Back to Work and Have 1St Business Trip.. How Can I Possibly Express Enough Milk

If you are flying please read this article before traveling.
http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/children/formula.shtm I have a friend that had to depose of her milk because it did not meet the requirements as a liquid carry on. She was pretty mad and had 3 days of pumped milk. She complained but the damage was already done.

Hi J.,
Try adding an extra pumping session or 2 each day before you go, hopefully you are using an electric pump, if not you should buy or rent one (hospitals often have ones you can rent). Make sure you drink plenty of fluids and eat regularly. I haven't used these, but you can try Mother's Milk Tea or fenugreek capsules, which are both supposed to increase your milk supply.

Most nation-wide hotel chains will provide a mini-fridge if you call ahead and tell them it is to store breast milk. On my first trip away, my daughter was 4 months, I bought a little cooler and fedexed the milk home. (I don't remember if the milk was frozen or just refrigerated). Just get a couple of large zip-locks and fill one with ice and double bag it (you can even tape the top). You can either check this as luggage, or fedex it overnight, you will not be able to carry it on the plane without your daughter (and even then, they may give you a hard time if you have too much).

You will probably have to supplement with formula, this is fine!!! You are doing a great job, express what you can, pump as much as you can while you are away to keep your supply up. Even if you don't end up keeping what you express while you are gone, if you are pumping you'll still be able to nurse when you get home. Ideally you would pump as many times as your daughter would nurse, but of course this is nearly impossible, so just pump as many times throughout the trip as you can.

Try to limit alcohol (if you are drinking any) and caffeine while you are traveling, and remember that just being on an airplane is very dehydrating. All of these things will decrease your supply.

Here's a story for your entertainment: On that first trip away from my daughter, I was working all day (14+ hours) in a hotel that was not where we were staying. I had no room in the hotel where I had any place to pump. I had to go out to the car, and pumped with my jacket spread across me for privacy, in the hotel parking lot with a security guard roaming around. The challenges of motherhood :)

Good luck, keep up the good work, but remember you are only human. You could try giving one formula bottle a day now, so that you can better space out the breast milk you have for your trip. Just make sure you still pump or nurse as many times as you normally would and/or add one additional pumping session before you go. (and don't worry if she doesn't want to drink the formula now, if she has to while you are away she will, she already drinks from a bottle)

HI I had same problem as you have but i was not travelling. Try taking some funugreek seeds capsules ( you can buy them at local healthstore)that will really help you. Increase your fluid intake water alteast 12 glasses,if you do not like water use lemon water. Also, you can make some soup that will bring the taste. Hope this will help you.

Nshah

When I traveled while nursing my first 2 I called ahead for a fridge. They always comped it since it was for breastmilk. I first travelled when my baby was 6 weeks old.
You'll be fine, just do your best to nurse as often as possible. If you use a double pump you should be fine doing it every 5 or 6 hours.

If pumping while on your trip it may be possible for you to either donate the milk to a local hospital for newborns there. I remember reading something about this online. You will also want to check to see what arrangements can be made for tranporting the milk on a plane if you are flying and since there will be no baby with you.
I know they keep the cargo area of the plane unheated so it should be fine if stored in some kind of thermos or insulated bag inside your checked luggage but inquire to be certain.

When I was nursing my daughter, I was also collecting milk for the National Milk Bank. I would get up every morning about 2 hours before she would, to pump a bottle or sometimes 2. Those bottles went into the freezer for the milk bank, and by the time she woke up my supply replenished enough to feed her. And those bottles in the freezer really added up. It only took a few days for my body to get used to the extra early morning session.

The only thing I found that worked was to set my alarm and pump in the middle of the night before I left. Really stunk b/c sleep is such a precious commodity, but it was worth it to be able to leave milk.

I called the hotel ahead of time and asked if they had a fridge/freezer combo in the room. They did, so I was lucky. However, my sister recently had the same situation and was fortunate that the hotel was willing to let her use their restaurant freezer. Probably violates a health code, but they were okay with it!

You're not a bad parent if you need to supplement with formula especially when you are away for an extended period of time. You're little one may need extra comfort while you're gone so make sure that there is some formula in the house for the caretaker to access if they run out!

Pumping is an art. I give working moms so much credit to work and pump. Start adding a session or 2 each day even pump again 20 minutes after a session to bring up that supply. Kellymom has great info on pumping and working. Here is the main page. http://www.kellymom.com/bf/pumping/index.html Also your local La Leche League leader could offer some real world solutions. I would not freeze the milk you pump while away. If it thaws it needs to be used that day. You can keep it room temp (66-72 degrees) for up to 10 hours and refridgerated (32-39 degrees) for 8 days. Good luck!

Hi J.,
I dont think I would worry about freezing your milk while your away. I know, this is wasted milk if you dont use it, but if it will be difficult to freeze and travel with, don't bother.
As long as you can pump a couple times a day, you shouldn't worry about not being able to keep producing milk. It's usually when you stop pumping/nursing completely that your milk begins to dry up.
As much as I am for nursing, I do believe there is a time when you should introduce formula as a suppliment. If pumping at work and freezing works well for you, keep it up, thats great. But there is a time when you may not have enough of your milk to give your little one. This is where formula comes in handy. I used both for all of my kids and never had a problem. I nursed on average a year for each of my 4 children.
Good luck

Please don't be afraid to supplement with formula for this time. You should pump while you are away, on a regular schedule to keep up your production. If you cannot store the milk properly, then dispose of it, and any guilt you have. I know it is exhausting to produce milk and then throw it away, but the long term goal of continuing production is important.
DO NOT feel guilty about this- you are a REALLY brave mama to go on this trip in order to have a good job for your family.

Hi J.,
Is it possible to bring your baby and a caregiver with you on this trip so that you can pump each day and the caregiver can feed the baby? This would really be an ideal solution
I remember a mom who shipped the pumped milk home in dry ice.
To increase your freezer stash, pump after each feeding, taking advantage of the letdown that your body has already made.
Kellymom.com is a great site for all types of breastfeeding concerns and situations.
Good luck. While I would love for you to be able to do this trip without the baby needing any formula, this may not be possilble and the baby needs to eat. Even if she does get some formula and even if you can't take all of your milk home, continue pumping around the clock so that your supply will withstand the separation from your baby and you can go back to your regular schedule of nursing/working/pumping
Good luck

You've gotten a lot of good advice on how to keep up the supply, but I just wanted to correct one of the statements someone said, you WILL absolutely be able to bring breastmilk in your carry-on on the plane even without your baby!!! The TSA is very good about it, and if you are worried, you can print the rules off their website, but you should not have any problems.

I had the same issue when I returned to work and was still nursing. I was gone every other week on business trips across the country. I pumped and carried the milk back to my daughter. I froze the milk at the hotel (when they couldn't accomodate me with a little fridge, they put it in the industrial size freezer in the restaurant in my own big box with my name on it, and a big DO NOT TOUCH sign on it. All hotels that I stayed at were extremely accomodating about this. Deep freezing the milk was great, as it would stay frozen longer. I will then bring the breast milk packed in ice in soft cooler bags on the plane with me. Never once did any TSA agent give me a problem. I would tell them that I'm putting two coolers of breastmilk in the X-ray machine, the women would smile then men sometimes got a little embarrased just waved it through.
I did this over a period of 4 months, and not even once was it a problem.

It's a pain to pump (and you'll have to do it in the office, in airport bathrooms, even the airplane bathroom), but it's the best thing for your baby, so keep it up, you will be so glad you did, and it's the most gratifying feeling being able to do that for your baby!

Good luck!