Bringing breastmilk on board

[sunset785]

I did a search and found a few old topics on this and wondering if it had changed and we can bring it on now? I'll be on the Enchantment in March with my 8 month old and hopefully I'll still be breastfeeding. Family is going with us and hoped to have a few drinks so I wanted to bring breast milk on board with us just in case. Would it be possible to have his pedi write a doctors note to bring it on board? I saw in another thread someone said you had to have a note for formula as well. Is this true? Thanks!

 

 

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[cb at sea]

You don't need a note....jeez...you are carrying it IN you! And, if you want to bring some you've pumped, that's fine, too, but you may not have a good way to store it for any length of time.

 

Now, before you get all bent out of shape, having a drink or two won't hurt your child...really it won't! Feed them, then have your drink! At 8 months, they aren't eating every hour!

[kitkat343]

My SIL used test strips that could be dipped in alcohol to see if it was safe to give to the baby, and she dumped any milk that was positive. You would probably have a fridge, but not a freezer, in your cabin for milk storage.

[Cruisin' Chick]

I don't know about Royal Caribbean, so you should ask if there's fridges in the cabins. I can't see why you can't bring a pump, as long as you watch what plug you use in your cabin...but I know about 17 years ago, it wasn't an issue to have a drink before nursing. I would imagine you should talk to your baby's pediatrician to make sure and if there should be a period of time between a drink and a session with the infant. That would eliminate any problem with keeping it cool enough (some cabin fridges might not be safe enough) and any problems with noise (unless pumps nowadays are much more quiet than when I had to use mine at work) disturbing your neighbors.

[sunset785]

You don't need a note....jeez...you are carrying it IN you! And, if you want to bring some you've pumped, that's fine, too, but you may not have a good way to store it for any length of time.

 

Now, before you get all bent out of shape, having a drink or two won't hurt your child...really it won't! Feed them, then have your drink! At 8 months, they aren't eating every hour!

 

 

Well one I was talking about pumped milk and I wouldn't have asked if I can bring it in board if I hadn't seen others have issues with it. I know I could have a drink or two but maybe i would want more. It would be nice to have a couple extra bottles just in case. I have a two year old so I know what 8 month olds can be like. He would take a pumped bottle every 3-4 hours but nursing was definitely sooner than that. All babies are different.

 

 

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[SadieN]

Ship's refrigerators are more like beverage coolers, not true refrigerators. I wouldn't trust any type milk in them.

[BeagleOne]

I don't think bringing pumped milk on board would be an issue, but storing it would be. Even if you can get an in-cabin refrigerator, they're not very cold, and the ship won't store it for you in one of their fridges.

[Kerry's Girls]

Well one I was talking about pumped milk and I wouldn't have asked if I can bring it in board if I hadn't seen others have issues with it. I know I could have a drink or two but maybe i would want more. It would be nice to have a couple extra bottles just in case. I have a two year old so I know what 8 month olds can be like. He would take a pumped bottle every 3-4 hours but nursing was definitely sooner than that. All babies are different.

 

 

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And all security lines are different. Unless you bring a doctor's note, there's no telling what security that day, that moment is going to do, so there's no guarantee. You're talking about a couple bottles, so all you can do it give it a try and there will probably be no issue - they may want to make sure it's not alcohol. How were you planning to keep it cold? You'll probably also need to make sure you're allowed to bring a small ice chest, which I'm not sure about. Then once on board you'll have to go about making sure it stays full of ice - your room steward could help with this, but sometimes you don't see them right away, and I don't think room service is running once you board.

 

Best,

Mia

[WinterEscape]

We took my son when he was nursing and 9 months. I didn't bring any milk aboard, but I did pump and store some in the cabin. The refrigerator is not cold enough as others mentioned, but my room Stewart was great about keeping me stocked in ice and a large bucket. He emptied out the fridge for me and I was able to keep my milk on ice in the fridge. The milk stayed plenty cold. This worked well for us.

 

 

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[flhokie]

In order to have the best chance of getting it onboard, I'd bring a signed letter from the pediatrician (like the person was told to bring for formula). Since it wouldn't be in factory sealed packaging like the formula they might question/scrutinize it more. Also, you mention going in March which is the heart of spring break--cruise lines tend to be the most strict about beverages being carried onboard.

 

In addition to figuring out a plan to store it on the ship, you will want to consider storage during travel to the ship.

[MustSailNOW]

I'm sailing with my (by then) 10 month old on Royal Caribbean. I'm also nursing and hope to have a couple nights of fun. I emailed Royal and requested a medical refrigerator. I explained that I am a nursing mother and was bringing my pump. From my understanding, the medical fridges are true fridges and will allow the storage of milk. I received a reply a couple days later with a confirmation that one would be in our cabin. It was the special needs department that I contacted.

[dispatcher726]

I did a search and found a few old topics on this and wondering if it had changed and we can bring it on now? I'll be on the Enchantment in March with my 8 month old and hopefully I'll still be breastfeeding. Family is going with us and hoped to have a few drinks so I wanted to bring breast milk on board with us just in case. Would it be possible to have his pedi write a doctors note to bring it on board? I saw in another thread someone said you had to have a note for formula as well. Is this true? Thanks!

 

 

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Every room I have had on the Enchantment never had a fridge. I used the one at guest services for my husband's insulin. Not sure you will want your breast milk in a fridge you can not watch.

[Lerin]

We did this when our child was 6 months and nursing almost exclusively.

 

Froze some milk ahead of time and carried it on in a 6-pack sized soft cooler with ice(which we re-filled at fast food restaurants in the airports). Worked like a charm, even after 2 flights, we arrived at the pier with the milk still frozen.

 

By the way if you are flying, you do need to declare it to TSA, they will hand check. We did have to dump the ice, but were able to easily re-fill once passed security.

 

Told the screeners on the ship and they didn't care one bit.

 

Once in our cabin we told our room steward and he brought a large sized ice bucket which was refilled up to 3 times a day for the milk. We put a book over the top to keep it cooler. We also had the standard sized ice bucket filled and kept that covered in the fridge-we had a LOT of milk!

 

7 day cruise and by the end several bags were sill frozen solid so we took them back home and placed them in our freezer for later use.

 

It's not a big deal, don't worry about it at all. Oh we had no doctor's note. That seems unnecessary. What are they going to do? Suggest your baby starve.

 

Hav a fun cruise.

[sunset785]

Thanks everyone for the great ideas! I will email for medical refrigerator and maybe bring a little bit of frozen pumped milk. We are only two hours from port so we should be able to keep frozen until onboard.

 

 

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[SadieN]

Thanks everyone for the great ideas! I will email for medical refrigerator and maybe bring a little bit of frozen pumped milk. We are only two hours from port so we should be able to keep frozen until onboard.

 

 

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When traveling use Rock or Kosher Salt with the ice. It will make it colder.

Put the bottles in a ziplock so they don't get salty.

[KatieBug28]

You may want to bring a small can of formula, just in case. Then you could just pump and dump if you've had a few drinks.

 

We did a cruise when my DD was 8 months, and I found storing it a big hassle. So I just pumped if I needed to and dumped it, and then supplemented with a bottle of formula if needed. I ended up using far less of the formula than I thought I would. They are eating so many solids by then that they don't need nearly as much milk as they do when they are smaller.

 

It's a vacation, so don't stress yourself out too much worrying about milk. It will all work out just fine!

[Marie51]

We just took a cruise with my granddaughter who is tube fed so of course her special formula had to come with us. I called the Special Needs dept at Royal Caribbean and they said they would have a medical fridge(gets colder than the coolers in the cabins) in the cabin and it was there when we arrived. The cruise did not give a hoot about boarding with it but we did have to declare it when going through security at the airport.