Pumps, Milk & TSA
For me, the most stressful part about work travel was the pumping. Without little, making sure I knew what I could/couldn’t bring through TSA and customs was critical. Hopefully this is a helpful resource as you naviage.
BREAST PUMPS IN CARRY-ON: Pumps are allowed through TSA, sometimes they flag my bag and check, but most of the time it just goes right on through without any issue. I’ve traveled with Willow Go portable and a Spectra pump (wall plug)
MILK/MILK STORAGE IN CARRY-ON: In the USA you can bring any amount of breast milk and formula through TSA. I’ve traveled milk nearly 30 times on planes and have found that almost every airport manages it differently. It’s all permitted, however, some don’t check if frozen, others, do. Some will make you open the milk if in milk bags and not frozen, most don’t open but put it in a machine that tests density or manually swab the outside. The ice packs have never been an issue or flagged anything. I’ve even gone through a couple of airports with 18 oz of liquid gold and they didn’t even pull my bag aside. I do take the insulated cooler bag out of my carry-on so they only need to pull that item, instead of having to look through my whole bag, and that has helped.
SUPPLIES: When I’m bringing milk for kiddo, or returning home, I’ve found that keeping it cold is much more realistic than keeping it frozen so I refrigerate when I go and freeze when I get home. Using a combo of the below, I’ve kept milk safely cold for up to 11 hours of travel with this. (Products below have no endorsement, just what I have found works best)
Dr. Brown’s Fold and Freeze Travel Tote, frozen + 3-4 hard ice packs
Kiinde milk bags I find these don’t leak once the top is screwed on, even if they get squished or manipulated by TSA. They also can stand up or lay sideways and I feel like I’m able to fit the most into the freezer bag.
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