I have to fly out of IAH for two day trips back to back (one to Jackson and the other to Pensacola). So I am going to have to pump and bring this precious gold back. What issues am I going to run into? Can I bring it back?
I flew once with some frozen milk. I just had it in a little cooler and let them know as I went through security. I don't think they looked at it and just let me through but I don't remember exactly. I had mine in the little lansinoh freezer bags at the time.
I flew to Jackson recently and had mine in Medela bottles and ice packs. I told them I had it when I went through security. In Houston, they didn't do anything. In Jackson, the guy had me open every bottle and waved some little strip over it that I guess detected if there was a chemical in the bottle, I'm not really sure what he was doing. I had to stand there and open/close each bottle. Just give yourself a little extra time in case.
Have any of you flown internationally? I am going out of town to Mexico in December and I'm trying to figure out if I could somehow pump while I'm there. My biggest concern is cleaning the bottles...I think I'm going to inquire with the hotel to see if I can get a microwave...so I can use those steam bags. I'm pretty sure there's a mini-fridge to keep the milk cold...ahhh! I can't stand the idea of throwing out 6 days worth of milk!
I just flew at the beginning of September to Ohio and back. I had no problems at all. When I brought my milk back the lady opened up my cooler and wiped this strip of paper on the lining. I pumped into cheap evenflo bottles and then when I got back home I divided them into bags.
Have any of you flown internationally? I am going out of town to Mexico in December and I'm trying to figure out if I could somehow pump while I'm there. My biggest concern is cleaning the bottles...I think I'm going to inquire with the hotel to see if I can get a microwave...so I can use those steam bags. I'm pretty sure there's a mini-fridge to keep the milk cold...ahhh! I can't stand the idea of throwing out 6 days worth of milk!
I went to Cabo for 5 days and pumped the whole time. The hotel we stayed at didn't have a mini-fridge, at first, so you might want to confirm with them...even after I got the fridge it didn't really keep things cold, so I just kept the milk on ice in my cooler refreshed the ice throughout the day. I brought a bottle brush and soap to clean out my parts after pumping each time.
When we were headed home, they questioned me for a while. The first screener was wondering what I had. So all I could think to say was "leche de mama" and he looked around for a baby. Then they called over 2 different people asking them what they should do. I told one guy I read on their website that bringing breastmilk was ok, so he asked me if I printed it out. I didn't! After some talking with each other they let me pass...thank goodness!!! I just had to make sure that I used the milk I stored on ice within two weeks after freezing it all when I got home!
Re: Flying with Breast Milk
I flew to Jackson recently and had mine in Medela bottles and ice packs. I told them I had it when I went through security. In Houston, they didn't do anything. In Jackson, the guy had me open every bottle and waved some little strip over it that I guess detected if there was a chemical in the bottle, I'm not really sure what he was doing. I had to stand there and open/close each bottle. Just give yourself a little extra time in case.
I went to Cabo for 5 days and pumped the whole time. The hotel we stayed at didn't have a mini-fridge, at first, so you might want to confirm with them...even after I got the fridge it didn't really keep things cold, so I just kept the milk on ice in my cooler refreshed the ice throughout the day. I brought a bottle brush and soap to clean out my parts after pumping each time.
When we were headed home, they questioned me for a while. The first screener was wondering what I had. So all I could think to say was "leche de mama" and he looked around for a baby. Then they called over 2 different people asking them what they should do. I told one guy I read on their website that bringing breastmilk was ok, so he asked me if I printed it out. I didn't! After some talking with each other they let me pass...thank goodness!!! I just had to make sure that I used the milk I stored on ice within two weeks after freezing it all when I got home!