Traveling with Breast Milk and Baby Food

Traveling with a kid changes the game! But even when your without your baby but your  breastfeeding or pumping it can be stressful if you don't plan. In this post I'm going to highlight two of my traveling experiences, one with my son and one without. Hopefully you find these helpful!

My best friend Cassandra got married last August in Mexico when Jackson was just 3 months old. We won't even talk about the anxiety I had from the thought of leaving him at home for 3 days. Jackson's pediatrician had already let us know it would be best to leave him home and to also dump any milk I produced after being in Mexico for a few days. Dump my milk?  I was horrified! To top it off I had no idea how to fly internationally or domestically with breastmilk but the thought of dumping my whole first day of milk while traveling was just crazy. That wasn't happening. So, I devised a plan! 

First,  I planned out Jackson's milk for the 3 days we would be gone. Fortunately this wasn't too difficult. Over the week before we left i stockpiled in the refrigerator mostly as opposed to the freezer to make it easier on my mom. I put the milk in a cooler with ice packs in pre rationed bottles to take it to my moms and then put everything in her fridge.

Next, I called the resort we were staying at to make sure they had a refrigerator in the room and then read up on TSA's policies and procedures on traveling with breast milk, baby food, infants etc - print these out and throw them in your purse just in case you run into someone who tries to play you. I knew I wasn't going to have much milk to bring back but I wasn't wasting any more than I had too.  I got my supplies together for the flight which included my lifesaving Madela handheld pump, ice packs, milk storage bags, extra ziplock gallon bags (for fresh ice if the ice packs thaw) and a nice sized cooler that fit in my carry-on/purse. Now, it has been my experience that people at airports are extremely accommodating and sympathetic to moms lol. It's like they hit you with the Hunger Games tribute salute and let you navigate your way through checkpoints without difficulty (for the most part).

When I got to the airport I didn't have any milk because I waited to pump until the flight (don't ask why I know its a semi public space but I figured I didn't have anything else to do so I could have a good session without interruption. I had absolutely no problem getting into Mexico; they didn't even look in my bag. I pumped again when we got to the the resort in Mexico and to my surprise with all the hustle and bustle they were both really good pumps about 16 each so now I had about 32 ounces I had to keep fresh until we went home in less than 2 days. Everything else I had to dump (insert horrified face again here). I pumped 4 times a day while there and tried not to look at how much milk I was pouring down the bathroom sink. Nonetheless we had a great trip and I took advantage and drank lots of drinks lol.

The hubs and I at the airport

3 months postpartum!

The bride on her wedding day :-)

Bestie Crew DaVonna, Cassandra and Shinora (L to R)

Returning home proved to be a bit less "seamless" but still relatively simple. Before we left the resort I stopped at the concierge desk and picked up my ice packs from their freezer. Then at the airport I ran into a TSA officer after coming back in to the United States who began to open the gallon ziplock bag i had the milk storage bags in. I quickly whipped out the TSA guidelines I printed out and asked him if he could not. He fell in line. Not sure if it was my mom stare down or if he just felt bad for me but he left the milk alone and sent me on my way. All the trip home took was one stop at Starbucks for fresh ice and we made it back with cold milk!

Picture mail from my mom :)

The next trip was more of the same but with Jackson this time and some homemade baby food. We took a direct flight to Atlanta for our cousins baby shower. I have a new respect for babies on planes lol. From my experience I've decided to remember a few things for future trips. One, I'll try and plan my flights during a nap time or with some things to keep him occupied. This is for you more than people on the plane. If your kid is fussy no other mom on the plane will blink an eye. It happens. They're going to feel worse for you than they will be irritated. People without kids don't matter. As soon as they have kids they'll be praying for you too (see the meme from the story above). You on the other hand may get anxious or overwhelmed. All I can offer here is that you try and remain calm and remember that it happens to the best of us but you're no good to your baby worked up :-)

Also, remember to take advantage of those special lanes. When airport workers see you with your stroller they will direct you to all the shortcuts- take them up on everything. It's like when you were pregnant and everyone was super nice and accommodating and then you gave birth and they don't even look your way anymore. Get it while the gettin's good!

We stayed with family so everything milk wise was pretty simple. His food was pre portioned and frozen in Infantino Fresh Squeezed pouches. Check out my weekly posts of homemade baby food each Monday!

I opted to leave my electric pump at home again and stuck with my handy dandy handheld! We only stayed a 2 nights but we had a great time with the family! There were 4 babies born between Arpil and November from 1st cousins so our holidays and family get togethers have officially changed forever :-)

Jackson and Peyton with my mother in love and cousin Jenn

Jackson hangin with his cousin P!

NOTE: If your breast milk or food is in a frozen state they won't examine it at TSA but the milk must be used within 24 hours once its completely thawed. Small amounts of dry ice will keep milk completely frozen while ice packs might actually speed up the thawing of frozen milk.