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How to travel with breast milk is an important topic for mothers who need to be away from home for extended periods of time. You want to make sure that you store the milk properly so that it doesn’t spoil and possibly make your baby sick. Whether you’re traveling by car or by air, here’s what you need to know about taking your breast milk with you.
Store breast milk while traveling
When you travel, store bags of breast milk in a portable cooler with ice packs. “Mark the bag with the date and the amount of milk in the bag,” Dana Ehman, a Pennsylvania-based lactation consultant with Motherborn, told Mom.com.
Breast milk stored in an insulated cooler with ice packs will keep for 24 hours as long as the ice packs are replaced every four hours to maintain a refrigerated temperature, says Ehman. If you prefer to use bottles to store breast milk, glass bottles work better than plastic to store frozen milk, Ehman added, but they may not be feasible for space reasons if you have large volumes of milk to store.
If you’re on a long road trip, you might need to refill ice at rest stops while you pump for more milk. Breast milk at room temperature will only last up to four hours. When refrigerated, it can last for up to four days. If it is frozen, it can last up to six months. This is why you’ll need to work hard to keep the breast milk cold while traveling; you don’t want it to spoil.
Prepare breastmilk for air travel
Going through the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) can be overwhelming under the best of circumstances. Doing so with breast milk can be even more daunting. Before you travel with breast milk, plan your trip and make sure to give yourself enough time to go through TSA in case there is a problem. Print out the TSA guidelines so that you have them and can show them to security if necessary.
The TSA says that you are allowed to travel with breast milk in quantities greater than 3.4 ounces (100 milliliters). This is allowed in carry-on luggage and doesn’t need to fit into a quart-sized bag. The reason is that breast milk, along with formula, toddler drinks, and baby food are considered medically necessary items.
When you get to the TSA agent, inform them that you have breast milk. While there is no requirement for the container used to carry breast milk, it is recommended to use clear, translucent bottles, not plastic bags or pouches. The reason is that liquids in plastic bags might not be able to get scanned by Bottle Liquid scanners. If it can’t be scanned, you may be required to do an alternate screening such as Explosive Trace Detection and Vapor Analysis. Don’t worry, this is just a swab of the outside of the container; TSA should never need to open the container and touch the liquid.
Of course, it isn’t just the breast milk that you need to be concerned with. Your ice packs are also allowed to get on the flight. If the ice pack is only partially frozen or slushy, you may be asked to go through the additional screening described for the breast milk. The TSA agents may also go through your bag to ensure there is nothing nefarious in there.
Best breast milk containers for travel
Using the right breastmilk container can be helpful when traveling with breast milk. Using a breast milk bag makes it easy to transport and takes the least amount of space. However, you may get stopped at TSA for a longer period of time when you use pouches. Glass bottles are the recommended choice when going through air travel because they are quickly scanned. While they take up more space and require more energy to keep them cold, TSA prefers the clear bottle to scan and inspect.
However, because any container is allowed with extra screening, you should choose a storage method that works best for you.
A mom's tips for travel with breast milk
Marquita Wright is a mother of twins and offered up suggestions on what to do when traveling with breast milk and kids. One trick that she recommended was using a thermos that would keep liquids cold for up to 20 hours. This prevented the need for multiple bags and would keep the milk fresh for consumption while on the trip.
“It was best if I froze the milk,” when traveling, Wright said. This would keep the milk cold for longer periods of time if she couldn’t change out her ice bags. She recommends finding hotels that have a fridge; an AirBnB is ideal because you can access a full freezer.
In Marquita’s experience, she went through TSA with no problems when her milk was frozen, regardless of how much milk she had. If it was even partially thawed, they would swab it to ensure it was okay to travel with.
