Keeping Breastmilk While Going Out of Town

Hi K.,
I'm going through the same dilemma. I want (and need) to get away for my own sanity soon, but I am nursing my 9-month old twins. I recently traveled to California and pumped and stored my breastmilk. The airlines don't have restrictions on breastmilk - I carried 6-7 bags of it home with me on ice (but then again, I did have my twins with me). Are you taking Fenugreek Seed to help your milk supply? I didn't take it with my first daughter and lost my milk around 8 months. With the twins, I'm still nursing them at 9-months and still going strong. I highly recommend taking Fenugreek as well as drinking lots of water while you're away on vacation. Pump as often as you can and worst-case-scenario, you may have to dump the milk, but you'll be able to maintain your milk while you're away. You didn't say how long you were going away for, so I assume it's 1-week or less?

Best of luck. Hope this helps.
K.

Just pump a few times a day and you'll be fine. At 15 months, your milk supply is stable and you shouldn't be in any danger of drying up that quickly anyway. I have an 8 month old that I am breastfeeding and just took a 3 day vacation. I pumped 3 times a day and although it seemed that I was producing less, it quickly caught up when I got home and started nursing again. I wouldn't try to save the milk you pump though - that would be difficult to get back home with the airline restrictions anyway. I just dumped mine (which was probably necessary anyway since I was enjoying some adult beverages on my vacation). I did the same thing with my first child when she was 12 months old and it worked as well. You should be fine! Have fun and ENJOY your time away!

I first traveled away from my younger son when he was 15 mos and you likely would not be able to keep the breastmilk, as it's very hard to do when traveling, especially with the new airline restrictions on liquids and your not having a baby with you. But, you will need to pump or express in some way at least once a day for your own comfort. You should also plan on some catch-up nursing when you return to get the milk supply back to where it was for your baby.

hi!
my husband i traveled on the plane when my baby was 6 months old...we took a vinal/lined cooler bag with dry ice.... i found it at Kroger, no one else seemed to carry dry ice and it cost about $10 i think...maybe more but you can call the closest Kroger.... i didn't have one problem when i went through security with the ice and milk.
good luck to you!