Over the weekend I went on a girls trip to Nashville. Prior to leaving I did a whole lot of Googling and asking around to see what the best way to store and travel with breastmilk. I wanted to be able to save as much of it as possible, not have to go back to the hotel every three hours or so, and didn't want to spend a fortune on transporting it.
I looked into Milkstork, which is an amazing option, but was just more expensive than I wanted. Check out Milkstork because it could be right for your situation next time you travel. I also looked into bringing my small Yeti Cooler and some fancy ice packs from Amazon, but I was going to Nashville without milk so I didn't really want to fly with an empty cooler & I wasn't sure if I'd be able to freeze my milk and didn't know if I trusted the ice packs.
I ended up ordering the 2 pack of thermoses from Ceres Chill. They were also pricey but are reusable, unlike Milkstork. Going back to work soon, I'll be able to use the thermos for milk storage at work, you can use it to hold hot water for an on the go bottle warmer, and you can also buy a straw lid to use it as an actual thermos/water bottle when you're done using it for breast milk / hot water.
So my plan was this:
- use my Medela Pump In Style wall pump in the morning before going out and at night before bed
- carry my Medela Harmony Hand Pump and Ceres Chill in my backpack and pump on the go as needed.
- when I use the hand pump, I only do it enough to relieve the pressure so it takes about 5 minutes total.
- I also use the Elvie Catch to catch the let down on the other side so I didn't accidentally leak through my shirt.
- I also brought pump wipes and a zip lock bag to keep it in.
- I bought this backpack purse on Amazon and it fit all my stuff plus wallet and sunglasses and a pouch of lipstick, gum, random stuff you put in your purse normally.
Before leaving the hotel I filled up the middle chamber of the Ceres Chill with ice. Pictured here. When we were out and about I'd go in the bathroom and pump as much or little as I needed and pour the milk into the bigger bottle (white part in the picture), rinse the parts in the sink, wipe them down with the pump wipe, and put it all back in the zip lock bag. The zip lock bag and the Ceres Chill went back in my backpack and I was on my way!
The inner chamber of ice melted mostly during the day, but since we were at restaurants and bars it was easy to add more. If you don't have that ability, even the melted, cool water was still keeping the milk cold.
Nashville bars all have bouncers outside of them, most of which asked to look inside my backpack purse. Only one questioned what was in the Ceres Chill. When I said it was breastmilk he said, I believe you, and we went on our way. So I had no hold ups all weekend!
When we made it back to the hotel, I added the milk to the fridge and washed everything. I packed a brush, some microfiber towels for faster drying, and dish soap to be able to wash everything in the hotel room. Our hotel did have a fridge already, but if you stay in one without, they will most likely be able to provide you one.
As I've shared before, I'm a huge over producer, so I did have to dump some of the milk - but still made it home with two Ceres Chill's full - about 60 total ounces. The booklet that comes with the Ceres Chill gives so many alternative ways to use it - how to maximize your milk storage, etc. If I had to do it again, I would have not dumped the 10ish oz I had to and would have taken it home in the milk storage bags I normally use and put it on ice past security. I didn't really think that one through. Since our flight was so short I could have kept that little extra few ounces cold just on ice. But for a first time, I think I did great :)
I was really nervous about taking it through security. I asked on Instagram about other people's experience with TSA and milk and it was a mixed bag. Some people said they were bothered by TSA and others said they just held a test strip over it and that was that. I thought about checking the bag, but was going to be in a rush to get home after landing so I didn't want to add baggage claim to my list of to-dos. So I just went for it. Getting into line I let the TSA agent know I had 60oz of milk and wanted to know if I needed to put it in it's own bin. He said, just leave it in the bag as is. So I did. The Nashville airport security has these new scanner machines that look like pods. Apparently you can't put anything too tall in them because it'll get stuck. I think that happened in my line because we all had to move lines. So a female TSA agent took my bin and moved it to the next line and I was like, hey by the way there's 60oz of milk in there! She said the same thing, they'll pull it to the side if they need to. So I went through and waited for the bags to come through the scanner. They did nothing. Didn't ask me about it, didn't pull it to the side, didn't ask to open it, not a thing. So I grabbed my suitcase and went on my way. Made me question why you can't bring water through but 60oz of milk wasn't even batted an eye at. I know the Ceres Chill is TSA approved, but I thought they'd at least ask me to open it prove it was what I said it was.
I did have the TSA rules printed out and ready in case they did question me. If you're traveling with breast milk, especially without a child, I'd check the website for the rules - as different countries have different rules. I'd also print it and bring it with you as a precaution. I had a really easy and positive experience. I hope these tips and products can help someone else in their future travels or even daily life.
TSA on Traveling with Children - the second pull down is what I printed
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