Working full-time while breastfeeding and/or pumping can be really challenging. It’s also hard work! Here at FCMB, our bloggers have shared a lot of personal tips and tricks for pumping at work and keeping up your supply. Adding business travel into the mix complicates things even further and, for some, can be enough to make you want to throw in the towel on your breastfeeding journey.
For starters, business travel typically means even more time away from your baby (as if you weren’t feeling guilty enough about being away from your baby during your normal work day!). It complicates childcare arrangements and disrupts the normal flow of your household. It also magnifies the logistics of breastfeeding tenfold. Now you need to start factoring in things like the TSA, shipping milk home if necessary, pumping on the go, refrigeration, international voltage converters, finding places to pump during travel or meetings, and the list goes on.
My job requires me to travel internationally quite a bit. As a nursing mom, I’ve learned a thing or two the hard way, such as the death-by-230 volts of my breastpump on a recent business trip to Europe. I’m still mad about it. Below are three quick tips to help those breastfeeding mamas out there who travel for work. Hope this helps make your first few trips less painful than mine!
1) Bring backup!
That $20 manual pump that you bought “just in case” and thought you’d never use? Bring it. Extra flanges, membranes, shields, tubing? Bring ’em. Battery pack with rechargeable batteries? Bring it, especially if you’re traveling internationally. Many (non-hospital grade/personal use) pumps aren’t built to work with a voltage converter. And you never know where you’ll be forced to pump – it just may be somewhere without an electrical outlet. Most of these extras don’t take up a ton of space in your luggage and if you end up needing them, you will be SO glad you came prepared. It sure beats wandering the streets of London at 11pm looking for a medical supplies store!
2) Know your rights and the rules!
If traveling by plane, familiarize yourself with the TSA guidelines regarding traveling with breastmilk and bring a print out with you in case something is called into question. Give yourself extra time at the security checkpoint as it’s likely you’ll get pulled aside for a more thorough check if you are traveling with an electric pump and/or expressed milk, ice packs, etc. Familiarize yourself with recommended storage guidelines so you can be sure – if you are saving milk to take or send back home – that you are doing so safely and that your hard work is not for naught.
3) Plan ahead.
Pre-arrange a refrigerator (and mini freezer, if possible) in your hotel room. Turns out these are not a given in hotels outside of the States and take it from me, you don’t want to get stuck haggling the front desk for one after getting off a 14 hour flight. Locate the pumping rooms at your airport in advance or plan to use business class lounges (you can usually purchase a one-time use pass if not flying business). Also be sure to line up private areas/rooms to pump while you are at your destination – many companies or conference centers will make rooms available, you just have to ask. If you aren’t able to line up private pumping rooms, you may have to get creative (this is where that battery pack I mentioned comes in handy).
My experience with th international travel bit is that in other countries they often have no concept of the need for room to pump b/c they have extended maternity leave.
Also ziploc baggies are your best friend.. pack extra. Fantastic for ice and for consolidating all of the smaller bags of milk you may accumulate along the way. Also I always packed a small bottle of dish soap and other cleaning implements so I could properly scrub my equipment. Models makes great wipes for this too.
Finally make sure you stay hydrated. I always kept a water bottle in with my pump. For me this was always the best way to keep my supply up.
Awesome tips, thanks for sharing! Water, water, water – agreed!
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