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Working Moms
Traveling for work
I've been traveling for work every other month for two weeks. I have been continuing to breastfeed by pumping, pumping and more pumping. I am pretty proud of myself for continuing. My LO is 7 months and I really want to make a year. I think if I get past this trip I can do it.
This trip coming up is going International to Italy for two wks leaving November 5. I am concerned about a couple things...
Flying for that long and where to pump. I do have the PISA. Also, I have a manual I never use, but may have to take.
Worried about the conversion. Should I have a special one from medela or a regular converter work?
I will be traveling to Rome and Florence by train for the weekend. When and where am I going to pump? I could bring batteries. But, don't they die fast? I will be taking the train, so I don't really want to carry the PISA all the time??!
Is it hard to use the manual pumps? The one I have is an Avent. Does it take a long time to pump?
Also, I have not had an issue bringing the milk back with my last trips but they were domestic flights. Are there restrictions to International to bring BM back?
Thanks!! I thought maybe someone has been through the International travel to help me out.
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Traveling for work
I have not traveled to Europe, but I did to Mexico and I did get my milk back the same as when I've travel domestically (so in a softsided cooler w/ ice packs). They did challenge me...asking many times over "where is baby?" I kept repeating "With Grandma". I held my ground and kept asking to speak to a supervisor and showed them a printout from the TSA website about traveling with BM.
I really don't know you should expect in European airports. You might consider looking into getting dry ice and packing your milk with dry ice and shipping it or checking it as luggage.
In the several trips I took while BF, one thing in the back of my mind was always, even if I can't get my milk home, if I pump I'll still keep up my supply so I can continue to BF when back home. I should add, everytime I did get my milk home - all of it.
Now in regards to batteries, I've used battery power when I didn't have an outlet. I wish I could remember exactly HOW many times I used it before the batteries ran out, but unfortuantely I don't. On the conservitative side, I'd say I did a least 4 - 5 pumpings on battery. I would suggest calling medela to see if they make different wattages for other countries. If not, then you should be able to just use an outlet converter. I think this is important since our wattages can be different (as an example, when I was in London last year, my hairdryer was too high even with a converter).
**Edited to add the following** - I asked a co-worker in London if she had any idea. She made a good point...you would either need a room with a refridgerator, a hotel with a handy ice machine or use of a fridge at the office environment you will be working from. Europeans are not big on ice, but I do recall staying in some hotels that had an ice machine on the floor. When I've traveled, I've always kept my milk cold by filling the cooler with ice. Twice a day (morning and night) and it's worked like a charm. The other thing you'll need to keep in mind is that milk can only be refridgerated for 8 days - which mean regardless some of your milk would have to be frozen. Which means getting dry ice (regardless of if shipped or taken on the plane) OR dumping it.
I don't know about the international portions of this, but I did find that the batteries lasted longer than I thought they would. I'd bring some extra with you, but I think you'd be okay.
Flying, I would pump in the bathroom. I have heard of people pumping in their seat with a nursing cover. I would only ever do this if it was dark and I was all alone in the back of the plane.
You'll have to figure out how to keep the milk cold on the flight, which seems like it'd be hard.
I think manual pumps would be slow and difficult. They're okay in a pinch, but I wouldn't want to go for a long stretch using one.
GL! Sounds like a great trip. Better than my work trips to places like Little Rock.
I've pumped in my seat on an airplane, in the bathroom on an airplane, in the waiting area of an airport (less crowded area), in airport bathrooms - you name it. just bring a cover up of some sort. I use a pashima.
I traveled internationally (Dominican Republic) w/o LO for 4 days and pumped in airport bathrooms (the handicap ones were a room to itself and even had a electric outlets). I had issues bringing the milk back because I had it as a carry-on but I was prepared with a doctor's note and a copy of the baby birth certificate (this helped). But during our lay over back in the states, I packed the milk in my checked luggage to avoid the confrotation with security. However, when I got home I could tell that they had checked my bag and opened some of the bottles (which spilled all over the ziplock bags they were in). So I guess carry on or shipping out in dry-ice in advance is the best way to go.
One other thing, I found it helpful to keep the milk cold on the plane by asking the flight attendance for ice and stuffing them in the ziplock with the milk bottles.
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Thank you! This all helps. I was able to get a European transformer from my local breastfeeding center and they are letting me borrow it.