Expressing and long haul travel

[Tallblue]

Looking for some advice please. My 3 month old DD is fed on expressed breast milk, not ideal (due to the time and faffing involved in expressing and sterilising etc) but we had so many issues with direct feeding this is the solution we have settled on. To maintain her food supply and for my comfort, I need to express 5-6 times each day. I am due to take a long haul flight with DD (expat visiting home) in a few weeks time and am really worried about engorgement. Has anyone tried expressing whilst travelling? I'm not sure of the logistics, Im not sure about spending extended period in aeroplane toilets with a pump but I'm struggling to see other options? I would try to feed DD to reduce the pressure but would need to express first anyway due to over-supply/fast let down, so that doesn't really help! I'm scared of getting painful, blocked up boobs. Any expressing/ travel advice?

Bump!

If you have an electric breast pump you should be able to use batteries and use it whenever needed during the flight. I would just do it in the seat rather than toilets and use a cover / feeding scarf etc. As long as you have clean bottles with you you'll be able to transfer and feed to DC as required. Good luck!

Phone the airline first. You can't be the first women to use a breast pump on a flight.

My pump will work on batteries. Check if yours will. You can keep the pump parts in a plastic food bag like Ziplock. See if the airline would store in the fridge between pumping sessions. Take a bag that fits bottles and a frozen block. Medela do one.

www.amazon.co.uk/Medela-Cooler-Bag-4-Bottles/dp/B003IT66YY

You could simply hand express for comfort into a plastic jug or bowl. Milton tablets and water are the simplest method of sterilising. Have you tried nipple shields to help you feed directly?

Soya lecithin reduces the incidence of blocked ducts. You could take it in the week before the flight as extra insurance.

Thanks for your replies, I hadn't thought about soy lecithin but will certainly look into it. Not sure I'm comfortable pumping in my seat. We'll hopefully be front row with a baby bassinet which means block of 4 seats together so I'll either be in the aisle or in the middle seat next to a stranger.
Stargirl- yes we have tried shields, limited success but has worked for a short feed in times of desperation, never sufficient for a full feed. Will definitely pack some shields as a fall-back option.

I had no luck with silicone shields but DD2 will latch onto latex shields.