Traveling can be stressful on its own. But now that you are a breastfeeding mom, traveling while breastfeeding can be a whole lot of extra effort! It can be overwhelming to handle packing and transporting your breastfeeding equipment around while having to remember to pump every once in a while. But as with any challenge, the right preparation and techniques will allow you to maximize your breastfeeding powers even when you’re away for a trip!
Traveling While Breastfeeding Planning Tips
- Plan ahead for pumping sessions and get ready to adjust.
Whether you have a trip by land or air, make sure you plot in advance the times you will be able to breastfeed or pump. If it’s a long road trip, map out the potential stops you will pass by along the way.
On the other hand, if you’re flying, take a closer look at your flight schedules. It’s good to keep in mind the breaks you’d have along the way before you start flying, like when you are the boarding gate or before take off. These are perfect windows to pump.
2. Only bring what is necessary.
Time to be the smartest packer when you plan to breastfeed and pump in your trip! Although it’s tempting to bring things “just in case”, remind yourself that “less is more”. Here are some essentials:
- Extra pack of clothes for you and your baby. There’s a high chance that clothing accidents happen along the way. It’s good to have just an extra set for these emergency situations.
- Plastic bags or garbage sack for dirty diapers. Disposing of a soiled diaper while in a moving vehicle or mid-flight can be frustrating. Have an extra bag to store dirty diapers and throw them out after your travel.
- Nursing covers. Tight spaces in an airplane, bus, or a car mean less privacy. Nursing covers will give you just the right amount of confidence and feeling of privacy while you try to breastfeed in public.
3. Pumping, storing, and transporting breast milk
It’s important to maintain your milk supply even when you’re busy traveling. Pumping will help keep your milk supply up. Here are a few simple tips to pumping, storing, and transporting your milk:
- Pumping and Expressing:
- Take frequent breaks to pump, just as much as you would normally feed your baby
- Make sure your breast pumps and hands are clean and sanitized.
- All medium and large airports in the US have clean private lactation spaces for every terminal
- If you don’t have a power source to use your electric pump, you can opt to use a manual pump.
- Storing:
- Contact your accommodation and ask if they have refrigerators.
- Store breast milk in a milk storage bag with tight-fitting lids made of glass or BPA-free plastics.
- Put packaged breast milk in a refrigerator or freezer to preserve shelf life
- Transporting:
- If you are mid-travel, carry breast milk in an insulated cooler bag with ice packs until you reach your destination.
- Frozen breast milk should be kept cold and within 24 hours from the time it thaws completely.
