When I shared that I was pumping on our trip to Spain last week, I had several requests to share tips about pumping while traveling. I will share what I have done so far and things I’ve felt were helpful. This is going to be a long post, and I’m sorry about that but I have different scenarios to share – so I hope you find them helpful to read through. I have only done it twice – once on our trip to Colorado back in February and then during this trip to Spain. Actually I guess I’ve done it three times, because I also did it on our trip to Philadelphia for a wedding, but that was only one night and less than 24 hours total so much easier to deal with in my opinion.
FYI- most airlines count a bag for a pump a “medical device” bag and doesn’t count towards your bag allotment. So for both the Colorado trip and the Spain trip, I had a bag with my pump in it, my personal item (usually a tote bag), and my carry on luggage. No one said anything to me about it, but I did have the airlines’ & TSA policy screenshotted on my phone in case I needed to show someone. I’d recommend Googling the policy of whatever airline you are flying just so you know.
My trips have been different in that my plan for the breastmilk was different. When we went to Colorado it was a 4 night trip and I wanted to bring my breastmilk back with me. Since I don’t pump much, if ever, while I am at home, I wasn’t sure the best game plan in terms of actually pumping routinely. There’s definitely a learning curve because pumping is just not the same as a baby drinking from the breast. To me at least! For that trip, I got this backpack that is part cooler, part backpack so that I could carry all my pump parts and breastmilk together. I took breastmilk storage bags and freezer packs with me. Just a note- the freezer packs need to be frozen solid to go through TSA so I’d leave them in your freezer as long as possible.
I ended up bringing my Elvie portable pump, my hand pump, and then 2 flanges/bottles for the Spectra pump – my friend I was visiting had the same one so she just let me use hers rather than have to pack it. This trip is the one I learned that the Elvie does not come close to emptying me like I need and it caused some clogs off the bat that I struggled with for the duration of the trip. Luckily the Spectra helped a ton, not sure what I would have done without that. I kept all my milk in my friends refrigerator, and then on the last day I packed it all into the cooler. I believe you can travel with less than 100oz of milk. Mine was not frozen, and before going through security, I just told them that I had breastmilk in the bag. I was prepared for them to have to test some of it or something like that, but my bag just went through the scanner and that was that. I have TSA pre-check, so I don’t know if that makes a difference or not in that regard, but I think TSA pre-check is worth it for many reasons!
Since we were only gone 4 days, I was going to be able to get back home and then put the breastmilk in the freezer (since it can stay refrigerated for up to 4 days before needed to be frozen) so that made it easier on me.
I ended up having some bag clogging issues that trip, as I mentioned, and had to make a Target run to get a Haaka + Epsom salt to help me get the clogs out. I later packed these on my trip to Spain so I’d have them if I needed them! The ziploc bag of Epsom salt did get flagged and checked out in security (I guess a ziploc bag of a white powdery substance is suspicious?!) but they tested it and it was fine. Luckily I needed neither of them in Spain!
When I went to Spain, I took my lessons I learned from Colorado and decided that for my sanity, it would be easier for me to pump and dump. It seemed like internationally traveling with a lot of breastmilk would be harder, and because of how long we’d be there, I’d have to figure out a way to keep it frozen the whole time. With how long the traveling is to get to the other side of the globe, I just felt like dumping it out would be easier (even though emotionally, not easy, I sobbed a little pouring it down the drain). My postpartum anxiety has been bad this time, so whatever I could do to make myself have an easier time I did that. Leaving my babies in the first place was hard enough, but I simply could not miss my best friend’s wedding in Spain!
To Spain, I packed my own Spectra S1 (the one with a rechargeable battery) and my hand pump. I was able to find places to pump in the airport (most have mother’s rooms/nursing rooms/lactation pods) and on the way there, since it was overnight, I didn’t have to pump until we got there the next day. On the way back, I had to pump on our flight from Munich – Charlotte twice (it’s a 9 hour flight), but it wasn’t bad. I just wore this pumping bra + a nursing friendly shirt and then had a little lightweight sweater I just draped over me so no one could see anything. When I was done, I poured the milk into bottles with lids and kept it in my bag at my feet to dump out later. I had the window seat for maximum privacy and Craig sat on the other side of me.
I tried to keep my schedule as best I could with the time change. My hand pump also came in clutch because I figured we’d be out and about some during the day and bringing along the Spectra would be a pain. When disassembled, the hand pump can fit into even really small bags, so I took that with me one day when we went on a catamaran ride to lunch. I pumped before we left and then just took the hand pump to the bathroom with me after lunch. I awkwardly had to stand in the bathroom stall pumping for 15-20 min but one thing I like about the hand pump is that it is efficient. I feel like it is much faster than the electric pump! I also used it one day when we went on a scenic drive through the mountains & coastline and could discreetly use it in the front seat no problem.
I had to leave the wedding reception for about 30 minutes to pump in my room…but luckily the wedding was at the same hotel where we were staying so it was pretty easy to pop up there for a bit. Otherwise I would have used my hand pump like I did in Philly…
So speaking of that situation, I used the hand pump when we went to Philly for a wedding there, and like I said it fits into even small bags! I fit into this one that I took to the wedding. Again I had to do another awkward bathroom stall standing up pump session, but ya just gotta do what ya gotta do. Again I did not try to keep my milk from that trip and just dumped it out to keep it easy on me. I had about 100oz from our trip to Colorado + a few other at-home pumping sessions that Tegan used while we were in Philly and Spain, plus we supplement her with this formula once per day.
I exclusively breastfed Emma (she never took a bottle) but with Tegan I intentionally weaned 1 feed (of 4) per day just to make the Spain trip a little easier on me. So I’d only have pump about 3x a day rather than 4. It also takes the pressure off having to bring all the milk back, because I know in a worst-case scenario if I’m not able to breastfeed her, she can take that formula.
One thing I learned about my own needs when pumping is that I need to do it for longer than I thought. I need to try to empty otherwise I get backed up and clogged. For me that means I’m pumping the full 30 minutes on the Spectra. I originally thought doing that would cause me to make more, but really it helps me just stay where I am. Not sure if that tip will help anyone else but it is what I’ve learned about myself. I have a bit of an oversupply and always have, so there’s that.
Overall, having to pump of course was not ideal but it wasn’t awful either. I’m hoping I don’t have to pump anymore though since we don’t have any other trips planned sans-kids, and pumping is just not fun. Major props out there to the moms who do it every day.
I hope this has helped and let me know in the comments if you have any questions or tips for other mamas who are pumping while traveling!
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xo,
Bess
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