How can I transport my milk?

hrshykis · February 2014

Mommies, I need ideas. I'm pumping and BF and hubby and I are toying around with the idea of taking a short vacation (3-4 days) w/o baby in a few months. We would be flying several hours to get to our destination. While on vacation I plan to pump, but how will I get my pumped milk home? Any ideas?

Mrbatesisinnocent · February 2014

You can take it on the plane with you. Bring a cooler with ice packs and declare that you have breast milk with you when going through TSA. I just did this last weekend and it wasn't a big deal at all.

Mrbatesisinnocent · February 2014

We were gone for three days. I had about 24oz with me, but my daughter was with me on the trip so I wasn't EPing, just a few . You can also freeze your milk and bring it with you as well. It will stay colder longer.

I don't see why you'd have to dump any milk.

Ninjamama86 · February 2014

Lots of variables, you should probably contact your hotel and see if it's even feasible for you to have somewhere to store that much milk. Milk is good 1wrrk refridgerated so maybe you could just freeze it once you get home? If and when you cross that bridge, contact TSA and see what their policy is. Sounds like you'll need a small suitcase for that much milk, or at least a small cooler. With that much liquid I'd think you need to check it (I don't know how you could rationalize needing 200oz of breast milk on the plane) I BF and know how precious that liquid gold is, but it sounds like you might have to just bite the bullet and leave at least some of it behind.

StephandMatt2012 · February 2014

If you don't want to dump it and can't take it all with you home maybe see if you could donate it ??

amie444 · February 2014

I was on a work trip without my daughter. I pumped and took a cooler. My hotel put a fridge in my room. I flew home with it all in a cooler. I froze it when I got home . I was gone for 4 days

Megchristen · March 2014

You could pack it with dry ice and ship it home.

MissLauraPants · March 2014

I think that pretty much any good hotel will help accommodate and give you a fridge in your room if you tell them it is medically necessary. So you could fridge it while there and then depending on how much I would pack it in a cooler with ice packs for the plane and then freeze once home.

XPL0DNSTAR · March 2014

I have to travel for work regularly and am an EP. On my first trip out after the birth I had a little trouble with the logistics, but I'm getting it worked out. My trips are Mon - Fri regularly so I have 5 days +/- to travel with.

I made sure to get a hotel rook with a full fridge instead of a mini fridge. It didn't cost much more and it allowed me space for dinner leftovers that I ate on my lunch breaks. This was helpful since I had to use lunch to pump anyway. I did not freeze so I didn't run the risk of it thawing on the flight. The milk lasts for 7-10 days in the fridge and 24 hours in an iced cooler. I packed everything into the cooler with sandwich sized ice packs around the outside and in layers in the middle to keep it cool longer. The flight was 7 hours or so with check-in and baggage claim time. when I got home, I out some in the fridge to be used right away and some in the freezer for storage.

My hiccup was with TSA screening. Yes, they allow you to carry it on with the ice packs without holding you to the standard liquids rules, but they do need to run a sample under some testing scope. If the scope reads the liquid as "dangerous" (or whatever it's reading) they may test another couple of bags for a bigger sample, ask to open the bag and run a test directly on the fluid (which renders that bag useless) or have you throw the bag away. I had to choose the third option to try to make my flight. All-in-all, losing 1 bag in 30 wasn't that bad.

It can be done, but it takes some planning.

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