Breastfeeding and a wedding

[Williams0706]

Hi guys! I'm currently feeding my 5 week old daughter myself and expressing, have just investing in an electric pump! We have a wedding in September and it's quite far away meaning a long car journey there and back!!! I'll be expressing for it, how do I store the milk throughout the day? We will be setting off early doors and getting back late so need to store the milk for an entire day without a fridge!

Thanks

Are you taking the baby with you? If so, personally I would just wear something you can feed in. Much simpler.

Are you taking expressed milk with you or planning to express whilst there? Sorry if I've misunderstood.

Hi thanks for the reply! I'll be taking her with me and planning to express to feed her bottles while there so need storage advice! I'll be feeding her myself in between too, but she takes ages to feed so need bottles for a quick feed

Medela do a cold storage pack that may help, but you can leave breast milk out on the side for a few hours.

You might well find she’s feeding more quickly/efficiently by September. Honestly I would avoid pumping on the day if you can, adds a layer of logistical complication

Ice pack and insulated bottle bag. Take a zip lock bag as well and you can ask for some ice to put into it to replace your ice pack when it warms up.

You can also ask venue to store but you would need properly labelled bags - and if it’s only for a few hours I’d probably go down the freezer packs and freezer bag route

It can stay at room temperature for six hours, so I wouldn't worry. Otherwise I'd put it in a bottle and ask the waiting staff/bar staff to put it in the fridge

I wouldn't worry too much as previous poster said, baby will be feeding much more efficiently then. I was a bridesmaid when baby was 12 weeks and she had a couple of bottles while I was busy in the morning and then I found I needed to find a quiter place a couple of times just because she was too distracted to feed properly.

If you do want to save it, I'd take a cool bag with a couple of ice blocks and it's fine. Breast milk will store out of a fridge for 6 hours.

You'll probably find it takes longer to pump than just feed though so also think about that.

Ice packs and cool bag, but in 6 weeks time she will probably be feeding quickly. Wear separates and ideally a looser top for easy discreet feeding. I went to a wedding with dd at 3 months, it was fine

Electric coop box you can plug in to car?

*cool

Another vote for not worrying about logistics yet... I remember the difference in efficiency between 5 week old DS (45 + minute feeds plus expressed top ups) and 10 week old DS (10-20 minute feeds/no top ups) was amazing. You might find you don't need to express by then.

Thanks everyone! Will see how she is nearer the time then! Reassured that you've said it should become faster with feeds so that's helpful x