave, which came in handy for sterilization.
I brought the storage bottles to pump into and bags. I put the milk into the bags at the end of the day after pumping so I could get 6oz into each bag (how much DD eats per feeding). I put the bags into a larger plastic bag (used the liner from the ice chest provided in the room). I stored the milk fresh in the fridge, since it has an 8 day shelf life when fresh. On the way home, I filled a cooler with ice, and placed the bag of bm bags on top of the ice. When I got home, I put the bags flat in the freezer in a gift bag whose bottom is approximately the dimensions of the Lansinoh bags.
I washed the pump parts in the sink and used the Medela microwave bags for sterilization daily.
I think if you don't have a fridge in the room, then you could bring a cooler to store the milk and change the ice daily. BM can sit room temperature for 8-10 hours for what you pump during the day if you can't chill it right away. As far as I know, you can travel with bm in an airplane as a carry on even if baby is not with you.
BTW, DD was very happy to nurse last night when I got home. I pumped a ton of milk, and only pumped every four hours, and pumped about 44oz a day. DD ate 24oz a day while I was gone, so I have a very nice freezer stash now.
Good luck.
I just returned from a trip as well. I did have access to a fridge in my room, so I kept my milk in there. You could easily use a cooler with ice though. I pumped every 4-5 hours and double bagged the milk and put it in a small hard-sided cooler with two ice packs for the trip home. Then I put the cooler into my checked baggage and I also stuffed a few shirts in the cooler to take up the rest of room so the bags wouldn't flop around during flight. Everything arrived back home safely and cold. DS was totally ready to BF when I walked in the door and has had no problems since.
I just washed my pump parts in the sink with hot water and dish soap and kept them in the fridge between pumpings.I just returned from a trip as well. I did have access to a fridge in my room, so I kept my milk in there. You could easily use a cooler with ice though. I pumped every 4-5 hours and double bagged the milk and put it in a small hard-sided cooler with two ice packs for the trip home. Then I put the cooler into my checked baggage and I also stuffed a few shirts in the cooler to take up the rest of room so the bags wouldn't flop around during flight. Everything arrived back home safely and cold. DS was totally ready to BF when I walked in the door and has had no problems since.
I just washed my pump parts in the sink with hot water and dish soap and kept them in the fridge between feedings.
I just returned from a trip as well. I did have access to a fridge in my room, so I kept my milk in there. You could easily use a cooler with ice though. I pumped every 4-5 hours and double bagged the milk and put it in a small hard-sided cooler with two ice packs for the trip home. Then I put the cooler into my checked baggage and I also stuffed a few shirts in the cooler to take up the rest of room so the bags wouldn't flop around during flight. Everything arrived back home safely and cold. DS was totally ready to BF when I walked in the door and has had no problems since.
I just washed my pump parts in the sink with hot water and dish soap and kept them in the fridge between pumpings.
PP have good advice.
If you'll be carrying on the BM make sure you "declare it" by telling the TSA screener that you have it BEFORE your bag goes through the xray, and take it out of your main carry-on. It can stay in your coolerbag. Technically they don't have to let you carry it on if you don't declare it.
Little tip - I put dish soap in a travel size shampoo bottle (under 3oz) to take with me on the plane and then used the hotel ice bucket as a washtub for cleaning my pump parts.
Also, its been posted before, but just so you hear it too....some hotels will for no extra cost bring a small fridge to your room or give you an upgrade if you say you need it for medical purposes (which this is). I've had both situations at hotels - depends on the hotel.
Here's the info I've previously shared - covered airport travel, keeping it cold, etc. let me know what other questions you have. I've traveled several times for up to a week at a time away from LO. You will be fine!
Traveling w/ BM:
I don't like checking bags, so here's what I did. I purchased a professional ladies "bag" from Wilson's leather (about $50). It's 15" long, 12" tall and 5.5" wide. It also came with a small matching purse. Inside I am able to carry my laptop, my pump (not the whole PISA bag, just the pump), a square tupperware container (which inside has 2 sets of pump parts & tubing), 2 hardsided containers, BM storage bags, wallet, phone, magaize, black sharpie marker and a pashmina shawl. Inside my carry on suitcase, I pack very stragically - reusing pants, same shoes throughout the week, no hairdryer (use the hotel one); roll clothes instead of fold, and the purse. What I did for the milk was bring along a soft sided cooler (12 can size). At the hotel, I would fill it with ice 2x day (morning and evening) and kept the bags of milk inside on ice. Works awesome. On the day of departure, I would pack my bag so that there is enough room that the cooler could sit inside my suitcase. This is necessary since some TSA will require you to PROVE you can fit the cooler inside so you only effectively have 2 carryons. I position the cooler so that when I'm rolling my suitcase, the cooler is sitting right side up inside. You 'll need to pull the cooler out for TSA to inspect. Again I place the cooler inside the suitcase when it's time to board the plane (flight attendents can be a stickler about this, hence the reason I stick it inside); however when I'm on the plane, I quickly remove it before putting it in the overhead and place it under the seat in front of me along with the "professional bag".
In my experience, the "medically" necessary fridge is so tiny (as in desk top book sized) that there's no way it can hold a week's worth of milk, let alone a couple days. This was at a couple of different Westins. In Mexico, the fridge didn't really seem cold, so again I used the cooler and kept the milk inside packed with ice.
Couple of other things....the pashmina - - I use not only to keep warm, but it works as a GREAT cover up when nursing in the restroom or elsewhere in public.
I bring along 2 sets of gel ice packs and have the hotel restaurant freeze them the night before departure. I keep them in the cooler with ice until I get to the airport. Before going through security, I dump all the ice out in the restroom sink and just leave the ice packs and milk. After clearing security, I usually get more ice from the McDonalds or another restaurant, but have also used just the 2 frozen ice packs just fine.
I keep all the milk in the storage bags and use the sharpie to record the date and oz info on the bag. Since I first pump into the hard containers, it makes it easy to know how much milk before putting into the bags. I keep all the milk fresh and then freeze once home so nothing spoils (I've always gone by the following: 8 hours room temp, 8 days in the fridge). I do carry the Medela cleaning clothes so that I can clean my pump parts. For two of my trips I knew I'd have access to a microwave, so I brought along the steam clean bags.
Dammmnnn girlll I'm impressed :-)
I thought pumping twice a day at work made me heroic, you are super mom, be proud!