For those who have exclusively breastfed babies - do you bring bottles for any reason, or your pump, when you are traveling?
I'm taking a 5 hour flight tomorrow with my 9.5 month old to visit family for a week. I only use bottles for her when I"m at work. If you normally always breastfeed your baby, is there is any reason to take bottles of pumped milk with you on the flight/trip?
pomegranate / 3595 posts
@agold: no! Enjoy the pumping break! We did this around vacations and had no issues. At that age i would not be worried about bottle refusal or anything so I would leave it all home!
wonderful pomelo / 30692 posts
I have before when I my LO was only nursing from one side in the morning and I felt like I had to pump the other side. But I've also skipped the pump and just had my LO half nurse from both sides and tried to get them to nurse more often in order to avoid pumping.
I'd leave it behind if you can! 
apricot / 275 posts
I probably wouldn't for the flight, but I think I would bring a pump for the trip in general. Do you think there might be a time where you'd leave baby for a few hours for any reason? (you and mom slip out to go shopping and leave baby with dad or something). If you know for sure you will be with baby 24/7, I'd definitely leave it at home! I wouldn't worry about bringing pre-pumped milk though, that sounds like a hassle. I'd just pump before going somewhere and leave that milk with caregivers if necessary.
wonderful kiwi / 23653 posts
With DD1 she was such an unreliable nurse that I often had to pump so I couldn't imagine without pumping supplies just in case.
With DD2, I'd totally be okay to go without.
wonderful clementine / 24134 posts
I also try to bring a packet of single serve formula and at least one bottle with me. Even when I'm just around town. I always worry about the what if, like what if we had a car accident and I couldn't BF. What if the baby needed meds that we could give mixed in with a bottle. A single bottle and a single packet of formula doesn't take much room.
nectarine / 2973 posts
I would if I was planning on being away from the baby at any point in the trip. If not, I wouldn't bring it.
My 12 month old still nurses a lot. We are going out of town next week and I'm still bringing my pump and a bottle because I want to be able to take our four year old out on my own and not have to be watching the clock the whole time.
cantaloupe / 6171 posts
My almost 4 month old hasn't taken a bottle yet (I'm still on leave) but I took a manuAl pump and like a gallon zip lock bag of bottle stuff in case when we traveled-- sometimes I use the manual when I still feel full after she eats, or for if I wanted to go out without her (even though I haven't yet)
grapefruit / 4045 posts
@MamaCate: @Adira: @kayla0416: @snowjewelz: @Purpledaisy: Thank you for these responses! I'm going to visit my husband's family and I do not plan to be away from my baby at all. My MIL is the one who suggested I bring the pump and it totally bothered me. I was just wondering if there was any reason, but I love being with my baby and nursing her. And I'm not afraid to nurse in public or on the plane. And I would so love love love to have a break from the pump!!
@T.H.O.U.: I'm always a worst case scenario planner, too. Oh my gosh, I didn't think about if I was in a car accident and couldn't nurse her. Are you thinking that it would be because we (me or you, as the nursing moms) would be injured and separated from the baby? (Holy gees, thanks for giving me something new to worry about! 
) And good thinking about the need for meds. Shit, that's all scary to think about!
cantaloupe / 6086 posts
I used to bring one bottle and the hand pump. And a bottle brush. I brought the bottle filled for the plane (I hate nursing in tiny plane seats!) and then pumped if I wanted to go out and have my mom watch the baby.
wonderful clementine / 24134 posts
@agold: yes. I do it even when I leave her at a sitter or with DH with pumped milk. One extra packet of formula just in case something came up and I was delayed or something. Sorry not to worry you but it gave me peace of mind to have the dry powder pack and an empty bottle on me
persimmon / 1445 posts
I would if I was planning to go out on a date without LO but otherwise it's a big item and is a pain in the butt to pack (I prefer to take mine on board so it doesn't get bumped around in the cargo area- too much to carry along with the car seat and regular carry on stuff!)
pear / 1961 posts
I usually bring my pump (Medela Freestyle, so not particularly onerous to travel with) and one bottle. But that's because we typically are on vacation skiing or hiking or something where I'm away from the kids for 3-4h at least a couple times. I never travel with already expressed milk, though, and I don't save any of it to bring home if we don't use it immediately on the trip.
We are going back to visit my parents at the end of the month, and I'm not going to bring the pump. There is nothing to do there (small town!) so I don't plan on being away from DS for any real amount of time.
grapefruit / 4045 posts
@T.H.O.U.: I always leave an extra bottle with whoever is watching my baby when I'm at work. I always think, "in case I'm in an accident, baby sitter can get home to my house where I have a plethora of frozen bottles."
@shabang: @birdofafeather: Thank you girls! I'm so excited to not have to pump!
pomegranate / 3231 posts
I pumped at work from ages 3mo-6mo. Then we went on vacation for a week and I EBF and did not touch the pump. After that, I had a much harder time getting a good pumping yield. I don't know how common that experience is.
pear / 1547 posts
Nope. Travelled with LO1 while BF at ages 8 mo, 10 mo, 11 mo and 14 mo (wow, that was actually a lot!) which included cross country trips to visit family and one 2 wk trip to Europe. Just brought my boobs and an A&A blanket if I felt like I needed more cover. I figured if I really needed something I could buy something where I was. And LO got to nurse at many landmarks all over Paris and Barcelona, including catholic churches 
nectarine / 2210 posts
Both times I traveled with dd as a baby I brought a bottle and my pump just in case but never used them.
grapefruit / 4045 posts
@MenagerieMama: Where do you nurse the baby at when at a catholic church? Please tell!
nectarine / 2465 posts
No, only if I want to drink or something. It's way easier to not bring my pump or bottles though, so I don't. That's one of the benefits of breastfeeding!
pomegranate / 3658 posts
I would bet the reason your MIL suggested it is because she's hoping to get some babysitting time in while you go see a movie or something. That's awesome but if you don't want to bring the whole battalion of pumping/bottling gear, I wouldn't bother. I've only done it in the past on trips when we were having periodic feeding issues, as a backup.
grapefruit / 4045 posts
@oliviaoblivia: Did you nurse your baby while sitting in the pews during mass?
@PawPrints: And yes, you are correct. I know its because I'm always like, "oh I need to be with the baby" and she wants to be with the baby!
pineapple / 12793 posts
@agold: yup. No cover either because I'm a nursing honeybadger.
pomelo / 5573 posts
For what it's worth I think if you were in a car accident the hospital would probably lend or rent you a pump.
Both my babies were EBF and I never took a pump with me anywhere. Although neither of them ever took a bottle so it would have been useless anyway.
pomegranate / 3113 posts
My DD was a champion nurser but refused to do it on the plane. I think it was a combination of not liking the cramped space/angle I had to hold her at and being distracted by all the other people around. After I discovered that, I always brought enough bottles for the plane trip. I only pumped on the plane during international trips, though -- I always managed to avoid it on domestic flights.
pear / 1547 posts
@agold: well to be fair the one I remember was La Sagrada Familia which is a big tourist attraction but I just sat on a bench and went for it. She was having a giant meltdown so I figured a little boob was preferable to screaming. And it was pretty busy there.
pomegranate / 3350 posts
We went on a trip once when my oldest was a baby and I had a bottle just in case. LO refused to nurse a lot of our vacation and I got so engorged I had to manually express milk and try to get him to take a bottle. I wish I had brought the pump that time. If it's small I would bring it to be safe.
coconut / 8854 posts
We traveled with DD when she was 3 months and 1 year. At 3 months I took it, because I would need to pump in the middle of the night because she would only nurse from one side and I was super uncomfortable. I ended up just tossing the milk though because I otherwise nursed and always had plenty of milk.
When we traveled at 1 year, did not bring the pump, I was still nursing on demand, but never got engorged enough to need the pump for comfort.
persimmon / 1270 posts
I've gone both ways. With my first I never did this but with lo2 I've found it really nice to have a bottle for the travel day. It's made many a cab ride or security line much nicer. But that's mostly because with two I can't have both hands busy nursing in public while trying to contain the older one.
Bring the hand pump just in case.
apricot / 485 posts
I bring my pump everywhere! You never know when you might need it and even if I don't use it I'm glad I have it. If you don't have it and need it then you're screwed... bottles I do generally try to bring one but don't stress if I forget it. Just in case we would want to go out to a movie or to eat or something and were having family babysit for a few hours. The only time I skipped bringing my pump was when my DD was almost 2 years old and only nursed on one side, 2x a day. I just hand expressed some into the shower AM and PM. Depends on the age of the baby. My second is 6mo but only recently my supply has regulated so that I don't need to pump overnight. When he was a couple months I needed to pump every night and some during the day.
persimmon / 1130 posts
I always brought my manual pump, 1-2 bottles, and a couple of milk storage bags. If you have a manual pump I would bring it. It might be nice to get away for a few hours alone with your DH!
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