Office to Airplane Tips for the Working-Pumping Mommy

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Office to Airplane

Breast feeding is not easy.  And once you master that art – once you feel like you’ve got that covered – guess what?  Your maternity leave is over.  Now, hopefully you’ve acclimated yourself to your pump from day one and already have a freezer full…even if you have there is a definite transition from pumping at home with baby – to now packing everything that you’ll need for the day – overnight – or week.

I’ve breastfeed both of my children in very different back to work experiences – with my 1st, after 8-weeks I returned to traveling for work EVERY week.  I was gone at minimum overnight and sometimes up to 3 days.  With my 2nd, I was back in the office after 8-weeks dealing with scheduled meetings vs. pumping times.  I thought I’d share some of my survival tips for a better transition!

Tips for Returning to Pump in the Office

You know what you’ll need to pump – so I will try to cover some things and ways to manage this transition with grace!

  • First & foremost, if you control your calendar, block out the time immediately. I put 3-4 reoccurring ½ hour blocks on my calendar so that no one would schedule something over my prime pumping time.  If you don’t control your schedule, have the conversation with your manager or HR partner when you return.  Typically once I got used to it – I had a system and could be done in 15 minutes flat.
  • Find out where your designated pumping areas are, ensure you can access those areas and familiarize yourself with them. Nothing is worse than waiting till you are about to burst to figure out where & how you are going to pump = Panic Mode!
  • Questions to ask your employer:
    • Where is the designated place to pump?
    • Is there a refrigerator in there?
    • Who else can access this area?
    • What, if anything, does the company provide for this area?
    • When/If the area is cleaned and how often?
  • Some days you will need to close your eyes and relax, and others days you’ll want something to entertain yourself. For me – I had a laptop and a company with Wi-Fi so I found it the perfect time to catch up on email.
  • Reminder of your baby – picture, swatch of blanket, a memory of touching their soft skin – some days you will need this to get the flow going.
Tips for Breast-Feeding Moms who Travel for Work

[quote]It won’t be glamorous – and it will be hard. But, as far as possible – it 100% is possible.[/quote]

  • Pump or feed your baby right before you leave the house – this is imperative – you never know when a delay will leave you panicking in an airport.
  • Carry-on Bag Big enough for your supplies
  • Supplies to Pack
    • Pump – This may be obvious, but when you have a bunch of bags packed its very easy to overlook.
    • Cord – this also may seem obvious – but my pump holds a charge for so long – I got comfortable only plugging it in now & then – it left me cordless and scrambling to buy one in DC one time.
    • More milk storage bags than you think you’ll ever need
      • I prefer to pump into a plastic container that fits onto my breast pump – it is more secure & I am prone to spilling this precious milk.
      • I prefer to store milk in Milk Storage Bags – these are imperative b/c they store better both in hotel refrigerators/freezers & in you travel cooler.
      • I’ve tried them all – and I love the Lansinoh ones the best – they hold the most – they seal well & they are easy to write on.
    • Permanent Marker – you are going to want to label each bag immediately after you pump with the date/time/# of ounces.
      • Time might not be something you are not use to putting on them – however, if you get delayed someplace you want to know how long that batch has been out of the refrigerator.
        • Good News – breast milk can sit out at room temp for 6-8 hours.
    • Cooler Bag
      • I preferred one that either came with my pump or was made by a breast pumping company for one simple reason – recognition. You will take that cooler bag filled with milk out of your carry-on and onto the belt for security.  Over 75% of the time – the security agent already knew what it was and didn’t require anything further from me because they recognized the cooler bag.  The other 25% they simply had me open the bag…and then ran a cotton swab on the outside of it.  Nothing more has ever been required of me.  I traveled & pumped every week for five months through numerous airports and I was surprised how comfortable the security agents were and made me feel.
    • Breast Pump Antibacterial Wipes – Don’t leave home without them. You do not want to clean anything in a bathroom at an airport.  These will allow you to wipe down your pump
    • Quick Clean Steam Bag –pack one – take this in case your room has a microwave – this will make you feel better about cleaning your pump parts.
    • 2 Zip-lock Bags – I keep everything in my life in zip-locks. 1st one is for clean pump parts – 2nd one is for ones that need to be cleaned.  These are life-saver when you are in hurry or only have a few minutes to pump.
    • Hand Sanitizer – always squirt some on – even if you just washed.
    • Picture of your baby – It is very hard to let-down sometimes – in fact nearly impossible depending on where you are or what is going on around you. Keep a picture of your sweet baby handy or a video of them giggling…it will help immensely!
    • Breast-Feeding/Lactation Stations in airports – private areas to pump are increasing, however some are located on the other side of security. When I go through security I always ask on of the TSA agents if the airport has one & where it is – if they don’t know – they always took the initiative to find out for me.
    • If you arrive at your hotel and you don’t have a refrigerator – don’t panic!  Call down to the front desk.  Every hotel I have stayed in has been very accommodating – including delivering a mini-fridge to my room specifically.  If the mini-fridge has a freezer – use it – I have had great success in freezing my milk in those and it travels better that way!

To all the working and road-warrior mommas – you are strong,

you can do this…and it gets easier every day.

Do you have any tips to add?

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Monica
Hello Lovely Dayton Mommas!! I think being a mother is the greatest achievement of my life…I am one of those crazy people who LOVES being pregnant – but will now vicariously live through everyone else’s pregnancies – as my husband (Chris) and I have decided that 2 littles are as big as our family will grow. Miles (4) and Miro (2) keep us on our toes – we like to get messy with art supplies, jump in rain puddles, have nightly dance parties, explore parks, cuddle for movies & skip in the halls at school. I work full-time as a Director of Customer Experience and manage a team of 14, in my spare time I am also getting my MBA through the University of Dayton. I look forward to sharing my thoughts, blunders, successes and failures. #parentlikenooneiswatching

3 COMMENTS

  1. Pumping evolves just as nursing does. It’s all worth it though and you get way more efficient at it as you go. I pumped for a year at work, and I would say one of the challenges would be figuring out what to wear so that you didn’t have to completely strip down! (Think shift dress…not good access for pumping.) Think open soft tops – you can throw a scarf or blazer/sweater over it. Or ones you can pull up- soft, stretchy fabric ones.

    I personally hated the hands free bustier thing, hard to zip most days but preferred the ease of a sports bra that I cut holes in! I used a looser fitting (not your tightest boulder holder) soft sports bra and cut small holes where the flange would fit through. Voila!

    And if anyone has a problem with you pumping…they are just clueless!!

  2. OH! And I would include a hand pump with bag for on-the-go/travel. If you’ve got a long travel day, or outing, it’s great when you need to relieve them!! And its a little more discrete and portable!

  3. Kate – Yes! I totally forgot to address accessible clothes! I have been caught in the office with a dress that I could not unzip myself (let alone get to the girls without dropping it down!)

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