Exclusively pumping at WDW

[Angel Ariel]

Has anybody done WDW with a baby while they are exclusively pumping? DD has a cleft palate and is unable to nurse so I've been exclusively pumping since she was a week old, she is almost 6 months now. I'm starting to freak out about everything, such as if I'll have a problem getting my pump and milk through security at the airport, what I'll do if I have a low milk day without my freezer stash, how I'll keep my milk cool enough all day at the park, how hard it's going to be to pump/store everything. Our flight will be getting to Orlando at 9:30am, do you think if we explained the situation to Disney they could make sure to have a room for us when we arrived so that I'll have a place to keep the pump so I don't have to take it to the park and can get the milk in refrigerator? I don't want to leave it at the desk because I don't want to take the chance of it getting mixed up. If anybody's done it i'd love to hear your experiences, or If anybody has any suggestions or tips, I'd love to hear it. Thanks!

I just got back from WDW, and I'm exclusively pumping as well. I plan on responding to my original post here with an update, but just haven't gotten a change to yet.

I have a Medela PIS and an ameda PY (long story on why I have 2 now) - I used the Medela in the hotel room, and brought the Ameda into the parks with me.

People here did recommend using the Baby Care Centers, but I never actually did use them. The Ameda runs with batteries, so I would find an out of the way place, put on a nursing cover, and go about pumping just as a nursing mom would. I used pump and save bags to pump into in the parks to limit the # of bottles I had to carry. I also brought the medela breast pump wipes to clean the pump parts in between sessions.

I brought a small cooler with us to hold chilled milk, though I ended up finding that it was easier to keep my latest pumping session room temperature and then feeding it an hour or two later when DD was hungry. It was only in the 70s, so similar to room temperature at my house, so 1-2 hrs out was totally fine.

I will say, though, that we did also buy some ready to eat formula. DD doesn't get formula at all at home, but there were times that we needed to give it to her at WDW. It was difficult to find ways to warm up the milk (she won't drink it chilled..room temp, yes, but not cooler chilled). Even at the restaurants, we'd get hot water (like we do at home), but for some reason the water cooled off very quickly and it was a bit of a pain. If you need to warm bottles at all, I highly recommend finding a battery operated warmer or something like these . We didn't use a lot of formula, but we did use some. I was only able to get in 7 sessions/day (one day was 6), and my supply did take a bit of a hit, so having the back up plan was helpful for me.

If you have any questions, PM me! It is totally daunting to EP in the first place, much less think about doing it at WDW. I completely understand! I'm happy to help however i can!

 

[Angel Ariel]

Oh, and as for having the pump in the park, I brought the Ameda because it was small enough to put in a backpack. I didn't want to leave it with the stroller, or have to go to a locker to retrieve it, so we just carried it with us.