Help prepping for travel without my BF baby

[#2ontheway]

I'm looking ahead to some travel in March, probably 4-6 days, without my breastfeeding baby and would love some advice especially from anyone who has BTDT. He'll be six months old and it would kill me if this trip ended our nursing but not going is not an option and I can't bring him along.

Can anyone share experiences on what I might expect when I get home? I will be planning for serious nursing and skin contact to try to get us back in gear. Is it possible that he'll just reject it completely or even if he does, is it possible for us to get back on track?

I also am hoping to pump while I'm gone and bring the pumped milk back with me, so hoping I can find accommodations where I could have a freezer or fridge and then transport the pumped milk back with me. Any advice for traveling with breastmilk? Best to freeze it while I'm gone, pack it with gel packs in my carryon or is checked luggage better, and then can I put it in the freezer when I get home?

Thanks! I'm so nervous about this.

[hoodlims]

I just want to say "GOOD LUCK!" and remember to pump on the clock. I know how easy it can be to procrastinate with pumping. You can do it! I have known women who did and still continued to breastfeed successfully upon their return.

[BayGirl2]

I did this with DS, I traveled 3-4 days/week on a weekly basis for business when he was that age. It was a lot of work, but we did maintain our bf'ing through it. A few tips:
- Get a hotel with a refrigerator. Most will give you a small one in the room or sometimes you'll need a suite. Call ahead to be sure, confirm it, and then remind them when you check in.
- Bring along the Medela Quick wipes and some dish soap. That way you can use the wipes to clean the surfaces in the room (if they feel yucky) and to clean your pump parts in between sessions. 1-2x/day I would wash them with soap in the sink, but doing that every time is a hassle. Having extra sets of horns helps too. You can also refrigerate the horns between sessions.
- Map out your pumping schedule in advance based on your usual feeding schedule. For me this meant pump in the morning before work, 3 sessions during work, right after work, and before bed. Maybe in the middle of the night once if baby doesn't STTN yet. Plan for extra time in the morning to fit in pumping - I would eat breakfast in my room during pumping to save time.
- To carry fewer bottles you can bring freezer bags and dump milk into them to carry home. I could fit more bags than bottles.
- Unless you have a very short trip home or only a little milk, DON'T freeze your milk to travel. Once it thaws it can't be refrozen and needs to be served within a few days. Keep it refrigerated then use ice packs to keep it cool during travel, then freeze when you get home. Put your bag under the plane seat, not in the overhead compartment, the lights overhead can warm it.
- I had a bag that freezes and would add ice packs http://www.amazon.com/Playtex-Fridge.../dp/B000K53U7K Works pretty well and its also what DH uses if he's out with the baby.
- Bring your pump on the plane as a carryon. I had to pump in the bathroom on the plane a couple times just for relief, delays happen. I had a Medela Freestyle so I didn't bring my pump bag, I had a smaller bag that I would carry with me and bring to work during trips.

I'll probably think of more, but that's a start. Good luck! You can totally do it if you plan ahead.

[mmsmom]

I did a 4-5 day trip when DD was 5 months old and she went right back to nursing with no problems when I got home. I did a lot of extra pumping the month or so before the trip to make sure I had enough breastmilk to leave for her.

Definitely do not freeze the milk. As PP mentionned if your trip is delayed or something & it thaws then you will have to use it right away. It is much better to just keep the milk refrigerated. I pumped as often as I could as well to keep my supply up.

Good luck!

[#2ontheway]

Wonderful advice... thanks so much.

[wendibird22]

I've traveled during BF with both DDs. Advice of PPs is great. Also wanted to add that if you are flying be sure to read the TSA updates on "liquids" and print a copy to have with you. You never know when you are going to run into an uninformed TSA agent. Always best to have that policy handy.

If you let the hotel know that you need the fridge for medical purposes they often won't charge you for it.

Bring lots of ziplock bags. I would stash my horns in them if I had to pump at the airport, in my car, or somewhere else where I didn't have time or facilities to clean them. I also would put the pumped milk into BM bags, and put a few bags into a ziplock (in case of a leak I wouldn't lose that milk). I'd also put ice in the baggies too (use hotel ice machine or restock with ice from a restaurant at the airport).

Be diligent about pumping on time and for enough time. Heck, add an extra session if you can. Pumping full time for a few days is just not the same as BF so being diligent can a)keep your supply up and b)keep you from getting a plugged duct or mastitis. That's the last thing you want to have happen when traveling.

ETA: in all the times I traveled, and it was almost always for 4-6 days, I never had a problem reconnecting with DDs. They were great with DH and taking a bottle, but happy to resume our nursing relationship when I returned.

[chottumommy]

I travelled several times for 3+ days when my LO was less than 6 months. Apart from all the advice the PPs gave, I would also look into fedexing the milk home in case you don't want to carry all the milk back. I fedexed every 2 days by overnight. I would send it in by the last shipment (5-5:30) from most places and it would arrive by 9 in the morning. I froze the milk in freezer bags and sent it with gel ice packs. It arrived still not completed thawed and my MIL used it to feed the baby for the day (It should be consumed within 24 hours). I only sent home milk for one day. With my company fedex rate it cost me $18 for the overnight.

I always pumped every 3 hours (even at night) to ensure my supply kept up and surprisingly pumped more than baby consumed. I found it very easy to pump in the flight (pulled down the diaper changing table in the bathroom). The hardest was pumping in the airports - a lot of them donot have family style restrooms. The best ones are at O'Hare (very clean, and lots of them).

When I came back LO was back at my breast with no fuss at all. Good luck, you can do it.

[ZeeBaby]

I did the same as well too. I followed all of the tips above, but I did freeze my milk. I brought a bunch of freezer packs (no limit or questions from TSA, I had a note from dr saying I was breastfeeding). We had no problems at all and as soon as DD2 saw me she latched on. It was great! There was some round the clock nursing because she missed me, but other then that, no real issues. Definitely set a pumping schedule and try to keep it as close as possible to your regular schedule. I did every 3-4 hours. I did not pump overnight, but would get up at 6am and start my schedule from then and end at about 11-12 that night.