Business trip with a 10 month old EBF baby

By plantains Jan 11, 2013

I have just returned to work after 6.5 months of maternity leave and things are going well for me so far. I am still breastfeeding at home and pumping at work. Baby also has 1 solid meal a day and we are ramping up to two.

I feel like I have a pretty good balance except for one aspect, business trips. I have recently been asked to go to San Francisco and Chicago and have managed to get out of both those trips, however, I have a week long trip to the UK coming up in April that is completely unavoidable. My baby will be almost 10 months old at that point. I'm thinking of leaving her here in the US with her father while I'm gone, but not sure what to do about the breastfeeding.

I was planning on weaning her by 1 at the latest, should I just try to bump it up? Or should I pump in the UK and try to resume breastfeeding when I return? Is that even possible?

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14 comments

Foodnerd81
wonderful cherry / 21504 posts

Jan 11, 2013

I think it's possible but would be difficult. Would you bring the pumped milk home or just dump it and pump to keep up your supply? Or is there any chance the baby could come with you (like your SO take a holiday while you are there working)?
My friend at work decided to wean around 6 months in part because she had a business trip coming up and didn't want to deal with bringing the pump, getting the milk home, etc. But she was ready to wean anyway, so it wasn't only because of that.
brownie
grapefruit / 4110 posts

Jan 11, 2013

I did a 5 day trip at 9 months old. We chose to give him formula while I was gone and I took mothers milk tea and pumped like crazy while I was gone. Brought home an amazing stash. We are still breastfeeding at 20 months.
T.H.O.U.
wonderful clementine / 24134 posts

Jan 11, 2013

You are able to fly with milk even without the baby.

I would pump while you are over there. I have done this for several business trips and been successful. You could always decide not to bring the milk home if you didn't want to. I brought a cooler with me and kept the milk on ice and brought it on the plane home with me. Never had an issue.

Remember if you do decide to wean before the trip, that weaning can take several weeks before you are able to completely stop pumping and/or nursing.
littlek
GOLD / squash / 13576 posts

Jan 11, 2013

I pumped when I had to go to San Diego for business for a week. You can travel with milk but plan extra time getting through security since they individually scanned all my milk. Do you have a good enough freezer stash to cover you while you are gone?
Bluebonnet
persimmon / 1427 posts

Jan 11, 2013

If you want to BF until LO is 1, then build a freezer stash now to feed LO while you are on your business trip. While away, pump as often as you'd nurse when you are at home. You can either bring the milk back with your or pump and dump (or a little of both).

Its doable, it just requires some planning.
plantains
grapefruit / 4671 posts

Jan 11, 2013

@Foodnerd81: I think I would try to bring the milk home. Unfortunately, my SO is a teacher so he won't be able to take time off and come along. That really would have been ideal though.

@brownie: I have tried to give her formula once nefore but she spat it all out, hated it. I could try again though, maybe mixed with some breastmilk she would be more open to it.

@Thehistoryofus: I am really curious about this option, How long did the milk on ice? Did you use regular ice or dry ice? Did you just keep it refrigerated for the duration of you trip or did you freeze while you were there and then put on ice to travel?

@littlek: My freezer stash is definitely not good enough at the moment, but I am working on it really hard and hope that it will be by then.
mediagirl
hostess / wonderful persimmon / 25556 posts

Jan 11, 2013

@plantains: I've been asked to go to our annual convention (that I missed last year because I was 7 months pregnant) and really don't want to go. If I have to, I will either, 1. take my pump bag and just make sure I keep pumping every 3 hours (even if I have to sit in a public, gross bathroom) or 2. take the baby with me and have my parents or husband come out to babysit while I'm working. I'll still have to pump so they can feed her while I'm working (like daycare) but at least then she would be there with me. I can't imagine leaving her before she turns one, though. I'm so bonded to her right now, it would hurt a lot.
T.H.O.U.
wonderful clementine / 24134 posts

Jan 11, 2013

@plantains: I did not want to freeze while I was there because the mini fridge freezer is never that cold and I didn't want to freeze and then have it defrost on my way home.

I used a plastic sided cooler (soft coolers leak over time). I used just regular ice and brought it home. I think one time I was stuck for about 12 hours with the milk.

Going through security is pretty easy. They will ask to unpack the cooler and see the milk. When going through just tell them you have a "Medical Liquid". Once through security you can ask any of the food vendors for more ice if needed (great if you get delayed or something).

I had enough freezer stash to cover the few days I was gone, but I never pumped enough while I was gone to replace what she ate. It worked out fine, but towards the end of her first year, I didn't have any freezer supply left (but she was started on WCM so it wans't a big deal).
T-Mom
honeydew / 7488 posts

Jan 11, 2013

@plantains: You could also try asking your hotel where you stay to freeze the milk for you in a proper freezer, since that will help the milk to stay cold when you are bringing it back. I had to do that once on a trip. I gave them hotel my days pumping output in bags, and they put it in their freezer. As long as you trust them with your milk (I kept it in a separate cooler bag for them). Also, some mini fridge freezers are actually really strong. You may just have to see what you end up with.
plantains
grapefruit / 4671 posts

Jan 11, 2013

@mediagirl: I'm breaking out in a cold seat at the thought of leaving her, but because my husband can't come, bringing her might be worse. My mum lives in the UK so baby is not that familiar with her. Having her with someone she doesn't know while I'm working all day might be extra stressful? Plus teh jet lag. Ugh. I don't know.

@T-Mom: What a brilliant idea! It didn't occur to me that I could ask the hotel to freeze for me. Hmm, maybe I'll be able to do that for some of the milk.
T.H.O.U.
wonderful clementine / 24134 posts

Jan 11, 2013

@plantains: My mom did meet me and took her for one trip. It was nice to help with the pumping stuff but honestly my trip didn't go so well because I was focused on her instead of the trip.

For anything else I left her at home.
T-Mom
honeydew / 7488 posts

Jan 11, 2013

@plantains: If you end up wanting to use the hotel freezer, I would recommend calling first to arrange the details. The hotel I stayed at balked at the idea at first, they said due to "health code" reasons (don't know if that is really an issue). But their mini fridges didn't have any freezer attached, so I was in a bind! Then a manager got back to me and said, it would not be a problem. I think if it's a nice hotel with good customer service, they will find a way to accomodate you!
brownie
grapefruit / 4110 posts

Jan 11, 2013

We did formula for many different reasons. So it isn't a requirement if you have a stash.
sooz
apricot / 307 posts

Jan 11, 2013

I'd start pumping and build up a freezer stash to give to your baby while on travel. By 10 months, he/she should be consuming less milk, so you probably don't need a huge stash. I'd just pump and freeze and bring back whatever you can.

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Business trip with a 10 month old EBF baby

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