Breastfeeding While Traveling

A friend asked me recently about how I went with the long car trips with babies still
breastfeeding. The short answer is…not very often! Although, I have traveled approximately 600 miles
several times and I do have some suggestions.

How many times have a listened to my baby cry wishing I could get him or her out and nurse while
my dear husband drove! It actually took me a while to figure out that long car trips with
breastfed babies are made much easier by taking the hand express pump and bottles to feed baby along
the way. This works well whether you are on your own with the kids or have dear hubby there as well. Of course you can always pull over and nurse. Babies that tend to sleep longer while driving are very helpful when you can stretch the nursing a little farther and get down the road!

Once your baby has reached six months the amount of sleeping he or she will do in the car diminishes substantially! I always tell my family that the best time to travel is with a newborn. Once they can be up and about more, the harder it is to travel in peace and quiet.

We always stop regularly to allow the older to kids to stretch their legs, go to the restroom, run around,etc.,but I have found that the babies are not always willing to nurse then. Often they are just so happy to be out of the car seat that feeding is actually the last thing that they feel like doing! Sometimes they will nurse for a brief stint, but quickly they get distracted. They are too busy checking out all the exciting things going one around them. This happens especially the case if they are crawling or walking.

For most women, having the hand pump on board works beautifully. If driving alone, you can express at a rest stop while the children play or even while pumping gas if you use a cover up and can relax and express relatively quickly. You can then transfer it into a bottle. Once back in the car and the crying from the baby
begins (due to hunger-not desire to get out), you can have baby’s older sibling or even dad help him drink from the bottle (if needed!).

With my later children, I have found that I am unable to express or pump any amount of milk for bottles. In this case, I usually supplement formula or use the lean over method. The lean over method is simply sitting next to the baby’s car seat and with your seatbelt on if at all possible, leaning over the baby so the baby can nurse. Sometimes it can be hard to get into the right position for this and you may have to pull the
breast over to baby and position the baby as far over to the side as possible. It also might put pressure on your ribs, but to me it is worth a little endurance.
This can be difficult to keep modest and covered so it won’t always work, but it sure does help keep your breasts empty and that means less trouble for your breasts later on. Of course, it keeps you traveling on
to your destination.

Though you likely will still need to plan extra time into your trip for taking care of baby, pumping along the way (while covered with a blanket,etc.) gives even more flexibility if someone else is driving. You can express at any time and then help the baby feed if he or she needs to. By using bottles of expressed milk for the baby or using the lean over method on long car trips you can have  much more pleasant trips as there will likely be less crying. And, that means less stress on everyone, especially Mom!