Travel Without the Newborn and What to Do with Breastmilk

A two month old is very young to leave as a nursing mother and I would strongly advise against it if you have a choice. You would need to pump about every 3 to 4 hours. Milk supply isn't really established until 8 weeks of age and babies that young may not be able to switch between the bottle and breast. Five days is a very long time to be away from a breastfed baby who is that young. It assumes you will be able to pump well (some moms simply can't) and that your baby will take a bottle. It also assumes that your child will be able to switch back from a bottle to your breast when you return home.

You can usually bring your milk on the plane, but it will have to be checked into the hold in a cooler (we have a mom in our group who just got back from Grand Caymen - it was her first 5 days away from her breastfed son, but she waited until he was 20 months old - yes he is still nursing at nearly 2-years-old). It is critical that you keep it frozen.

Save your money and go to Mexico when your child is much older. Going when a baby is so young is to risk your nursing relationship with your baby.

1 mom found this helpful

Hi L.,

Congratulations for the baby!

My first advice would be to make flexible plans.
Having a baby is life changing and you could change your mind all together about this trip after having the baby.

I had to travel a little when my son was still an exclusively breastfed baby, but never more than 3 days. It will very much depend on your situation ion Mexico. In anyway, you will need to pump enough milk in advance for your baby and to continue pumping while in Mexico to get your supply flowing.

If you will be very much like at home, then try to pump as much and often as you do at home. To get more milk and avoid a drop in supply, try to pump while looking at your baby (a picture or a video) or while talking about your baby. This triggers more milk.

I am not sure if you will be able to save and bring the milk back with you. Depends on the airlines regulation and how long is the flight (the milk will need to be and remain frozen)
Another option is to donate the milk in Mexico to the local hospital/milk bank. You should first check with them how it works there. Each community/country has its own regulations.
Or you can throw it away. I can tell you it will feel like throwing gold away! But the advantage is that you will be able to drink without remorse.

In my case, I was on business trip, in a huge conference hall not at all breastfeeding friendly. I had to escape when my breasts were too heavy and hide in the bathrooms to pump, then throw all away. I wanted to cry when I saw this wasted milk! I guess a wedding environment will be much more friendly!

All the best!

While you've gotten great responses I thought I'd share my experience with breastfeeding travel sans baby.
My daughter was ~ 10 months old, and I took a weekend trip. Had plenty of milk in the freezer for Papa to use, and set up to pump the whole weekend. Had quite an adventure finding dry ice to pack with the milk I was pumping to take home, I just could NOT bring myself to toss it, and dry ice will keep things firmly frozen handled correctly. Then for the flight home, they tried to tell me I couldn't take it on the plane---I almost started crying! All that energy, all that time...but the baggage handler told me if I checked my tiny carry-on with the milk inside it'd be okay to fly back with.
Anyway, it was a successful trip, and I'm so glad I didn't waste any milk!

I vote take iddy-baby with you for sure, 2 months is too too little to be with out mama for a week! Good job mommin'!!

What a fun summer you have planned! It will be important to have a high quality pump. Since you might not always have access to electrical power, plan to pack batteries for your pump, too. It's recommended to replace batteries every 1-2 days when pumping. Your milk can be refrigerated for 5-8 days. It is safe in an insulated bag with frozen inserts for 24 hours. Most hotels will provide you with a small refrigerator at no charge upon request. Plan to have a good supply before you leave for your baby to eat while you're gone. Then while you're away, pumping will primarily be for maintaining your supply since you will be nursing when you get home (hence you might choose not to save it). Pumping about as often as your baby eats is the first choice; pumping at least 6-8 times (10-15 minutes per side) would be okay. Your supply might dip a bit, but it will likely bounce right back when you get home.
It will also be important to choose a bottle nipple that will support breastfeeding. www.BreastandBottlefeeding.com has information on pumping and choosing a bottle nipple for a breastfed baby, as does the book Balancing Breast and Bottle.
Good luck!
A.

In reality the milk is only good for 24 hours in the frig but good for quite some time in the freezer. I am not sure how you could freeze your milk while in Mexico. I know you can get a little plug in cooler but I am not sure if there is a plug in freezer. You may want to check it out. Another thought is to pump and dump while you are there to keep you milk flow or just stop nursing all together. 5 days is quite a while for a newborn and he probably won't pick up nursing when you get back anyways.

Have you considered taking him with you? It wouldn't cost you any additional money. Another thought is, my husband and I took our newborn on a trip and paid for my mother-in-law to go with us. It was great, I could keep nursing and we could get out and enjoy the vaca without having him with us every moment.

I've had to travel for work when I was still pumping. Keeping it fresh/frozen/cold while travelling is tough. Especially since you can't bring it on the plane w/o the baby (I think that's still the rule). I would pump and unfortunately dump it. I'd hate to risk giving the baby spoiled milk. But you will need to pump to keep your supply up. Enjoy Mexico!

I have left my second and third baby while exclusively breastfeeding. The first time my husband and I went to Mexico for a week. I pumped a ton of milk and froze it. I had about twice the milk I thought he would eat! It is a lot of work but well worth it. Then while in Mexico I pumped. I had a good pump and made sure I pumped every few hours. Then I just dumped the milk out, that was the hardest part. Just be careful to pump often so you don't decrease your supply or get Mastitis . Enjoy your trip!
Tricia

I had to leave my first for 24 hours when he was one month old, and I'll tell you, that early it's difficult to get enough out to prepare for an extended trip, and I produced a lot of milk. Then to keep up supply while your'e there, you'll have to pump every three hours, night and day, and probably have to dump it. And it does feel like dumping out gold. I think there's a good chance when the baby gets here, you'll change your mind about a wedding. It was torture to leave mine for 24 hours! You think it will be ok, but when you see that little face, hands, feet, etc, you won't want to leave for anything. Good luck with whatever you decide.

Hi--
I notice you already have a child so you know what it's like. I'm a little surprised you'd be willing to leave such a young baby period, let alone for that long? However, I have two and I've never even left my 5 year old overnight, so clearly I don't understand your perspective. I agree with all the other thoughts---you are taking a big chance that your milk supply will diminish considerably, that you won't be able to pump enough to have a supply for the baby for five days, that you're baby won't continue to nurse when you get home, and you'll have to pump for at least 20 minutes every 3 hours, which won't be terribly convenient. Why not just take the baby? At such a young age they travel well--assuming you are staying at a resort and don't have to worry about the baby catching something. Or cut down on the length of time you are gone. And this all assuming that the wedding is really that important. If it's the vacation you need it could wait until the baby is a little older and you can go visit the newlywed couple a little later. I don't mean to sound judgmental at all--I just really don't understand why you'd even be willing to leave at all, let alone for that long?
J.

Why in the world would you even consider going without the baby??? Put the baby in a sling and take it with you. Baby will be happy, and so will you...

I agree with the others who expressed concern about leaving the baby so early for so L.. It take a solid month or two to fully get yourself and the baby adjusted to nursing and to get your supply to what it needs to be. Most people cannot have enough frozen milk to cover 5 or 6 full days. Also, you would be running the risk that after 5 or 6 days of not nursing and having only bottles, the baby will not be able to re-latch.

If you still choose to go through with the plan, you would need to pump every 2-3 hours, just as you would nurse the baby every 2-3 hours if you were with the baby. Keep in mind, drinking alcohol can definitely effect your supply! Also, pumping is not as efficient as nursing, so your supply may decrease some and it could take a week or two to build it back up once you return.

If you are set on going to Mexico, your best bet is going to be to take the baby with you or cut the trip down to just 2 days. And, as others have, said, you may decide you don't want to leave your baby. I didn't leave my son until he was 6 months old, and even then I only left for an hour or two during nap or after bed time.

Also, every time you pump, you have to wash the pump pieces. I don't know that you can trust the sink water in Mexico for that. I would definitely dump any milk I pumped under less than 100% sanitary conditions. I'm voting with taking the baby.

I had to leave my first for 24 hours when he was one month old, and I'll tell you, that early it's difficult to get enough out to prepare for an extended trip, and I produced a lot of milk. Then to keep up supply while your'e there, you'll have to pump every three hours, night and day, and probably have to dump it. And it does feel like dumping out gold. I think there's a good chance when the baby gets here, you'll change your mind about a wedding. It was torture to leave mine for 24 hours! You think it will be ok, but when you see that little face, hands, feet, etc, you won't want to leave for anything. Good luck with whatever you decide.

L.,
Pump extra for when you're away from your baby for SURE! But, now this is going to sound really funny, breastmilk is a 'hazardous material'!! SO, you may have a difficult time getting it through customs to come back home with it. You may need to pump & dump while you're there. Which when I think about it is probably a great idea since you'll be likely drinking water and eating things your baby might not be used to and could cause allergic or sensitivity reactions... so no harm there right? Contact your airline and see if they have any suggestions about getting milk BACK into the states for sure, but if I remember right, it is difficult to ship the stuff even through our USPS, UPS, and FedEx here INSIDE the states. Strange.

Good luck! Have SO much fun at the wedding!!
V.

You will have to store the milk... freezing it. I don't know that if in a fridge, the milk will last for 5 days.
Try looking up milk storage, online. It is perishable.
Next, if you do find a way to freeze/store the breastmilk, how will you get all of that home? Are you flying? Check with the TSA rules on it.
http://www.tsa.gov/

And, ideally, pumping more than just once a day... and your breasts may get engorged.... so you gotta pump it out, or self-express it out in a shower, but it will go down the drain.
Perhaps too, your breasts may leak... so have breast pads.
There are electric breast pumps, or hand pumps... so you need to research that. Some may not work well....
And, if using an electric pump... be sure to get an outlet/voltage adapter because the USA and foreign countries do not have the same voltage or outlets.

next, once baby comes, you may not want to leave him/her for a trip.
And depending on how your baby is doing with intake, feedings, and nursing and IF he/she will even take a bottle.... these things can't be predicted.

Sometimes, if only using a pump... some Mom's milk starts to produce less, or dry up.

Here's a link on milk storage:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&client=firefox-a&a...

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&client=firefox-a&a...=

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&client=firefox-a&a...=

Just some quick thoughts,
All the best,
Susan