Jason and I went to Sun Valley, Idaho for four nights to attend my best friend JJ’s wedding. Months prior to the trip I figured I would be done breastfeeding by the time we left, but as the date grew nearer I found myself dreading the end of breastfeeding so I decided to pump and store milk before the trip and during the trip to keep my milk supply up. For over a month prior to the trip, I pumped once a day in order to save up milk for my mom to feed Parker while we were away.
I did lots of research on tips from other traveling moms about traveling with breastmilk without a baby. I brought a small cooler that I filled with ice packs and a separate bag for my pump, pumping bra, and pumping accessories. When we arrived at the airport and went through security, I was told the ice bags were not allowed through and we had to discard our super nice freezer packs 😣 which brought me to a breakdown of hormonal tears! As I should have known, gel ice packs are not allowed through security and I should have purchased real ice packs. However, after my meltdown everything was fine! I pumped in a rather clean “nursing room” which was a small bathroom with a sink and lock to the door so I could pump without being disturbed. I then asked one of the coffee stands to fill my cooler with ice and all was good!
Throughout the trip and wedding, I pumped every 3-4 hours which was about 4-5 times per day. The hotel stored my cooler on their kitchen’s freezer so I or Jason was able to bring the milk down once a day to be added to the cooler.
On our way home, the non-frozen milk had to go through a special inspection at security which only took a few minutes. I pumped one last time at the airport and we were on our way home!
I’m happy I didn’t let the trip and the prep work stop me from continuing to breastfeed. I’m still loving this bonding time with little Parker!
Mommy & Munchkin 