How to Ship & Transport Frozen Breast Milk

You need to know how to pack it safely whether you are moving a sizable frozen stockpile or taking a weekend’s worth of milk on business travel.

Packing And Shipping Instructions

Follow these steps:

• Put your breast milk in storage bags or containers that can withstand freezing and thawing.
• You shouldn’t overfill the containers you use to store breast milk. Breast milk expands when frozen, so you should only fill your containers 2/3 to 3/4 of the way up to avoid them bursting.
• Breast milk should be frozen.
• Frozen breast milk should be placed in zip-top plastic bags or bottles.
• As tightly as you can, place them inside the plastic bag, let out any excess air, and then seal it. To provide yourself with more security, you might want to double bag your breast milk.
• Put the plastic bags filled with your breast milk containers into a styrofoam cooler that is approximately 2″ to 3″ thick. The cooler needs to be sturdy enough to withstand shipping while also maintaining the cold temperature.
• Before working with the dry ice, put the gloves on. Place your breast milk in the cooler with the dry ice, which has been wrapped in newspaper. Put the dry ice throughout the cooler, not just at the bottom. The cold air does not move around when placed at the bottom of the package. It’s acceptable to place some dry ice on the cooler’s bottom if you’re layering it with breast milk or if you’re covering the cooler’s sides, bottom, and top with it.
  Newspaper should be stuffed into every available space in the cooler. This helps to slow down the process of the dry ice turning from a solid into a gas and also prevents your breast milk from shifting while it is being shipped.
  Don’t completely seal off the styrofoam cooler; just tape it up. Carbon dioxide can be found in solid form as dry ice. The carbon dioxide needs to escape the container as it transforms from a solid to a gas.
• A cardboard shipping box should be placed inside the cooler. Once more, stuff the empty space with paper to stop the cooler from shifting around too much inside the shipping box. The shipping box should be sealed.
• Bring your package to a shipping facility that accepts shipments of dry ice with all the required labels prepared. Find out where you need to go by calling in advance as not all facilities accept dry ice.
• Ensure that someone will be available to receive your breast milk when it gets to its destination. It must be taken out of the shipping container and stored correctly after delivery.

How To Keep Breastmilk Cold While Traveling By Car

If you have chilled breast milk that you need to transport in the car, you’ll need a way to keep it cool until you can put it back in the fridge or until it’s time to feed your baby. Only if you intend to feed it to your child within the next hour or two would you not need to keep it cold; however, you should watch that it doesn’t get too warm while in the car.)

To keep your breast milk cold in the car, you can either use a cooler or a travel-sized mini-fridge.

Using a cooler: You must use a cooler if you have one. Coolers come in a variety of sizes and materials, and they can either be soft-sided or hard-sided. In the end, you want to be certain that the cooler you select will maintain the cold temperature of your breastmilk for the entire time it will be inside. Finding out how long a cooler will keep its contents cold is important when selecting one.

It’s crucial that the cooler has enough ice or ice packs inside of it. To keep it cold, Popular Mechanics advises using at least a 2:1 ratio of ice to liquid. Additionally, it’s a good idea to completely fill your cooler to prevent air gaps from causing the ice to melt more quickly.

Using a portable mini fridge: If you frequently travel by car while breastfeeding, you might want to think about buying a mini fridge that you can plug into your car adapter to keep your breastmilk cool all day. Remember that these refrigerators have a smaller capacity. A high-capacity cooler would be a better option if you needed to transport a lot of breastmilk.

Can You Keep Breastmilk Frozen While Traveling By Car?

Breast milk for your baby must be consumed within 24 hours of being fully defrosted. Therefore, you must figure out a way to keep the breast milk frozen if you need to transport a significant amount of frozen breast milk that won’t be consumed within the first day of thawing.

You cannot simply refreeze it later, in case you were wondering. The CDC clearly states, “NEVER put thawed human milk back into the freezer.” However, it’s crucial to remember that breast milk is still regarded as being frozen if there are any apparent ice crystals present. Kelly’s Mom says it’s still safe to put it back in a working freezer at this point.

Flying With Human Milk

There are some restrictions on the Transportation Security Administration’s acceptance of human milk in checked and carry-on bags within the country. The TSA website states: “Formula, breast milk, and juice are permitted in carry-on luggage in reasonable quantities. To be screened separately from your other belongings, take these items out of your carry-on bag. It’s not necessary to travel with your child if you’re bringing breast milk.”

The TSA continues, “Formula, breast milk, and juice that is larger than 3.4 ounces or 100 milliliters are permitted in carry-on luggage and are not required to fit inside a quart-sized bag. To have these items screened separately from the rest of your belongings, take them out of your carry-on bag. Bringing breast milk is not contingent on traveling with your infant. Carry-on luggage is permitted to contain ice packs, freezer packs, frozen gel packs, and other accessories needed to cool juice, formula, and breast milk. These accessories are subject to the same screening described above even if they are partially frozen or slushy.”

In particular, if you are using dry ice, it is crucial to confirm the specific requirements with your airline before flying.

Conclusion

We are aware of the balancing act that comes with having a young child. It can be challenging to balance everything, including breastfeeding, work, outside obligations, and your baby’s developmental milestones. You’re doing a great job, and we’re always here to support you as you go through the breastfeeding process so you can easily continue to give your child breast milk for as long as you’d like – even after returning to work!

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