Pumping & airport security

[anna7602]

I should have paid attention to these threads before. rbp, anyone else, I can get through airport security with pumped milk, right? I have one of those square Medela bags with a freezer pack in the middle. It fits four bottles. Should I only fill them to 3 ounces each? Or is there no limit?

ETA: baby will not be with me. I'm flying with DD to drop her off at camp this weekend.

[pinotgrig]

Yes, security will be ok. Maybe have the tsa regs pulled up on your phone, but I was never hassled. They were all super nice, actually. No limit on ounces, but make sure your ice pack is fully frozen. (Mine was not on one trip, but no one said anything.)

[pinotgrig]

Eta - I also took an add'l cooler. Not sure if you want to do that or not.

[anna7602]

Jun 24, 2015 16:56:44 GMT -5 pinotgrig said:

Eta - I also took an add'l cooler. Not sure if you want to do that or not.

For quantity or security issues? I'm going and coming back in the same day, so I'm not likely to have more than would fit in that one bag.

[Deleted]

Good timing. I'm going to be away several days and will need to figure out how to get milk back and forth.

[pinotgrig]

Jun 24, 2015 16:58:52 GMT -5 anna7602 said:

Jun 24, 2015 16:56:44 GMT -5 pinotgrig said:

Eta - I also took an add'l cooler. Not sure if you want to do that or not.

For quantity or security issues? I'm going and coming back in the same day, so I'm not likely to have more than would fit in that one bag.

Quantity. Wasn't sure how long you'd be gone and if you wanted to bring everything you pumped back.

[Deleted]

You can go right through. I did it a million times. Sometimes they tested it by holding a swab over it. That was mostly when I went through with bottles. The bags they left alone.

[ewall]

I brought back probably 100 oz or so earlier this month and TSA didn't even raise an eyebrow. Another time, I had my pump parts on top of the milk so when the male TSA agent opened to inspect, he barely peeked and was like "Good enough for me!" and sent me on my way.

[Jalapeñomel]

Yep, I have never had any problems.

[sarahsas]

Do you have to remove the breast pump like a laptop? Thanks for this thread; I am flying soon and I'm going to need these answers !

[Deleted]

And good idea about bags--that will be way easier than bottles. I'll just need to figure out what to keep it in to keep it cold.

[rbp]

I carried 65 oz through security at DCA with no problems. It is a good idea to print out the TSA regs, but I never needed them.

sarahsas you do not need to remove the pump from the bag.

[pinotgrig]

Jun 24, 2015 19:44:13 GMT -5 @kcpokergal said:

And good idea about bags--that will be way easier than bottles. I'll just need to figure out what to keep it in to keep it cold.

I brought an extra lunchbox to keep my bagged milk in. I stopped at a restaurant after going through security and bought a cup of ice. I'd taken extra milk bags and put the ice in them to serve as makeshift ice packs.

[chicago]

Ditto pps, but I just want to stress that the blue ice pack needs to be frozen at all times, even on your way out when you haven't pumped yet. Since I wasn't going to be pumping until I got to my hotel I didn't freeze the pack. The tsa took it from me.

[Poppy]

I opted to not have my milk xrayed, and that caused a bit of a headache. They gave me the fuuuuull patdown, and they looked pretty closely at my milk, swabbed stuff, and thoroughly groped the cooler, too. But in the end I brought home ~100oz.

On the way out I had the ice pack in my carry on and they searched my bag after X-ray (but it was fully frozen as PPs recommended).

Not applicable to Anna, but for others, my biggest tip is to bring a ton of Ziplocs. The fridge in my room was not on when I got there and so I had to figure out how to turn it on, and I don't think it ever got cool enough. It also didn't have a freezer compartment, so my ice pack was useless after the first day. So I'd recommend checking the temp if possible and maybe putting the milk on ice in the fridge itself. Also plan for bringing hotel ice for day trips.