Any mom travels for work??

KG91705 · November 2010

Anyone working mom travels for work? If you are breastfeeding, are you still going to pump when you are out of town and ship it home. Anyone has any tips on shipping breastmilk? I pump when i'm in the office, but i have to start travelling in 2 months and was wondering how other moms do it when has to travel. How much does it cost to ship. What do you use to ship? TIA.

flyer23 · November 2010

I have traveled for work, on occasion...

I usually get a room at an extended-stay facility, like Residence Inn, Homewood Suites, etc. That gives me: 1) a fridge to store the milk, 2) a freezer to chill my ice packs overnight, and 3) a dishwasher for washing pump parts and bottles. If I have to stay at a regular hotel, then I ask for a mini fridge in my room. At least then I can store the milk.

I don't typically ship breastmilk home. I just bring it home with me in a cooler bag. Much easier that way. My last trip was about two weeks ago. I was away for 3 days, and brought home 60+ oz of milk. I used milk storage bags, and fit it all in the little cooler bag that came with my PISA.

I did ship breastmilk once, when we moved out of state and I had to ship my entire freezer stash. I used FedEx. It was about 135 oz of milk, mostly in glass bottles, plus 10 lbs of dry ice. All told, the cooler weighed in at just under 30 lbs and cost $175 to ship.

Here's a blog post that I did on shipping breastmilk: https://worklifeunbalanced.blogspot.com/2008/06/shipping-breastmilk.html

And lots of miscellaneous posts on traveling, many of which discuss pumping issues, etc: https://worklifeunbalanced.blogspot.com/search/label/travel

KarBear · November 2010

How long are you going to be gone? When I was BF, I traveled a lot, and my longest trip was 10 days. Like the pp said, I had a hotel room with fridge so I froze about half of the milk and put the other half in the fridge. Then when I got home, I froze the other half, and used up the frozen (but recently defrosted on the ride home) milk.

If I didn't have a dishwasher, I used to buy a bunch of sponges, coat them in dishwashing detergent, then sit out to dry for a couple days. I then cut them into 3-4 strips, put in a ziplock, and used them to wash parts without having to worry about carrying liquids on the plane.

Make sure you purchase a cooler big enough for your stash, and bring LOTS of zip lock bags to prevent spilling.

I pumped like this for a year, so I know it's hard, but good luck!

sju · November 2010

The pp's have good advice. I typically stay at Homewood Suites but I once had to stay at a Sheraton and they provided a fridge at no extra cost. If you tell them that it is to store milk, they won't charge you.

A few things I found useful:

Medela Steam bags- I just washed everything by hand and used the bags to sanitize.

A lot of zip lock bags in various sizes. Not only did I use them to protect the lansinoh bags but also for extra ice.

A spacious collapsible cooler. I have one that fits perfectly inside my regular carry on. To save space in my bag, I removed the actual pump in its little black box from the PISA bag and put it on my carry on.

Several icepacks. I had two sizes.

A bottle brush. I always put it in a gallon sized zip lock.

A tiny bottle of dish soap

I never shipped milk. I typically drive to central FL (about 4.5 hours away) for a few days. One time I flew to TX for a week and brought back 100 oz in my collapsible cooler. I had no issues with TSA and I even had extra ice bags inside the cooler...oops.

KRB8 · November 2010

I travel for work too. My first trip will be later this month. I have enough BM in my freezer for two weeks. I plan on pumping and dumping while I'm away since I'll be gone for 6 days. I have my body producing more BM than DD needs. I freeze any where from 10 to 15 ounces per day for my trips.

KG91705 · November 2010

Thank you all for your replies. I gives me hope that I can do this breastfeeding for at least 1 year even when i have to travel. I have started my stash since the day my son got home from hospital so hopefully he has enough while i'm away for a week. I usually go on trips once/mo for a week. I do plan to stay @ Homewood Suites or just rent a fridge. If you mommas are able to bring milk with you as carry on, then i think i will try that too just to save on the cost. I make about 30oz/day and will probably have lots of bags to take home with me. If i have an isulated bag for the milk, will that be a carry on or should i check it in?

jsu - where did you get the collapsible cooler?

KRB8 · November 2010

KG91705:

Thank you all for your replies. I gives me hope that I can do this breastfeeding for at least 1 year even when i have to travel. I have started my stash since the day my son got home from hospital so hopefully he has enough while i'm away for a week. I usually go on trips once/mo for a week. I do plan to stay @ Homewood Suites or just rent a fridge. If you mommas are able to bring milk with you as carry on, then i think i will try that too just to save on the cost. I make about 30oz/day and will probably have lots of bags to take home with me. If i have an isulated bag for the milk, will that be a carry on or should i check it in?

jsu - where did you get the collapsible cooler?

I just ordered one from www.keepyourcooler.com (I didn't want to waste time hunting one down at a store.) I got the small one that holds 12 -12oz cans of soda. So I'll probably only bring home with me what I pump in the latter half of the week.

I too have been pumping extra and freezing since DD was like 3 weeks old. DH is thinking of getting me a chest freezer for the basement since we barely have any adult food in our freezer.

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