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Traveling w frozen breastmilk

JillseeJillsee member
in Breastfeeding
Good morning!
I will be traveling by car with my 9 week old son for about 7 hours. The trip is approximately 4.5hrs but I'm accounting for breastfeeding stops and stretching. I'd like to bring some of my frozen milk down for a few reasons. One, We have an event to go to and my mother will need to give him a few bottles. I'm always fearful to not have it as backup ... thinking what if my supply is low that day after travel?(Im paranoid since I do not want to give him formula) Secondly my sister just had a baby too and is unable to produce enough to feed her son. Since I have a decent frozen supply I would like to bring some for her to add to his formula for the health benefits. Soooo my questions is... How can I travel with frozen breastmilk? I live in the sticks but think I may be able to acquire dry ice, other than that, the only option I've been able to find is ice packs which probably wouldn't keep it frozen that long. If I go the ice pack route and it defrosts but is still in a cooler w ice packs can I then put it in the refrigerator for three days?

FTM and FT out breastfeeding. Thank you all in advance for any advice, tips or tricks. It is all greatly appreciated!!
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Re: Traveling w frozen breastmilk

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    amcongdonamcongdon member
    My understanding is once it is thawed it has to be used within 24 hours. Some people also go with the smell test - as long as it smells ok it's good. I generally stick with 24 hours to be safe.
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    kelly422kelly422 member
    I'd for sure try to get some dry ice - that would be your best bet on keeping it frozen longest.  I make a 2.5 hour trip with frozen BM and it's already starting to get a little squishy, so I'm not sure if it would last a full 7 hours with just ice packs :/
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    cltk12cltk12 member
    Pack it in a cooler with some ice and it should be fine.  If you're super concerned, change the ice out half way.

    I flew to AZ with approx 75oz of milk in a soft sided cooler with 2 ice packs and threw 2 cups of ice on top after we went through security and it was fine.  When I got to my mom's, I put it in the freezer and it was still rock hard.  It was in the cooler for about 10 hours.  Even if it is thawed a bit, it's still considered frozen.
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    lizshort96lizshort96 member
    Crumpled newspapers are a great insulator in addition to dry ice.  Search youtube for ideas.  One I like is THIS ONE.  Advance to around 6:30

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    JillseeJillsee member
    Thank you all for your stories and advice! Thinking soft cooler and ice/ice packs. Going to do the best I can! Fingers crossed!
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    spinsoffresonancespinsoffresonance member
    I flew from Europe with frozen BM in a cooler with ice. Total trip was 12 hours, it was still frozen when I got home. Remember to put the cooler inside the car with you, it will be cooler than in the trunk
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    JillseeJillsee member
    Good morning!

    LO and I made the trip yesterday. I packed the BM in a soft cooler. I placed a number of flat 3-5oz Lano bags on top of each other and tightly wrapped them in newspaper. I placed a freezer bag of ice on the bottom, newspaper w breast milk and multiple ice packs on top. We traveled from 9am to 430 pm and it was still nicely frozen pun our arrival.

    Thanks again for all the input!!
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