Travel with Children - Any experienced breastmilk transporters out there?

We're getting ready to go on vacation and I'm trying to figure out how to NOT starve my baby :)

The trip is to Playa Del Carmen from next Sunday to Thursday, and it's part of an award I got at work. As a result, the timing is less than ideal: Baby Flyer23 is only 3 months old. So is the location: The organizers picked a resort that is ages 13+ only. My boss strongly encouraged me to figure out a way to go anyway, so we decided fly out the grandmothers to babysit at a nearby resort that does allow infants.

There's one other small problem: Baby Flyer23 has been exclusively breastfed since birth. So I need to figure out how to make sure she has enough to eat when we're not around.

She's slept through the night for the last two months, so overnights shouldn't be an issue. We do have plans during the day, though... my company is sponsoring dinners on Sun and Wed nights, and trips on Mon and Tue during the day. Baby Flyer23 is not welcome on these outings.

Any advice on how to make sure I have enough milk to get her through those times? I'll pump as much as I possibly can, but I don't usually pump a lot (I'm still on maternity leave) and I'm nervous that I'll fall short. I'm also worried that I won't be able to pump during the trips specifically. I could bring some of my frozen breastmilk just in case, but I don't know if I can keep it frozen on the trip down there... and if it defrosts, it has to be used within 24 hours, which limits its usefulness.

Should I bring along some formula just in case? I'm so nervous to try something so new when away from home, but I'm also nervous about her not getting enough to eat.

Worst case scenario, I could probably duck out of the trips on Mon and/or Tue, but they're really cool and free :) so I'd like to go if at all possible.

Grrrrrrrrr... this is the first time that I really wish she was formula fed :(

We're getting ready to go on vacation and I'm trying to figure out how to NOT starve my baby :)

The trip is to Playa Del Carmen from next Sunday to Thursday, and it's part of an award I got at work. As a result, the timing is less than ideal: Baby Flyer23 is only 3 months old. So is the location: The organizers picked a resort that is ages 13+ only. My boss strongly encouraged me to figure out a way to go anyway, so we decided fly out the grandmothers to babysit at a nearby resort that does allow infants.

There's one other small problem: Baby Flyer23 has been exclusively breastfed since birth. So I need to figure out how to make sure she has enough to eat when we're not around.

She's slept through the night for the last two months, so overnights shouldn't be an issue. We do have plans during the day, though... my company is sponsoring dinners on Sun and Wed nights, and trips on Mon and Tue during the day. Baby Flyer23 is not welcome on these outings.

Any advice on how to make sure I have enough milk to get her through those times? I'll pump as much as I possibly can, but I don't usually pump a lot (I'm still on maternity leave) and I'm nervous that I'll fall short. I'm also worried that I won't be able to pump during the trips specifically. I could bring some of my frozen breastmilk just in case, but I don't know if I can keep it frozen on the trip down there... and if it defrosts, it has to be used within 24 hours, which limits its usefulness.

Should I bring along some formula just in case? I'm so nervous to try something so new when away from home, but I'm also nervous about her not getting enough to eat.

Worst case scenario, I could probably duck out of the trips on Mon and/or Tue, but they're really cool and free :) so I'd like to go if at all possible.

Grrrrrrrrr... this is the first time that I really wish she was formula fed :(

I breastfed my daughter for 16 months (went back to work when she was 2 months old, so I appreciate the challenges of "remote feeding")...my advice is to start pumping (NOW) at night after you've put her to bed and again in the morning after you've fed her. That should be enough to stimulate more production at night and in the morning (you have probably already experienced how quickly your body will respond to more frequent feedings) which will hopefully be enough to keep her happy during the day by pumping some at night and then again in the morning before heading out for your daytime activities. If you can keep up with at least the morning and evening feedings (i.e., at the breast) while you're there I think you should be fine.

Another thought is to send some milk down ahead of your trip via FedEx - I don't have experience with this myself but I've heard it's been done - of course even with that you still face the limitations of having to use it within a day.

All that said it wouldn't be a bad idea to take some formula down there with you, just in case (also considering that bacterial illnesses aren't out of the ordinary down there).

First of all, well done you for getting the award!:cool:

I haven't done this myself, but am still BFing my 16m twins, so I know a little about what you mean about panicking about having enough when you're away from baby etc etc.

I'd like to second the PP's tip about starting to pump more now, both to build up a bit of a stash, as well as to get your breasts used to producing more. If you're able to havesome Fedex'd down, that would help (could someone store it for you in their freezer and send it *same day service* after you've arrived there, so it's not having to wait for you? You can pack it in poly bins with dry ice and ice packs (think human tissue transfers!!!) so it should still be frozen once it arrives. That would give you some backup and make you a little less nervous about *keeping up production* while you're on your trips (nothing like stress to mess with your production!)
I'd also invest in a good little insulated bag to store your expressed milk for while you're *on location*, and a small manual hand pump, that you can tuck into a decent -sized handbag, and nobody will be any the wiser. FWIW, I only ever used an Avent ISIS handpump (bar the monster machine for the first 10 days in NICU) and it did the job spectacularly - comfortable, efficient, and quiet too, in case you're worried.

A little formula in the luggage might be good for a backup, though I'm sure you'll be fine!

Congrats on the award, and more importantly on the lovely little creature you've been growing so well! Enjoy them both!!!

Just thought I'd share how it worked out.

On Sunday, we brought down about 25 oz of frozen milk in a small cooler with ice. It stayed fairly cool on the trip down -- each container was still partially frozen by the time we reached the resort. We put it straight into the fridge and all that evening, the grandmas fed bottles while I pumped. The freshly-pumped milk would be good for days, so this meant we were replacing milk with a finite lifetime with milk that would be good for the entire trip.

On Monday, we left for the trip at 8 am. I pumped when I woke up at 6 am and dropped all my freshly-pumped milk off with the grandmas before we left. It was about 12 oz, enough for 2-3 feedings, and of course we still had some previously-frozen milk. I instructed them to throw out (:() whatever frozen milk was left at noon. This was being on the conservative side (the milk would probably be fine for a little longer, as some of it was still frozen that morning), but I didn't want to risk making Baby Flyer23 sick.

She was still on Pacific time (Playa del Carmen is in Central), so she slept till about 9 am. She got frozen milk at 9 am and noon, then refrigerated milk at 3 pm and 6 pm. I came home shortly after the 6 pm feeding and breastfed the rest of the night. It all worked out fine and she didn't starve :) And Mr. Flyer23 and I had a lot of fun on the trip!

Even so, we cancelled our planned day trip on Tuesday. We were able to choose massages instead. That was wonderful, and kept me from having to stress about milk and pumping.

So we had a great time :D Now, we did decimate my freezer stash, which sucks now that I'm going back to work, but that's a topic for another board ;)