Pumping on a trip

[oukapu]

I am going on a weeklong business trip. I have a mini fridge and freezer at the hotel. What is the best way to transport it home? Bottles or bags? Cold or frozen? I'm flying from east coast to central us.

[ijack]

I pumped into bags and then put them on ice in a cooler bag for the trip home. Time on ice from hotel to home was probably about 6 hours.
Just a FYI - security swabbed every.single.bag of milk. So when you get to your destination you might stop at security and ask how to make things easier (security mentioned 3.4oz being the cutoff for swabbing to me, but that doesn't make a lot of sense).

[minzy]

I'd try freezing it in bags and transporting it in an insulated bag with ice packs (which is what I did when I was gone for three days). I have flown with it in liquid form too, and TSA seemed to have less interest in it when it was frozen.

If your stash exceeds your room freezer, check with your hotel about storing it in their commercial freezer. The hotel we stayed at in the middle of our several hundred mile move let me keep my whole stash in their big freezer overnight.

[keh2oblue]

I used to travel for work, and would store up to 6oz in each bag. Then, each day, I would put all the bags in a large ziplock and label. For the first 3 days I would freeze milk, then I would just refrigerate the other days so I could freeze when I got home. I traveled with a soft side cooler and filled up with ice packs and ice (also in large ziplocks).

[ijack]

Depending on how long your flight is, it might not stay frozen. A couple of my bags were frozen and then thawed on ice and had to be used right away.

[keh2oblue]

Jun 2, 2012 21:15:12 GMT -5 ijack said:

Depending on how long your flight is, it might not stay frozen. A couple of my bags were frozen and then thawed on ice and had to be used right away.

I agree, that's why I only froze half my stash because I'd have to use them all within the next few days.

[ijack]

Also, bring a roller bag to carry it. I didn't think about that and brought a over the shoulder bag and it was so freaking heavy. 6 days of milk + ice = sore back

[kelseybelsey]

Jun 2, 2012 20:12:21 GMT -5 minzy said:

I'd try freezing it in bags and transporting it in an insulated bag with ice packs (which is what I did when I was gone for three days). I have flown with it in liquid form too, and TSA seemed to have less interest in it when it was frozen.

If your stash exceeds your room freezer, check with your hotel about storing it in their commercial freezer. The hotel we stayed at in the middle of our several hundred mile move let me keep my whole stash in their big freezer overnight.

I am way too paranoid to do this. I would have the irrational fear that someone from the hotel might tamper with the milk.