You can travel and be away from home and continue with breastfeeding (Visitor Tips)

by HIlda T. Cleofe
(Cavite, Philippines)

My first out of the country trip is when my daughter is almost 4 months old. I left her with 240 plus ounces of stored milk in our freezer and brought her 150+ ounces of frozen breast milk from my trip.

How I did it?

1) I invested on Avent ISYS manual breastpump
2) I invested on breastmilk containers (avent via cups, first years breastflow feeding bottles, avent feeding bottles and playtex nursing plastics)
3) I targetted a minimum of 10oz per day of pumped breastmilk for 30 days prior to my trip
4) I had an excel spreadsheet to track ins and outs of my pumped milk
5) I ate plenty of fruits and vegetables and I made sure I have soup in all of my meals
6) I stayed away from coffee, soft drinks, junk foods and other unhealthy food
7) I taught the nanny on how to thaw and how to handle the feeding
8) I brought with me a cooler in my travel
9) I befriend the owners of the hotels and requested them if I can store my pumped milk in their kitchen ref or freezers
10)I packed the frozen breast milk last. Finished my personal belongings first
11) Depending on the distance of my hotel from the airport, I put ice on the cooler then remove the ice before entering the airport
12) Pay for special packaging at the airport before checking in the cooler
13) Once I arrived at my airport destination, I immediately put ice
14) Store back the frozen milk at our freezer

Notes
1) Frozen milk stored in Avent via cups can stay frozen up to four hours
2) Do not refreeze thawed milk
3) You should have a clean container for the pump to rinse and put hot water and shake
4) Purchase a Fridge to Go to store the pumped milk in case you do not have access to freezers for 6-8 hours

Believe me, I tried it three times already and it worked! My baby is now 8 months old and is still fully breastfed. She is healthy and smart. We have incredible bonding.

My son is 6 years old now and is still sharing the nourishment. Without him knowing it, we put two ounces of breast milk in his milk and his appetite improves a lot. We call it magic formula. I also share my milk with my nephews and nieces.

Very fulfilling and fun. I cannot imagine that there are a lot of people in different places who are willing to support breastfeeding moms.