I'm wondering how any working moms who are (did) breastfeeding handled out-of-town business trips. Did you bring your infant with you and hire a babysitter on location? Or did you just pump? And, if so, did you notice a change in your milk supply? I have a one or two-night trip coming up in a couple of months. Thanks for your advice.
Thanks so much for all of the advice and encouragement. I'm glad to know that no one noticed a change in their milk supply with all of the extra pumping. Next hurdle---getting a cooler full of breast milk home on the plane! Thanks again everyone.
Hi, D.:
Contact you local breast feeding consultant at La Leche League Int'l. at
Hope this helps. D.
D.,
I travel once a month with my job and i'm still nursing my 9ms old. I did not travel with him. (enjoyed the night away). However while away i do not change our eating habits. I will get up three times a night to pump and then do my normal pumping during the day (twice a day). I have not noticed any decrease in my milk. I don't know how i would feel about a complete stranger watching my wee little one. If you are really concerned about your supply dropping then i would take fenugreek or hell - have a Guinness beer (helps with milk supply).
I would also bring a cooler to put the bm in when traveling home and in hotel rooms i requested a mini fridge.
Best of luck to you.
J.
My husband & I went away for a night together when our child was only 4 months old. I was able to pump the whole time and saw no change in milk supply. Hope this helps. You can always call a lactation specialist or nnursing mothers for advice. Good luck.
For a variety of reasons I eventually had to stop nursing my daughter, but kept on pumping and had a great supply for at least 4 months before it started dwindling. So you should be fine with 1-2 nights and then back to nursing:)
Hi D.,
I did both with my LO. When he was very small, and I didn't want to leave him home, I took him along and got a nanny service to take care of him in the hotel room. It was expensive, but I was not at all ready to leave him at that point.
When he was a bit older, I pumped when I was away. That worked fine too.
For getting through the airport - you are supposed to be allowed to carry on milk, but I never tried. I packed a cooler in a box, and checked it. I didn't just hand it to a gate agent though, I carried it to the TSA and asked them to hand-inspect it instead of sending it through the x-ray machine. I waited while they did so, in case they had any questions (and also so that I could watch them put the box on the other side of the x-ray machine when they were done). I found that everyone was very accomodating when I explained the situation. This was, however, before airlines charged to check bags, so you may not want to try this, depending on what airline you are flying!
My first overnight trip I had to take for work was when my son was 6 months old, I had pumped enough and froze my milk so that their would be enough for when I was gone and then I just found time to pump during the day the same amount of times thatn I would've nursed when I was away. I didn't find that it impacted my milk supply too much and I always nursed a little extra when I got home to build it back up. I nursed until he was 1 1/2 and had no problems. The only thing I worried about was that he would get used to the bottle and not want to breastfeed anymore, but that was never the case. Good luck!
Pump, pump, pump! If your business brings you somewhere other than your own hotel, perhaps see in advance if you can secure a room in which to pump. I would do that even for day-long "business trips," like all-day seminars. I've done it for weddings, too. I just contacted the hotels in advance. I would ask if there were a consierge room I could use for pumping...and would be given a hotel room to use instead (not for overnight, but for the duration of the function).
Kudos to you! Good luck!
Hello, I went back to work when my son was 3 1/2 months and continued to breast feed whenever I was with my son (nights, mornings and weekends). I pumped twice during the day when we were apart, this included times I was on the road. I also had to travel 1 or 2 nights and pumped then. I didn't notice a difference. I guess more of the question would be how old is the infant and would it be easier to take him with a sitter.
You can pump once or twice a day-maybe morning and night. Dump it so you don't have to carry it etc. But, if you've been nursing for several months by then, even if you don't pump, your supply can be brought back up to par when you get home. It will slow a little or pause but not stop. If you nurse often, however, you may get engorged, so having the pump would be wise. Several of friends and myself skip a few days from time to time fro travel if necessary and it hasn't been a problem. Everyone is different of course, to be super safe, you should pump.
