Pumping and traveling - please share all of your wisdom!

BlueHouseLiving · March 2014

I will be traveling for work soon, and I am a pumping mama still. I have read the TSA guidelines, and I will be printing them to have with me. But, I would love all of your tips for traveling with the pump and breast milk, pumping during conferences, pumping in the airport, everything! Thanks!

BlueHouseLiving · March 2014

I will be gone 5 days, and I'm hoping to carry-on my milk back with me. I will be at a convention center, but I have already contacted them about pumping rooms.

Thanks for your advice!

ricekez · March 2014

Turn the fridge in your hotel room all the way down and you may be able to freeze your milk.

Most airport bathrooms have outlets somewhere.

Pump as often as you need to. Make it a priority, otherwise you might get engorged and very uncomfortable.

I never had issues with TSA. Good luck!

CaitS07 · March 2014

I wore a hands free bra on most days that I was traveling for easy access. I also second the PP on a hands free pump as I had to pump on every flight!

I also wore an over sized sweat shirt that I could discretely get everything in place and wouldn't show anything and posted up in an area of the airport that was quiet. I did have to pump once in the bathroom but I'll never do that again.

thedash · March 2014

I have pumped in airport bathrooms and really didn't mind. I have a battery pack so I hung my pump bag from the hook on the inside of a stall door and stood next to it and pumped. I've done the same in restaurants. I took my handsfree bra and read a book or answered emails on my phone while I pumped.

I have never done this but one time when I was flying pre-kids the lady in the seat next to me asked the gate agents to let her board when first class passengers did and then pump in the airplane bathroom while everyone else boarded. The timing worked out perfectly.

I kept a few extra gallon size ziploc bags in my pump bag for dirty and wet parts. I also bought an empty travel size bottle from Target and filled it with dish soap so I could wash parts anywhere.

I bought a backpack for my pump instead of the tote bag it came with. It made it easier to deal with suitcase, purse, and pump while going through airports, to the rental car, etc.

This may not have been smart but I packed my milk in my checked bag and never had to go through TSA with milk. I put it in breastmilk storage bags, then in gallon bags and then in a soft side cooler bag with lots of ice packs. It fit in a corner of my suitcase perfectly. You can add newspaper inside the cooler to hold it in place and for extra insulation. I guess if my luggage got lost it would have been bad and there's a chance a bag could have broken open but it worked out fine.

cecilyandgautam · March 2014

One TSA agent told me that if you pack your carry on breastmilk in quantities of 2 oz or less, they are not required to scan it - they can simply inspect it visually. Now, that doesn't entitle you to not having it scanned - it just gives the TSA agency the discretion to do so. So if you're not transporting large quantities, it may be wortwhile for you to pack it in smaller bottles.

Aside from that, I always ask that the breastmilk be hand inspected instead of going through the x-ray machine with the rest of my luggage. That means handing over the bag, they swab it for explosives, and then put it in a scanning machine that's not the x-ray machine your regular luggage goes through. They also swab your hands. They're used to doing it, you'll be friendly and polite in your request of course, so it's a non-issue. They're generally happy to do it, just be sure to get there with enough time so that you aren't rushed when going through the check point. In your milk bag, pack an ice pack or two and your milk should be safe to travel for 24 hours, so that's plenty of time to make it home and in the fridge - make sure the ice pack is frozen otherwise it counts as a liquid, so TSA will have to take it away and then you'll be without ice packs for your flight.

Pack a few empty zip locks as back up - is your ice packs are taken or lost or whatev, you can ask a restaurant vendor for ice to put in the ziplocks and keep your milk cold that way.

In terms of pumping in the airport, pack a nursing cover with you. Once you're checked in, through security, you can find an empty terminal, put on your nursing cover, and sit in a chair facing the window - no one will notice you're pumping under there and no one will care. Read a magazine or flip through your phone and you won't even notice all the people walking by behind you. That nursing cover will come in handy while at conferences - just find a chair facing a quiet corner with an outlet. Some fancy conference centers have lounge areas in the bathroom - that's another option but I would pick a quiet semi-public corner over a bathroom stall.

rockychryslerb2010 · March 2014

1. Use the bags to store the milk, they scan better than bottles (fewer false positives I had a TSA agent tell me once). The more filled the bags are, less likely for false positives
2. Freeze whatever you can - they don't have to scan anything that is frozen.
3. I second the hand pump suggestion - I had good output with that and used to to pump in extreme circumstances, during a flight (the guy next to me had no idea what I was doing) on an Amtrak train and in a bathroom when I couldn't find another room.
4. Invest in a good freezer bag - the type that they sell in grocery stores to help keep frozen foods frozen (I think thirty one also sells some cute options)
5. Don't be surprised or startled if they have to open the milk. If it fails their screening, they are required to do a vapor test. All it means is they open the bag or bottle and hold a test swab above the opening. They should never touch or ask you to taste the milk. They usually also swab the outside and handles, your hands, etc. Plan for a little extra time in security to test all the milk.
6. Make friends with the hotel staff - they can get you unlimited supply of ice and otherwise help identify places to pump (empty conference room, empty hotel room, etc). Are you staying where the conference is? you can always use your room to pump.

BlueHouseLiving · March 2014

Why hand scan it, and not the x-ray machine? Is it the x-rays? I never thought of that. Thanks!

rockychryslerb2010 · March 2014

BlueHouseLiving said:

Why hand scan it, and not the x-ray machine? Is it the x-rays? I never thought of that. Thanks!

I always just told the TSA person that I was traveling with medical liquids before any screening and they took the bag from me and it didn't go through the xray. I guess because they go through it anyway, there is no reason to x-ray it.

I don't think it would hurt the milk though. probably gets more radiation actually in the air during the flight than it does through the machine.

cecilyandgautam · March 2014

BlueHouseLiving said:

Why hand scan it, and not the x-ray machine? Is it the x-rays? I never thought of that. Thanks!

Some people prefer not to have their milk x-rayed, mostly because of unknown effects, not because of confirmed harm. I've always asked for hand inspection but it's a personal call.

ss265 · April 2014

Be sure to ask for a mini fridge in your hotel room to store the milk. And bring Ziploc bags so that you can fill them with ice and put them around your milk in the fridge. Sometimes those mini fridges don't get cold enough and the Ziploc bags with ice will help keep your milk cold.

And if you have to pump at the airport and don't want to do it out in the open (which if you have a nursing cover and battery pack, really isn't too hard), look for family bathrooms to pump in. Those are usually one big stall and will give you more room to pump.

Otherwise, suggestions that PP gave you on traveling through TSA with the BM are good ones. Just be sure to give yourself extra time to get through security.

ss265 · April 2014

ricekez said:

Turn the fridge in your hotel room all the way down and you may be able to freeze your milk. Most airport bathrooms have outlets somewhere. Pump as often as you need to. Make it a priority, otherwise you might get engorged and very uncomfortable. I never had issues with TSA. Good luck!

Just wanted to reiterate this. I went to a conference when DS was 6 months old and made the mistake of not keeping to my pumping schedule. I got terribly engorged and could never get my breasts to empty completely with the pump because it wasn't as efficient as DS. Luckily I was only away from him for a couple of days and only had to deal with engorged breasts for maybe a day and a half before I could get back to him and have him nurse to relieve my engorgement.

Pumping and traveling - please share all of your wisdom!

Re: Pumping and traveling - please share all of your wisdom!

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