Travelling cross country

We are taking our first trip with the twins when they are exactly 6 mos old. We have a direct flight from Texas to Boston then driving a couple hours and staying at a house with family for 4 nights.

I've never travelled before with them and looking for any breastfeeding/pumping tips:

My twins are EBF except for a 7 oz bottle of EBM at bedtime. I'd like to keep doing this bottle on the trip but it means i need to bring my pump, bottles and some extra milk for the first night, as I use what I pump the next day.

Has anyone travelled with their pump? I have a medela symphony rented from the hospital and it has a huge case. I guess I can bring it to the airport and check it.

What about transporting milk? I guess I can bring some in a small cooler with ice pack to keep it cold until we get to the house. Is this ok?

I've been told I should nurse during take off/landing to alleviate pressure in LO ears, but I don't feel comfortable tandeming on the plane, so what about having DH give the other twin a bottle? Another reason I need to bring some pumped milk.

Anything else I need to be aware of?

 

I don't have any age-specific advice because we travelled with our babes at two months and will be again at 10 but here's what we did/will do:

We do not do a daily bottle so I can't speak to experience on that but can you rent a pump at your destination? Many pharmacies rent them. What about doing that? You could plan it in advance and pick it up when you arrive? Your plan for transporting milk sounds good to me though other experts may chime in.

I don't think you can tandem on the plane anyway as you will each need to take a baby. I nursed the baby I had and DH had the other with a soother. This time, I will take the one who will only take the breast and he will have the other with a soother as he loves it! We just swapped during the flight so I could nurse them both. But you should be able to bring a bottle as it allowed on board.

At six months, I would recommend bringing lots of toys, distractions etc. Have you thought about naps? What do you plan to do?

Good luck!

 

You can carry breastmilk onto the plane. The one time I travelled with extra milk, I froze it and put it in a cooler with ice packs to keep it cold, then popped it in the freezer upon arriving at our destination (however, depending on travel time, it may not stay copmletely frozen so would then need to be drunk within 24 hours after it thaws--but I'm guessing the milk you bring on the plane would be for your first night bottles anyway). Otherwise, not frozen with freezer pack will work too. Interestingly, when I travelled with the frozen milk it was not subject to the extra screening process they typically do because it wasn't in liquid form (I just told the screener I had frozen breast milk and he said it didn't need the extra screening, but would have if it were in liquid form).

You can't nurse exactly on take-off and landing (although I have done it and had the flight attendants turn a blind eye to it). Most will make you hold the baby in a certain position for take-off/landing and not allow you to nurse, but you can nurse as soon as the flight attendants are up and walking around the cabin after take off and until they are required strap in for landing. So if they both take pacifiers, having those for that time will help. And, yes, you won't be able to (and likely wouldn't want to) tandem on the plane because there is often not a lot of room to even do one without the baby's feet kicking your seat neighbour.

I travelled with my pump in my suitcase, but it's a PISA so much smaller than the symphony, I think. I know lots of people who have carried their pumps onto the plane, but most of them also had PISA.

Also, can I just say I'm amazed your twins take 7 oz bottles! Mine won't drink more than 4 oz and they are 6 months. Also, I can't imagine pumping 14 oz a day on top of breastfeeding! You must have a rocking supply which is awesome.

 

I've always nursed during take off and never had a problem with flight attendants. Not with the twins, but with my older daughter I flew 6 or 7 times to go visit my parents before she was a year old. I would also nurse one and have the other use a paci or a bottle if your stash makes that possible. Also, I don't know if you figured this out when you made the tickets, but you can't have two lap infants in the same row, so you and DH will have to sit across the aisle from each other. Brings toys, snacky things if they are eating them, an extra change of clothes for each, if you want to go all out, bring an extra shirt for you and DH if they are spitter uppers or leaky poopers. Also, dress them in a shirt and pants so it's easy to check and change their diapers in the flight, onesies or sleepers make that very complicated. I would change their dipes right before the flight and unless they poop, just change them after you land in the airport. I saw somewhere online recently that a couple gave out little packets with candy and earplugs to their surrounding seatmates, but I found most people friendly and understanding on the whole each time I flew with my older daughter and definitely when I flew with the twins. Good luck!!