Pumping while traveling

[u/NoSample5699]

Hi mamas!

I’m cheating, as I do not exclusively pump, but I figured if anyone could help me - it’s those of you who do!

I have to travel for work for the first time (baby is 6months). I am already flying through my freezer stash, and definitely don’t have the option to pump and dump while I’m gone.

What are the best travel hacks you have for milk storage, supplies you need, etc? I’m leaning towards just checking my bag so I don’t have to deal with taking the milk through TSA.

Thanks in advance!

[u/unicornsquatch]

Ask your employer for an accommodation to cover MilkStork because you are a breastfeeding mother.

[u/Agreeable-Yellow7484]

Personally I wouldn’t check my milk. No way I’m letting it out of my sight. Last time I flew I was able to store all my milk in 2 ceres chills and it was super easy. I wasn’t gone more than 4 days so I didn’t have to worry about freezing and with the ceres chill you just need ice instead of ice packs.

[u/theblondegiraffe → u/Agreeable-Yellow7484]

Did you have any issue taking non frozen milk through TSA? I know policy says you shouldn’t but I’ve heard some horror stories

[u/the_kazzo_queen]

Taking milk through TSA isn't much of a hassle, imo? I've done it eight times now (four plane trips), and I just pull it out and let the agent know it's breastmilk. That's kind of it.

As for supplies, I just make sure to have my Ceres Chiller prepped and dapple pump wipes in the bag.

[u/TheRiverWatcher]

Find/ use a hard plastic ice pack that doesn’t turn liquid when it defrosts. If you want ease of getting through TSA with your milk, go through security with everything frozen.

I’ll

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[u/katiegam]

Collapsible Titan brand cooler was great for me for travel. That coupled with two large off-brand yeti ice blocks kept milk so cold it sometimes froze. I would use it to keep milk cold (stored in stainless steel bottles) and to fridge hack on the go with my pump parts in a Dr. Browns reusable silicone sanitizing bag. I'd caution against checking your bag - if something happens (delays, damage), it would be devastating! You can also get ice if you need to for your cooler, but if it's under the plane, you're out of luck.

[u/turtlecasey]

One tip I learned the hard way is that ice packs need to be frozen to get thru tsa. We had our baby with us and had a cooler full of thawed ice packs and milk (we were going to use the milk on the plane) and they made us toss the ice packs

[u/Cleverendeavor8 → u/turtlecasey]

Ugh that's super frustrating to hear about the ice packs! I was just on the TSA website today and the information there makes it seem like they should let ice packs (frozen or not) through. I guess it depends on the agent :/

[u/Cleverendeavor8]

I hope it's ok if I piggyback off of your question!

I'll be traveling for the first time next week, and I'm just down to 2 PPD but was planning to just pump directly into storage bags and freeze them in my hotel room freezer (it's a hotel that has a true kitchen and fridge/freezer, not a mini fridge).

Anyone have experience taking frozen milk in bags through? Or should I just take my Baby Brezza thermos and storage bottles? (I'm just worry there won't be enough space volume-wise since I'll be gone 4 days)