Traveling as a Nursing Mom: Part 1 - Work Travel

My job requires a decent amount of travel and coming back from maternity leave, I was determined to make sure I kept up my supply. My goal was to stick with it for a year and the only way that was going to happen is if I planned. I made sure I planned for everything in order to make my life easier while working, traveling and pumping. I hope my experience and tips provided below will help nursing moms pump all around the world! Especially when it's safe to travel the world again. ♡

PREPARING

During the preparation period, I thought of every single place I was going to be, who I was going to be with, what times I would be there and where etc. For ease of reading, I have laid out my routine below:

FOR DAD/PARTNER- make sure they are totally aware of the routine you have with the baby. A babies ounce intake changes all the time as well as their time of feedings, etc. Have that daily schedule ready and in a place where they can easily find it. If you have frozen milk, explain how to thaw it out and to pick the milk with the oldest date in the fridge first. Afraid you may not have enough pumped milk while you're gone? That's ok, have formula ready. Supplementing is natural and nothing to be ashamed of.

FOR WORK: Coming back to work, I explained to my team that I am breastfeeding and so there will be times that I have to leave an event to go pump and I need them to take over. I gave a heads up to my boss to make sure he understood and even gave an outline of how many times I would be pumping and approximately how long I would be. Now, I probably overshared on this but I don't care. I would rather be crystal clear and feel good that I had prepped everyone in advance.

THE HOTEL: No matter where I was staying or what type of room I was in, I called in advanced to check if that room had a refrigerator WITH A FREEZER. Yes, always ask if there is a freezer. I have actually come across a couple of refrigerator only fridges which are not helpful to a nursing mom. If the hotel room does not have a freezer, request one for your room during your stay.

FOR YOU: You need to be comfortable and quick (without rushing). Pack nursing shirts, nursing bras, pumping bras, flat shoes (trust me running back and forth to your room or nursing pod in heels is not ideal!) I truly found it helpful to have a checklist ready this way I didn't forget anything. Here is a quick list of essential items, besides clothing, that I would pack every time I traveled:

• Breast pump (bring the wall unit charger if yours is also battery operated)

• All pump parts necessary (2 flanges, 2 bottles, etc.)

• Pumping bra

• Breastmilk storage bags (Lansinoh is recommended)

• Black Sharpie/Pen for labeling

• A cooler bag with 1 to 2 gel ice packs

• Hand sanitizer

• Travel size tissue pack

• Breast pump sanitizing wipes or spray

• 3 gallon size Ziploc Bags (label one dirty and one clean. The 3rd bag is an extra in case you have so much pumped milk that it doesn't all fit in your cooler)

• Phone

• Phone charger

• Refillable water bottle

• Fiber One bars

ON THE GO

Pumping helped me avoid ridiculous people at the airport!

When to Nurse/Pump: By this time, you likely already have a pumping routine so try and stick to it while traveling as much as you can. Here is a quick snap shot of my routine.

• Before I leave for the airport I nurse my baby (usually when I wake up the baby does too)

• About 30 minutes before boarding, I pump (most airports I have been to have a nursing pod or room. This is something I would look up in advance at home or in the cab on the way to the airport. Helpful tip - download the Mamava app for android or iOS so you can find nursing pods everywhere you travel)

• Depending on how long the flight is, I pump in a nursing pod after landing (this was usually after really long flights)

• I pump 2 to 3 times during the day and 1 time in the middle of the night

Dealing with TSA: 98% of the time, I deal with decent human beings that truly feel and understand the nursing mom. However, I have also dealt with the 2% who think their shit don't stink and would rather annoy you than help you. Below are some helpful tips to get you through TSA smoothly:

• Make sure your ice pack is frozen (this may seem obvious but I have actually seen a TSA agent throw away a moms soft gel pack)

• Make sure most, if not all, of your pumped milk is frozen (if it's not and the ounces are more than the TSA limit, they will test it. If they test it, please make sure they POUR a tiny bit into something instead of them sticking something in the bottle. This will help prevent contamination.)

• While placing your items in the rolling bin for screening, warn the TSA agent that you have breastmilk (even if it's frozen, they appreciate the heads up)

• Smile and be friendly ♡

You Forgot Something: DON'T FREAK OUT! There is always a solution so you'll be ok. One time, I actually forgot to grab two flanges off the drying rack... ah! So what I did was find a drugstore near my hotel that carried manual breast pumps and bought it. It wasn't fun to pump by hand the entire trip but the point was that I had it handled.

After reading all of this, it may seem intimidating but once you travel just one time, you'll be an expert! Once I got the hang of it, I was so proud of myself. I was truly doing a lot and it was purely selfless and for my baby. Just remember, you've got this mama!