3 Tips for Pumping and Traveling

I’ll be honest. I thoroughly enjoyed breastfeeding, but I never expected to one day be sitting on the grimy floor of a supermarket bathroom squirting milk out of my overly full breasts.

That would have been a hard pass for me in the Places To Pump Department, and I had already found myself pumping on the sweaty seats of a high school bus at a cross country meet as the bus driver blocked teenagers from climbing aboard.

But if you are like me, you’ve had to or will be away from your breastfed child because of travel for work or pleasure.

And also like me, the idea of pumping and traveling might be daunting to you, but I have lived and survived pumping on the go, even when I was pumping on the floor of a bathroom, and I am here to tell you what you need to know.

1. Know Before You Go

Even before the plane takes off, there is a lot of work to be done to ensure that things go smoothly once you arrive at your destination.

First, make sure that whoever is watching your child has enough of a milk supply to feed your baby.

If your little one is like my son and you have a diva on your hands, then you know your bougie baby spits out anything other than breastmilk. My son did this until he was about 9 months.

This means that you have to have a well-stocked freezer with a supply of breastfeed, which means that you have to do double duty for a few weeks leading up to it if you don’t already…