Tips on breastfeeding and travel

[Lupeix]

DD is currently 5 months and breastfed, I plan to continue to do so for as long as I can (hopefully I can at least make the 1 year mark). This means I will be breastfeeding for 3 upcoming plane trips, including our Disney trip in july.

DS is a squirmy nurser and she complains loudly when milk does not flow to her liking. This means that I cannot comfort nurse her because if I nurse her more often than 2-3 hours she gets really mad that there is not enough milk is coming out as fast as she would like. She is also a quick "eat and done" nurser. Easily distracted by whatever is happening around her.
I was thinking that at the parks the best thing to do will be to go to the babycare centers, it will be a bonus to get out of the heat also.

I am a little anxious, however, about breastfeeding in the plane. I hear it is good to nurse on takeoff and landing for their ears, but I am concerned she will start to complain if I try to nurse her when she doesn't want to. She also doesn't like covers. Can anyone share tips?

I am leaving friday for our first trip, I need to catch 2 redeye flights and it will take me almost 48 hours to get to my destination!

 

[krm222]

I nursed a lot on rides, especially boat rides because it was dark and thus harder for her to see anything. There's only one Baby Care Center per park so you'll be doing a lot of walking if you keep going back and forth to that. I'd suggest finding a spot in the shade or a restaurant or in a ride and just let her do her thing.

On the plane, no real advice but good luck. Our 9 month old really liked looking out the window so maybe try that. I tried nursing during takeoff/landing but she was done before the plane so it didn't help but then again she didn't seem bothered by her ears either.

 

[Lmans77]

I agree, it might be more of a pain to walk back and forth to a baby care center if you aren't already close by. I would find anywhere that is shady or has a/c. I don't have any experience with breastfeeding on a plane. I have heard that about the ears, but I wouldn't force the nursing if she doesn't want to. Does she do any kind of artificial nipple like a paci, bottle or sippy?
Good luck! I nursed mine to 19 months and 1 year. I remember those days!

 

[msmama]

My son was a comfort nurser so he'd pretty much nurse anywhere (for a few minutes at least). The worst place at WDW for him was the communal nursing room at MK!! It was so nice and peaceful in there with all these moms rocking and nursing, and my son wanted nothing to do with it. Honestly, he nursed A LOT on rides and during shows. Philharmagic and Muppets are good ones (plus dark if you're concerned about that kind of thing, I wasn't).

As for the plane, if it seemed like he was uncomfortable, I'd nurse him, but otherwise just let him be.

 

[NewDisneyFam]

I will be nursing my 7 month old on our trip in 2 weeks. I have found this thread helpful for tips in the parks.

http://www.disboards.com/threads/official-breast-feeding-support-thread-for-wdw-parks.2465781/

I don't have advice for your plane travel. Just do your best, Momma. Best of luck.

 

[JWigs]

My LO was born 2 months early and was never able to latch.

We took her to DL when she was almost 11 mos and I was still pumping. It was more stressful but we were able to get through it. Just try to relax and hydrate and your lil one feeds off your energy. Bless your heart for flying so much while nursing with a little one. It's not easy but worth it if you can do it.

 

[DizneyLizzy]

I nursed my son for 13 months, and in those 13 months we took 4 flights and traveled to Walt Disney World once. What I found about nursing was that is changed as rapidly as my son did. He nursed great with a cover until he was about 5 months, and then we were done with that. He went through phases where he was easily distracted when other people or things were in the room, he went through a biting phase (luckily THAT didn't last long! ha), and then we circled the wagons again. So your baby may be nursing one way now, and it may change by the time you travel.

Nursing on the plane was a godsend. I basically nursed my son for an hour straight on all flights (and at that point he was usually only nursing for about 10 minutes at a time). He was really drowsy from early morning wake ups so I think it was a combo of nursing and sleeping, but it helped us get through our flights. I wasn't covering up at that point, and it wasn't a big deal at all - I sat in a window seat and no one around me could even tell what I was doing. Taking 6 AM flights was great, bc he was so tired by the time we took off that he nursed/slept for almost the entire flight.

In WDW I was able to find a few quiet places to nurse without trekking to a baby center. Innoventions was a great one in Epcot. There are lots of quiet corners with benches, or big spaces to camp out on the floor. In the MK, we used some of the tables outside in the "side streets" on Main Street. If it's hot though, those probably aren't great.

Good luck!

 

[ngm]

I never nursed at takeoff/landing. The flight attendants always wanted m to hold the baby upright over my shoulder. She never needed nursing during those times anyway. Nursing in the seat is a pain in the butt. Her legs were always in my neighbour's lap (which wasn't always my husband as I did most of my flying alone with Baby), and there is no way to be even remotely discreet when your neighbor is so close, so a few people got a view of my boobs *shrug*. Everybody was always nice and tried to help with DD. Good luck!

 

[unrequited23]

I suggest you focus on staying hydrated while you are on vacation. It is easy to get out of the constant water drinking routine when you break your daily routine. I found sports drinks (gatorade/powerade) would amp up my supply.
As for the cover issue, I would probably wear a nursing tank with a shirt over it then throw on a cardigan for the plane and not worry. Sometimes with all of the squirming and playing peekaboo, fighting with a cover draws more attention than not using one.

 

[Pridemom]

DD is currently 5 months and breastfed, I plan to continue to do so for as long as I can (hopefully I can at least make the 1 year mark). This means I will be breastfeeding for 3 upcoming plane trips, including our Disney trip in july.

DS is a squirmy nurser and she complains loudly when milk does not flow to her liking. This means that I cannot comfort nurse her because if I nurse her more often than 2-3 hours she gets really mad that there is not enough milk is coming out as fast as she would like. She is also a quick "eat and done" nurser. Easily distracted by whatever is happening around her.
I was thinking that at the parks the best thing to do will be to go to the babycare centers, it will be a bonus to get out of the heat also.

I am a little anxious, however, about breastfeeding in the plane. I hear it is good to nurse on takeoff and landing for their ears, but I am concerned she will start to complain if I try to nurse her when she doesn't want to. She also doesn't like covers. Can anyone share tips?

I am leaving friday for our first trip, I need to catch 2 redeye flights and it will take me almost 48 hours to get to my destination!

I would introduce a sippy cup. Drinking some water will help ears pop. If your baby takes a pacifier, that will also help. One of my four refused to nurse in busy places, so I understand.

 

[kboo]

I took close to 20 flights w DD1 when she was nursing, and have done 2 with DD2 (3 mo) already, as well as taken Amtrak ... never used a cover. If you are sitting in a window seat, just turn and face the window while latching. While it feels odd to have so many people close by, literally no one can see you then. Also with the white noise of the airplane engines, I found my babies tended to go right to sleep, especially if it was anywhere near nap time. Your upcoming trip with the red eyes will be good practice - the cabin will be dark and no one will be looking in your direction as you nurse.

DD1 is 4.5 now, I found that traveling during the 1-2year time frame was much harder. I see that by WDW your LO will be 9-10 months - my DD1 was a distractible nurser too, at that age it was a little harder. I found that she still liked nursing on the plane, and would do a lot of comfort sucking rather than actual nursing, but if you don't nurse on take off or landing, that is fine too. Really, it was pretty easy to travel with a baby until they started walking and wanted to walk around. You'll do fine!

 

[Paigesmom2013]

We went with 4 month old and I never once used the Disney baby care centers for nursing, only at Sea World, and just because we were nearby. I nursed in line and on benches. The only bad time was nursing on Pirates because I didn't know there was a dip.

I happened to be self-conscious about nursing in public (my thing, no one made me feel bad). So I supplemented with a few formula bottles on the trip and used formula packets. This combo worked for my situation.

 

[cyneswith]

You can try to nurse if you like - no biggie if she doesn't want to. I'd take the window seat with DH in the aisle when I needed to nurse DS (with 2, well, whatever.) She will also probably be using a sippy cup part of the time by then. A sippy cup or chewing on anything would help with the pressure changes.

DD didn't seem to care about the pressure changes, though, and slept through most ascents and descents.

 

[kohlby]

My eldest flew for the first time at 5.5 months. I brought some pumped milk for him just in case - and was so glad that I did! He was so distracted that he refused to nurse. We had three flights that day so it's a good thing I had brought pump milk. I wished I had packed my manual pump in my carry-on though! I learned for that and always packed a pump just in case too. If you're concerned about baby's ears and you don't think nursing or a bottle will work, how about a toy that baby likes to chew? My eldest flew a lot as a baby and the way up never hurt his ears even once. However, the way down hurt his ears every time.

At Disney, I found nursing on the rides to work better than taking the walk to the baby care center. Plan your rides accordingly - putting Ellen in around a nursing time can be very helpful!

I don't use covers so I don't have help there. As for nursing on a plane, if baby is in a different seat, I was able to lean over to nurse. Of course, that meant just nursing from one side so make sure to have baby on the opposite side of you for the next flight if you have two flights in a row.

 

[SweetMissy]

We just went last month with our 8 month old. Also went when our #3 was 4 months old and 18 months old and still nursing. I'm not one to use a cover...can't imagine using one with a baby this age...there's no point, lol. My baby is also very easily distracted, so annoying, lol. There's plenty of places around the parks to sit and relax. I finally checked out one of the baby care centers. They're nice....quiet, dim lit and a/c....since you're going in July, that will be a must. I baby wear and nurse and walk. Nursing on rides work too. Have fun!

 

[Bluegrrl]

We nursed on the planes a lot! Boppy used to make a travel version that was soooo useful! I just zipped it open, set him on it and he went to town! You will find that traveling at that age is a lot easier than older kids. I never covered cause, really, that was too much trouble. If I covered at all, I just used a light linen swaddle cloth. And don't use water, use breastmilk in a bottle if worst came to worst. I never bottle fed my son, only my husband did to prevent nipple confusion (I was the direct source, my DH and others were the bottle - if he wanted the real stuff he had to come to me!)

 

[Lupeix]

Just wanted to update that my plane trip went better than expected. She nursed fine in the plane. I took my boppy with me. I wore a nursing tank and a wrap-like long sleeve t-shirt that turned out to be perfect for nursing and covering her while doing so. I was sandwiched between two guys that seemed very uncomfortable with the idea of nursing for 9 hours, and I managed to do it really discreetly. One trip down, 2 to go. By the time I get to WDW I think I will have this "nursing in public while on the go" thing down!

 

[Pridemom]

Just wanted to update that my plane trip went better than expected. She nursed fine in the plane. I took my boppy with me. I wore a nursing tank and a wrap-like long sleeve t-shirt that turned out to be perfect for nursing and covering her while doing so. I was sandwiched between two guys that seemed very uncomfortable with the idea of nursing for 9 hours, and I managed to do it really discreetly. One trip down, 2 to go. By the time I get to WDW I think I will have this "nursing in public while on the go" thing down!

Little victories empower us.

 

[iheartdisney44]

Make sure you write down all the places you nursed at Disney! I have fun looking back and remembering that I nursed on a plane, train, car, bus, Jungle Cruise, Safari, Great Movie ride, etc., etc. Although mine was 1 month old at the time so it just seems like a lot!