One of the biggest concerns for working women who express milk for their babies, is the dreaded overnight business trip. It may seem overwhelming, but expressing on the go, and bringing home every drop of milk to replace what your baby used in your absence, is doable with information and planning!

Meet Marie, a frequent flyer and marketing executive:

“I travel nationally about one week out of each month. I wanted to make sure that my daughter had enough breastmilk even when I was out of town, and I also wanted to protect my milk supply to continue breastfeeding as long as possible, for when I am home with my baby.”

“I returned to work when my daughter was three months old. It was a whole new mindset once I heard I could pump while away and still save and use every single drop of that milk. I hadn’t thought I’d be bringing home the milk itself, I’d been focusing on pumping to maintain my supply but thought I’d just have to dump the milk. As it turned out, I was able to bring home ALL the milk each time, including milk from a week in Mexico and once during a planned four day trip that turned into an eight-day marathon. My first big trip away was four days in Seattle when she was five months old, and my longest trip was eight days in California. I always needed to make sure I had enough milk in the fridge and freezer to last for the first three days while I was away, then I would “overnight express” frozen milk home on day 3 of my trip.* I traveled through countless airports and security checkpoints with my breastpump and cooler of frozen milk.”

You can do it. Here’s how!

In terms of business travel, you should be able to bring home all the milk you express while you are away. Plan to express about 6 times in 24 hours – every 3-4 hours during the day and once over night (or at bedtime). Here is an article

To travel with or ship large volumes of milk:

• Pool each day’s milk into an empty 1 liter water bottle (s) and refrigerate in your hotel room. For extended stays or to ship home, it’s better to freeze the milk solid overnight. (You can place all milk bottles in a brown bag and ask the hotel kitchen to place in their deep freeze overnight).
• Place frozen milk into a soft-sided cooler brought from home then pack any space remaining with crumpled newspaper as insulation.
• You can carry this on the plane with your breastpump (just declare it) or pack it in your checked luggage.
• On an extended trip, you can ship milk home overnight express. Place your frozen milk inside the soft sided cooler (use crumpled newspaper to fill any extra space in the cooler) then place the cooler into a sturdy shipping box. Fill the remaining space in the box around the cooler with crumpled newspaper for insulation and to protect the cooler from movement and ship overnight express. Milk should be frozen or only partially thawed on arrival and can be portioned out and used over the next several days or put directly back into the freezer.
• For a shorter trip (1 – 2 days worth of milk), you can simply pack expressed milk (not frozen) in your soft-sided cooler, secure it and insulate it with crumpled newspaper, and use freezer coldpacks or a couple of frozen 1 liter water bottles to keep it cold.

**TSA security rules allow traveling with any volume of breastmilk, with or without the child present, as long as it is declared to security. TSA has modified the rules associated with carrying breast milk through security checkpoints. Mothers flying with, and without, their child are permitted to bring ice packs and breast milk in any quantity as long as it is declared for inspection at the security checkpoint.  I suggest you pack a printed copy of these TSA regulations in the bottom of your pumping bag. View TSA Regulations