I am a travelling Mom. I am a breastfeeding Mom. When you put both together, it can be a difficult situation.
I travel for work. A lot. And when I do travel, it is with the whole family. But, when I need to travel for an overnight trip only, I do not bring the kids along anymore. On such a trip, the most important accessory I need to bring is my breast pump.
When baby J was almost 2 years old, I had to go on an overnight trip. I forgot to bring my breast pump, so initially I thought I could last overnight without it, given that my milk supply was significantly less than when she was a newborn. But I was wrong. My breasts became so engorged I had to go to the nearest shopping center to get one before I screamed in pain! I learned from that trip. After that incident, my breast pump is the first thing I pack.
In my earlier days as a breastfeeding, travelling Mom, I would just bring along my manual breast pump to express milk and throw it away. I did this because most hotel rooms do not have a freezer compartment in their small refrigerators. I was not comfortable travelling for hours on end with unfrozen breast milk hence the decision to just throw it away instead of risking giving spoiled milk to my baby. But, eventually, I decided to prepare for it.
So, what do I do when I need to travel?
1. Bring all my ice packs.
2. Bring enough breastfeeding bags.
3. Bring an insulated bag.
When I get to the check-in counter at the airport, I check with the crew whether I can bring the ice pack on my carry-on luggage or not. I do not want to risk my ice pack being confiscated.
Once I get to the hotel, I leave my ice packs in their freezer straight away to give it as much time to freeze for my trip back home. Every time I express milk, I make sure I keep it in an insulated bag with label before I give it to the staff for freezing. I also always remind them that it is breast milk to ensure that they take very good care of it.
Once in awhile, I get lucky and I get to stay in a hotel with a freezer in the room (such as today). This is automatic plus points for me!
Even if the freezer is small, I am happy that I get to keep the milk in my own ref and not in a public refrigerator where I do not even have direct access.
When I am travelling, I make sure that every milk bag contains only 100ml or less. Even if generally, airport staff are more accommodating with breast milk, I do not want to risk it being confiscated.
Lastly, I always get the milk from the freezer only when I am about to leave. I then make sure that I surround all the milk bags with ice pack. The ultimate goal is to arrive home with milk that is still frozen.
It may seem like a great inconvenience when travelling. But, seeing the number of expressed milk bags you bring home is totally worth it!
I travel for work. A lot. And when I do travel, it is with the whole family. But, when I need to travel for an overnight trip only, I do not bring the kids along anymore. On such a trip, the most important accessory I need to bring is my breast pump.
When baby J was almost 2 years old, I had to go on an overnight trip. I forgot to bring my breast pump, so initially I thought I could last overnight without it, given that my milk supply was significantly less than when she was a newborn. But I was wrong. My breasts became so engorged I had to go to the nearest shopping center to get one before I screamed in pain! I learned from that trip. After that incident, my breast pump is the first thing I pack.
In my earlier days as a breastfeeding, travelling Mom, I would just bring along my manual breast pump to express milk and throw it away. I did this because most hotel rooms do not have a freezer compartment in their small refrigerators. I was not comfortable travelling for hours on end with unfrozen breast milk hence the decision to just throw it away instead of risking giving spoiled milk to my baby. But, eventually, I decided to prepare for it.
So, what do I do when I need to travel?
1. Bring all my ice packs.
2. Bring enough breastfeeding bags.
3. Bring an insulated bag.
When I get to the check-in counter at the airport, I check with the crew whether I can bring the ice pack on my carry-on luggage or not. I do not want to risk my ice pack being confiscated.
Once I get to the hotel, I leave my ice packs in their freezer straight away to give it as much time to freeze for my trip back home. Every time I express milk, I make sure I keep it in an insulated bag with label before I give it to the staff for freezing. I also always remind them that it is breast milk to ensure that they take very good care of it.
Once in awhile, I get lucky and I get to stay in a hotel with a freezer in the room (such as today). This is automatic plus points for me!
Even if the freezer is small, I am happy that I get to keep the milk in my own ref and not in a public refrigerator where I do not even have direct access.
When I am travelling, I make sure that every milk bag contains only 100ml or less. Even if generally, airport staff are more accommodating with breast milk, I do not want to risk it being confiscated.
Lastly, I always get the milk from the freezer only when I am about to leave. I then make sure that I surround all the milk bags with ice pack. The ultimate goal is to arrive home with milk that is still frozen.
It may seem like a great inconvenience when travelling. But, seeing the number of expressed milk bags you bring home is totally worth it!
