5 Tips for Breastfeeding On-The-Go

I am a true, first-time, millennial mom. And by that I mean… I waited till my early 30’s to have kids. Apparently that’s the trend with my generation! I’m not mad about it! I highly recommend to anyone to wait till their 30’s to have kids! As my mom always told me, “Once you start having kids, you have them the rest of your life!”! I took that to mean, enjoy your life as much as you can before you start having kids (heck, my parents weren’t even millennials and still waited till their 30’s to have kids!), because AFTER kids… your life takes on a different kind of enjoyment, but it’s no longer about YOU!

The other thing that stuck with me from my mom is the importance of breastfeeding. It’s interesting to look back in history and see the shift from when formula first came out and everyone was using it. To now, where healthcare providers continue to emphasize the importance of breastfeeding. I was fortunate, my baby didn’t have any issues breastfeeding and my milk supply was JUST enough that we were able to last 11 months of exclusive breastfeeding (like all breastfeeding moms, we are always very proud of those milestones!). I know that’s not always the case. Being a mom is hard enough, so no judgement here if formula has been the right answer for you! This post highlights what helped me meet my goal of exclusively breastfeeding my baby for as long as possible. Even with the very “on-the-go” lifestyle my husband and I live AND while I traveled for work. Hope you can find some helpful tips too if this is your goal!

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1. Bring your Pump!

We are on the go a LOT! If you haven’t already read my travel tips with a baby post, I mention there that within my baby’s first year we took 11 flights and countless more road trips! Even when we are home, we like to get out of the house and go to the park, go to my in-law’s house, go to public events, etc. At times, we can definitely be homebodies, but especially in those early days of having a newborn, it really helped my mental health to get OUTSIDE and be around other people (all the new mom’s must know what I mean!).

When starting my breastfeeding journey, I was told to keep pumping around the clock, even if baby wasn’t eating in order to keep up my milk supply. Gosh, for those 11 months of breastfeeding, I really do feel like my pump was attached to me at all times. I was constantly next to that thing and bringing it with me everywhere I went. I work from home, and travel occasionally, and I went back to work 3-months after having the baby. This meant I had to pump. I breastfeed whenever I could, but I also got really good at using that pump! Sure there are a ton of pumps out there, but I really do believe this one is the best. The battery life is awesome, the “suction” strength is perfect, and there’s even a little night light you can use if needed in the dark (I used it more times than I thought I would!).

Surprisingly, for as much travel as I do and on-the-go lifestyle we live, I never ended up using my hands-free pumps! I know a lot of people swear by these, but it I just found the strength of the Spectra pump to be so good and since it had the chargeable battery, I would just bring this with me on the road! There were many occasions that I was sitting in the car pumping with this thing! Worked like a charm… why fix what’s not broke!?

2. Find a Good Pumping Bag

Again, there are a lot of great options out there for pumping bags. There are SO many cute ones! However, since we had already invested in the GREATEST diaper backpack out there (The Beis Ultimate Diaper BackPack), then I obviously wanted my pumping bag to match AND luckily… Beis (I’m not sponsored!) makes a great, very cute and practical, pumping bag! I’ve been a big fan of this bag! I still use it as a laptop bag occasionally (you can’t really tell the difference!).

Jumping ahead of myself a bit, but Beis also makes (or did, it might be sold out now?) a really cute milk storage cooler. It is perfect for bringing a few bottles of milk along for a trip. We even still use it today for his lunch bag sometimes!

3. Milk Coolers and Bottle Parts

In addition to having the right Pumping Bag, there are a lot of extra parts and accessories that come with being prepared to support your breastfeeding journey. Definitely make sure you have plenty of bottles! And always have an extra set (or two) of the pumping attachments for the pump that you use. And don’t forget to clean these pump parts regularly!

Since I used the Spectra Pump, this set of extra replacement valves came in handy, replacement tubing is a must-have (those things are hard to clean!). I found this set that includes all the parts to be helpful too. Trust me, you end up using a lot of extra parts!

While on the go, taking time to clean all the parts thoroughly wasn’t always an option. I was VERY happy that someone came up with this idea of pump part wipes! These things are a game changer! Very happy I found them and they work great for those truly on-the-go moments!

Also while on the go, you sometimes have to store bottles that aren’t fully dried off yet. Or even worse, you have a baby that spits up the milk after eating and you need a separate place to store the wet cloth while you’re still on the road (speaking from experience!). These wet/dry bags are very handy to keep in either your pumping bag or the diaper backpack!

I also LOVED using these bottle tags! I kept these on all his bottles at all times (you can wash the bottles with them on!). Then I used a whiteboard marker to add the date on the bottles so I knew how long the milk was good for. It easily wipes off for the next time! This was honestly a lifesaver! Once you get enough bottles, you can’t keep track of which one needs to be used first! Especially while traveling, you can’t keep track of which one will “expire” first. So using these tags really helped make sure our baby got milk that was still good!

For longer trips, I quickly found that I needed a way to store more than 1-2 bottles of milk. So I got a small cooler to bring on longer trips. I also found these ice packs to be the perfect size for not only my Beis milk storage cooler, but they also work well in any cooler.

For trips where we were flying, I knew I wanted to have chilled milk for the baby for take off and landing (baby’s drinking milk during take/off landing really helps their ears to pop, just like an adult!). I used this handy-dandy invention to store extra milk. It even has attachments that work with the Spectra pump. Genius!

4. Nursing/Pumping Bras and Outfits

There are SOOOO many options out there when it comes to nursing and pumping bras. And an unlimited amount of nursing tops and outfits out there now too, which is great! I’m really glad people have taken the time to invent so many ways to make breastfeeding easier on women! This list is not meant to be exhaustive by any means. These are some of the brands and items that I really liked, and I tried a lot!

Also, it may be important to note that the difference between pumping and nursing bras is that the pumping bras actually have holes in them for the pumps to go and it helps hold them into place. The nursing bras have hooks on the front that let you drop one side or the other for direct breastfeeding. Technically you can use the nursing bras for pumping purposes too (and I did pretty frequently). But know that you will be having to hold the pumps with your hands, there’s no support from the bra. Vice versa, you can use most pumping bras for nursing too, they usually have the drop down hooks in the front. But know that these pumping bras provide NO padding or coverage in the front, so proceed with caution LOL!

Favorite Pumping and Nursing Bras

Favorite Nursing Outfits

Don’t forget to get a nursing cover of some sort! Again, so many options out there! I loved the fabric of these two (easily wipeable!) and didn’t let me get too hot. These work as car seat covers too, which is great for making a dark space for baby to nap! Make sure you keep one of these in your pumping bag at all times! Never know when you will need it!

5. Manual Pump

This is last on the list, because I didn’t really use this as much as some people do. However, I still think it’s a cheap and worthwhile investment because it does come in handy from time to time. The Haakaa Manual Breast Pump is an Amazon best seller and top baby registry item for a reason. It is really good at getting the job done! It can be a new mom’s best friend when you’re just starting off with your pumping journey and you have leakage coming from one side while you’re pumping the other. You just attach this manual pump and catch all the extra leakage! Yes, you will look like a crazy monster or machine that’s hooked up to a million different things, and if you’re in the early newborn days, you probably feel like a crazy monster too!

It does have a bit of a learning curve to figure out how to operate it, even though it seems very simple. I would recommend, just like taking your pump, bring it to the hospital when you have the baby and the registered lactation nurses will help you learn how to use it properly!

Ready to Breastfeed on-the-go?!

When I started my breastfeeding journey, I remember being worried that it would really tie me down and I wouldn’t be able to leave the house. I hope this post shows you that you don’t have to be tied down and you can still live your life AND breastfeed your baby!