Expert: ruth kraft - 1/20/2010

Question
QUESTION: Hi
I'm going out of town for 5 days and I was wondering how I could pump enough milk for my 2 month old? Should I pump right after I feed every time or should I wait a little because I never seem to have that much left after a feeding???? I'm  leaving in 2 weeks is this something that I can do it this amount of time?
Thanks so much
Nicole

ANSWER: yes, you can pump after you feed him  for the next 2 weeks and surely get enough. You can also pump an extra time in the morning as most women have more milk in the am than in the evening. So, this would be a good time to get some extra milk. Make sure you take your pump with you while you go with some cooler packs. As you will need to express while you are away to keep your milk up as well. You can either fex ex it home or take it with you . Take baggies with you as well. If you are not able to keep it , you might look into calling a breastmilk bank and donating it to sick preemies who could desperatly use it. then just ship it to them. Breastmilk is good refrigerated for 8 days after expressed. So just keep it cool, check it as baggage in a box or something and you should be fine :) or, like I said, fed ex it home to not worry about security and liquids at the airport.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: So I should do it right after I feed even though I don't have alot of milk left? Also I'm going to Mexico I was thinking maybe I should not keep the mike because you never really know what is in the food and water there.
Thanks so much for your time.

Answer
You can if you want, or you can wait a half hour or hour after you feed. it doesnt really matter too much either way. You will be building your milk supply so that is what you need to remember.

I agree with not keeping the milk if you have the water. I have also heard it is pretty bad. However, if you eat the food and you can tolerate it fine, your baby will too. Just drink bottled water while you are there. It is up to you whether you keep it or not, it is liquid gold so I encourage people to keep it if possible :) Since mexico is international it does make it more complicated though... So do what works best for you.