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Hitting the Road? Tips for Pumping on the Go

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Pumping on the go isn’t relaxing, but it’s rewarding. Credit: fred_v

Last week we shared tips for becoming a pumping pro at work. Today? We’ve got the goods on pumping on the road! 

Pumping is hard enough when you’re staying in one place. Add in travel for work, and it’s a whole new ballgame. Aside from the awful feeling of leaving your baby for a day or week, how do you find time on work trips to fit in pumping? What if you’re flying? What if you’re driving with coworkers?

Pumping While Driving

Driving is easy if you’re by yourself. You can pump and drive at the same time or just pull over for 20 to 30 minutes. If you’re with a group of people, it’s obviously more difficult. If you’re traveling with close friends who are coworkers (all women), you can pump in the vehicle as someone else drives. Sounds crazy, but they probably wouldn’t even notice if you didn’t tell them.

If you’re uncomfortable pumping on the road, you just have to be honest and tell them that when you stop for lunch, you need extra time. Also, make sure you bring extra baggies if you’re on a long road trip. Milk with the cooler ice packs usually only lasts eight hours, but if you have extra bags, you can fill them up with ice on the road.

Pumping While Flying

The logistics of pumping and flying will turn you into a logistics person if you aren’t already. The entire process takes a brain trust to figure out. Do you pump before you leave for the airport? In the car to the airport? At the airport? In the plane? After the flight? On the way home from the airport? All of the above? Here’s the process.

How to Pack
Regardless of whether you’re on an overnight trip, checking luggage or in and out the same day, bring a carry-on suitcase. Then pack the below items in your carry-on:

  • Pump
  • Extra bottles
  • Extra pumping parts
  • Cleaning wipes OR bottle brush with a 3 oz container of dish soap
  • Extra baggies for ice
  • Extra grocery bags for dirty parts/bottles (if you don’t want to clean them at the airport)
  • Cooler with ice pack
  • Hand sanitizer
  • Extra batteries
  • Extension cord
  • Hands-free pumping bra
  • Milk storage bags
  • Microwavable sterilizing bag (for the hotel)
  • Your sanity

Packing everything in your carry-on suitcase allows you to keep a separate work bag (so you’re not pulling out a file to show your boss and accidentally grab a breast pump accessory), and it allows you to put it on the floor of the bathroom and pump without your actual pump bag touching anything.

When to Pump
If you want to avoid pumping on the plane, my advice is to get to the airport early and pump there. You want to pump as close to boarding as you can so you have some buffer time if you get delayed. Some airports have family restrooms that have big, single-stall bathrooms and usually they have an outlet so you can plug in your pump. Some of the airports that definitely have them are Kansas City, Buffalo, JFK, Fayetteville and Orlando. It’s hit or miss.

If you have a connection with at least an hour layover, you can fit in a pump. Anything shorter than that is cutting it close. When you get to the hotel, make sure you ask for a room with a fridge and a microwave. Most hotels have them available to put in your room even if they don’t advertise it.

On your trip home, don’t forget to take your milk with you! No need to pump and dump — that stuff is liquid gold! The airport requires a simple test on the bottles, but nothing touches the milk. Just make sure you claim it. Also, make sure you either refreeze your ice pack or fill up your bags with ice at the hotel.

Even if it’s not the most convenient thing to do — set up, take down, cleaning, carrying two bags to work, sneaking out of meetings and checking email while feeling like a cow being milked — it’s really an accomplishment, no matter how long you’re able to pump or breastfeed.

Have you pumped while traveling? What tips would you add?

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