Originally Posted by
Loren Pechtel
That silly woman should have arrived at the airport earlier than normal, gone through security and then expressed her milk. She should have set up to do so in the gate area so that she didn't miss any announcements, or, if she were too modest to express in public, she should have perched on a toilet seat in the women's restroom.
Hmm. I've managed to express milk in airports on numerous occasions, though I'm not brave enough to pump in public. That would probably get me arrested for sure. It's a pretty revealing process.
It's not hard for a businesswoman to research the rules, understand them, and work within them. That said,
I still think the rules are STUPID. But I'm not willing to sacrifice my baby's health (as a pp suggested, by offering formula to my baby because I had to dump milk) so I play by the rules, or I don't play (don't fly). My 2 year old has an anaphylactic peanut allergy and the best way to avoid this lifethreatening condition in my baby is to exclusively breastfeed - that means NO formula.
The flight has a stopover, the delay is long enough she will need to express milk during the stopover. There is *NO* solution at present.
Baloney. I managed this and plenty of other travelling moms do.
I've found Admirals' Clubs have mothers' rooms (private room with electricity and seating to express milk) and supply ice to keep it cold. All breastpumps come with coolers; fresh breastmilk can be kept at room temp for up to ten hours with no problem. A properly packed cooler can stay cold for 24 hours or longer - I've kept milk cold on flights from Asia to the US. And yes, I've pumped in the O'Hare restroom as well. Where there's a will there's a way.