Adventures of a Traveling Breast Pump

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All three of my kids lived on breastmilk for the first year of their lives.  I feel fortunate that my twins were born at 37 weeks, but they were not good at latching.  I exclusively pumped and bottle fed them, and had to work very hard to produce enough milk.  I tried every trick in the book, but pumping consistently was the only sure way to increase my supply.  My youngest was great at breast feeding so I breastfed and pumped for the first year.  I had no trouble producing enough for one baby since my body had been “trained” to produce enough for two.

To make things a bit more complicated, I travel for my job.  This often includes multiple flights, airports, car rentals, and late nights.  I realized very quickly that pumping is not a traveler’s sport, and here are some of the valuable lessons I have learned.

MAMAVA is your friend.  MAMAVA pods are the greatest thing that ever hit airports.  Picture a tiny, clean white room with a locked door, outlets galore, and comfortable benches.  For a traveling mom, these are like seeing an oasis in the desert!  Download the app so you can locate the nearest pod, lactation/nursing room, or family restroom when you are traveling.  Not all airports or concourses have these.

Carry several spare batteries.  Airport outlets are located either in the bathrooms next to the sinks, or in the gate area snuggling up to everyone charging their electronic devices.  If you are lucky, you can find a family bathroom or MAMAVA.  Pumping while standing at a dirty airport bathroom counter is unsanitary and not for the self-conscious.  In the public restrooms people that have no idea what you are doing will stare at you.  Those who don’t will drip dirty hand water on you as they make their way to the towels.  I’m not kidding.  This happened to me every single time I pumped at the counter.

Carry sanitary wipes.  See above.  Humans are gross.

Give yourself extra time.  Time to pump in the airport, time to get through security with your pump, time to handle hassles associated with your pump, and time to eat good food and drink enough water to maintain your milk supply.

Warn TSA that you have a breast pump.  TSA agents don’t like surprises.  The inner workings of a breast pump probably look like a torture mechanism (irony…) or the makings of an explosive device in the x-ray machine.  To prevent further scrutiny, give them a heads up that you are sending a breast pump down the conveyer belt.  Ask them how to proceed if there is an ice pack or liquid milk.  They’ll give you instructions for what to do next.

Don’t carry liquid breastmilk if you don’t want TSA agent fingers in it.  If you do travel with liquid breastmilk (and I get why you would – that stuff is liquid gold), you have to go through extra TSA screening.  Read the TSA guidelines regarding carrying milk.  They will open it up and stick a test strip in it. A woman testing my milk once dipped her fingers into it in the process. Yes, they were in plastic gloves, but how do I know she hadn’t just handled a suitcase covered in cocaine or anthrax?!

Freeze your ice pack or don’t bring it.  Apparently ice packs aren’t supposed to be allowed on a plane unless they are frozen.  Lesson learned.  On one trip I did not have access to a freezer, so my hard plastic ice pack was not frozen.  As I warned the TSA agent about it, she informed me (with a stern disapproving look) that she shouldn’t allow it on the plane at all, so they’d have to swab it. This meant her elderly male coworker would pull apart my pump bag to swab the ice pack with what appeared to be a toilet brush.  He then handed me my dismantled bag with my cones, cups and pumping bra hanging out of it for all to see.  Thanks.

Pumps are not medical devices… or so the gate attendant from hell once told me.  I had a small backpack, a laptop bag, and my “medical device.”  Mom’s blogs and airline websites will tell you a breast pump is considered a medical device and won’t count as a carry-on. I got through security without issue, but as I scanned my ticket to get on the plane, I heard the gate attendant say “ma’am, you can’t have three carry-on items.”  I confidently replied “this is a medical device.”

…blank stare.

“What is it?”

I explained in front of the entire line of people that it’s a breast pump (insert confused look from said woman) and I needed to pump on the flight.  They pulled me aside, looked at me like I was crazy, and told me I was wrong.

I tried finding the websites on my phone that stated it was a medical device, but there was no time.  At this point, I admit, my voice may have raised slightly, but you would have thought I pulled a knife on this woman.  “MA’AM, MA’AM – you need to calm down and check one of your bags immediately or you will not be on this flight!”  So I proceeded to quickly hand over and pay for my backpack.  (Really?!  You let roller bags the size of a kitchen table onto the plane but my three items that all fit under the seat are too much?!)  I barely made my flight and avoided having “three carry-ons” from then on – regardless of what the real rules seem to be. 

Pumping in the middle seat is awkward.  I’ve done it a few times on long flights, and my most interesting experience was pumping between a large man and an elderly Russian nurse.  The man was very respectful.  He put on his sleep mask and fell asleep. The Russian woman was intrigued. In a heavy accent she said “what iz…?” Not knowing how much English she knew, I said “breastmilk?”  She nodded.  I put my cover-up on and, trying hard not to elbow either of my neighbors, I put my hands-free pumping bra on (which the Russian tried to help me with) and hooked up. The lady kept pointing to my pump bag and saying “I never seen – so, so big?” 20 minutes later, when I pulled the full bottles of milk out, she applauded and gave me a thumbs up. This must be the international sign for “nice work Bessy.”

Some call traveling with a breast pump dedication, others call it insanity, but in reality I was just too stubborn to quit pumping.  I recently saw a concealable, much more discreet breast pump is being developed from Babyation.  I can only hope that these work well and they become the norm!  However, what could I say to the TSA agents to convince them it’s not dangerous?  Can you imagine their reaction when they see someone come through the scanning machine wearing this under their clothes?!

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Jolene
Jolene grew up in Luxemburg, WI. After going to college in Stevens Point and working for a year in the Milwaukee area, she moved to De Pere, WI to get married, start a family, and pursue her career. Both the youngest of six, Jolene and her husband always wanted a big family. After struggling to get pregnant, their family was jump-started by having identical twin girls, Eden and Ellie, who are now 5. Then came Jude, who will be 3 in August, and they just welcomed James, Baby #4, in June. Both she and her husband work, and Jolene owns her own company, www.howtoconcerts.com, planning large scale entertainment events across the country. Because she has to travel for work, Jolene has used a breast pump while flying, driving, walking and talking, and has the war stories to prove it. Her keys to success (aka survival) are the members of her support system, starting with her husband and extended family, and ending with good coffee and a sense of humor.