My husband and I are taking a belated 5th anniversary trip next month, and we're leaving my son with my parents for one-two nights. My son is 8.5 months old and still nurses 4-5 times a day. We've already checked breast milk with dry ice below a plane, and were completely panicked when our flight was canceled and thought we might lose the 200 ounces we were carrying. Luckily we made it home and the milk was still frozen, but I don't want to deal with that hassle/worry again. Has anyone successfully shipped breast milk with dry ice? Did you use USPS, UPS, Fed Ex, etc.? Any tips?
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Why not just carry it on with you? Since it is a "Medical liquid" it does not count against your carry on count.
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There are a lot of special requirements for shipping with dry ice. I had to do it for work and had to undergo a long training every 2 years to even be allowed to put together and ship packages on dry ice.
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Like @T.H.O.U.: said, assuming you are flying in the US, you can take breast milk as a carry-on and aren't limited to the 3-1-1 rule.
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I looked into it when I was away on a longer-than-usual business trip, but it's EXPENSIVE. I decided I'd rather risk losing a few bags of milk than deal with the hassle and cost of shipping it.
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For my work I shipped temerature sensitive materials on dry ice via FedEx. However as others have noted there are certain regulations that have to be followed when shipping with dry ice because it is considered a Dangerous goods so special documentation is usually required depending on where you are shipping from. Will you be staying and shipping within the U.S.?
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@T.H.O.U.: @Adira: When I've carried frozen milk with me before, even with lots of ice packs in a cooler, it always seems to be at least partially defrosted when I arrive, thus it needs to be used within 24 hours. This needs to last for a couple of days, so I need to keep it completely frozen. @Mrs.KMM: Yes, I did hear that if it's for work you need a special training. Hoping it won't come to that!@PurplePeony: Believe me I'd love to not have to hassle with it but he'll need some while we're out of town so I have to find a way!@Matcha Latte: Yes, sending it from California to Illinois. I'll give FedEx a call. Thanks!
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@ChiCalGoBee: why frezze it at all? I've always just kept mine refridgerated and used within a week. So if I was gone from Monday through Wednesday, I figured i had u til at least the following Monday to use the milk.
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@ChiCalGoBee: or what about packing it with dry ice and carrying that on a plane. Can that go on a plane?
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@ChiCalGoBee: as long as there are a few ice crystals it can still be refrozen. Slushy milk is still considered frozen and does not have to be used within 24 hours as long as it gets put back in the freezer!
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@ChiCalGoBee: according to Kellymom, as long as there are still ice crystals in the milk, it's fine to re-freeze. http://kellymom.com/bf/pumpingmoms/milkstorage/frozen-milk-power-outage/
I usually tried to use bags that had liquid in them within the next day or two (it's supposed to be used within 24 hours of being completely thawed, so you likely have more time than you think to use it) but I had no worries about sticking bags that were just sort of soft back in the freezer. I'm with T.H.O.U. though, I never bothered to freeze at all unless I was gone more than three days. And if you're only going away for a night or two, you'll probably get home before the milk does even if you overnight it...
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