Joy & the Boys

In this article, I’m going to teach you all that I know about traveling with breastmilk through security at a United States airport. 

I travel every month, sometimes more, through airports across the United States and have spent many security searches walking though without so much as a batted eyelash at my cooler full of breast milk.

And you can, too.

While TSA does have rules to follow concerning breast milk, once you know the rules you can follow them to ease any anxiety and move through TSA without a hitch.

At the time of writing this, I have a 20 month baby son who is still breastfeeding. 

And he doesn’t want to stop even though I find it challenging to travel with a pump and all the milk. 

But I remind myself that one day he will be so big that these sweet moments nursing and rocking him in the “biki” chair (that’s how he says “milk”) will be over and we will no longer nurse and rock me gazing into his sweet blue eyes and him pulling strands of his orangy hair. 

I will miss these days, regardless of how hard this part of parenting a toddler is. 

“Medically Necessary Liquid”

The Transportation Security Administration considers breast milk a “medical necessary liquid,” and it is exempt from the 3.4 ounce rule when carrying on, so you don’t have to package it under 3.4 ounces. 

However, even if it’s only two ounces, your milk is still subject to search, so put the notion out of your mind that if it’s under 3.4 ounces and fresh and not frozen it will be exempt from search. 

They will still possibly open it up and search it. 

Traveling with Breast Milk Gone Wrong

I was recently at the Orlando International Airport where all 100 plus ounces of my fresh breast milk were opened individually and searched for explosive fumes.

Yes, they think moms would use their breast milk to bomb a plane.

They must not know how hard it is to pump.

Unfortunately, our Disney resort didn’t have access to a freezer, so I was subject to a long, 15 to 20 minute search that made me concerned that I would miss my flight. (There were some extenuating circumstances that made me already a half hour late, i.e. I left my purse at the resort with my ID and money and I needed to get on the plane in less than an hour.)

During the search, the TSA agent opened the clean breast milk and subjected it to a strip that she hovered over the opening as well as her latex gloves and didn’t get all of the air out of them when she closed them up. It was really upsetting. 

I pleaded with her that I was a good citizen, who paid my taxes, voted in every election since I was 18, called my parents regularly, and didn’t even know what explosives were, except, of course, fireworks. 

She didn’t find any of this persuading, so I stopped my monologue and waited impatiently for her to complete her demoralizing and anti-mother search.  

To prevent you from facing a rigorous, time consuming, and invasive search of your liquid gold stash, here are my best tips for traveling through TSA with breast milk.

1. Freeze your breast milk completely and carry it on in a small cooler with ice packs. 

TSA allows you to bring as many bags of breast milk through security that you can pack into your cooler. 

Honestly, I think they’d let you fill your carry-on. 

But if you just have a few bags or many, follow these instructions.

Freeze your milk completely and gather the items below. 

Your milk literally sustains your baby. 

So making sure it will stand the travel without thawing is crucial for it to be usable when you get home. 

What you will need to do this:

1. A cooler
   1. Preferably a soft sided, small one that can easily be crammed into your suitcase on the way there, and expanded to use on the way home. I purchased this cooler from Target and it has been a great size and collapses into my carry on easily. I would recommend this cooler if your trip is short, like 2-3 days, and you don’t tend to produce a lot when your baby isn’t with you. I tend to pump at least as much if not more than he takes in so my cooler is pretty full after a 4-day trip.
2. Ice packs
   1. You can use gel, soft, liquid, or bags of ice. All are acceptable. But be sure they are completely frozen before you head through TSA. I recommend refilling bags of ice if they’re a little slushy when you get to security at the airport. Most terminal restaurants or coffee shops are willing to give you a few cups of ice for free.
3. Plastic zip-top bags
   1. I usually bring extra gallon sized bags to gather up my breast milk into the cooler to put the breast milk in bags closer together.  Or to fill if my ice packs aren’t cold. Case in point, staying at a hotel that doesn’t have a freezer you might need to grab ice from the ice machine. 
   2. Pro Tip: The less space you leave in your cooler, the colder your cooler will stay when transporting breast milk for longer than 6 hours. I learned this from camping with food in a cooler for a weekend. It’s amazing what frozen food can do to keep other items cold. 
4. Breastmilk Storage bags
   1. I exclusively use Lansinoh Breast Milk Storage Bags because I have had bad experiences with generic brands, and breast milk is liquid gold. Losing it is a cryin’ shame.
5. Pump & Accessories
   1. You know you can’t get the milk out efficiently without a good pump. So whether electric or hand pump, make sure you have your pump, cord, and all the accessories when you’re packing up your suitcase. I’ve forgotten bottles and my charging cord before. Fortunately, another mama on my work team was pumping and her cord worked on my pump. Mama village FTW!
   2. You can also pack this in a checked bag if you don’t need to pump at the airport. 

Pack the cooler completely so there’s no air holes or pockets, and carry the cooler through security. 

This method has created the best experiences through cities across the United States including Atlanta, Denver, Boise, Orlando, Chicago, and Nashville, so far.

2. Transport breast milk using the same items, but some bags of milk are thawed. 

There can be one bag that didn’t get into the freezer because you just pumped before you got to security, or within two hours of getting to the airport. 

Just gather that bag with the frozen milk and pack it in tight. It won’t freeze, but it will get cold.

TSA might check this one or two bags, but the frozen bags will usually be passed over. It might take an extra 5 minutes, but that won’t affect you too much. 

3. Transport fresh, unfrozen breast milk in clear bags or bottles and be ready for a search.

Though I have TSA PreCheck, I will get to the airport early if my breast milk is completely thawed. I recommend whatever your status to get there an extra half hour early to allow for a search so you’re not rushed when you need to get on the plane.

It can take upwards of 20 minutes to have them check each bag with a vapor strip, so I don’t want to get there without enough time to get a snack, cruise the tabloid rack, and check the gift shops.

4. Check your breast milk in your suitcase. 

Since I usually take short trips for work, I very rarely check baggage anymore, but I could for free because of all the perks I get from being a frequent flier. Thank you, Delta Airlines! 

Only once have I made space on the back end of a trip to put my cooler of frozen breast milk in my suitcase to keep it from being searched. 

But I will say this is the easiest way to travel with breast milk on a flight. 

The cargo area stays cold, so your frozen milk will stay frozen, and no one will be opening it up if it isn’t frozen. Also, you won’t be waiting in the TSA for 10-20 minutes while they look through thawed breast milk.

The last time I did this my milk was still completely frozen when I got home 1.5 hours after I landed in my home state. 

Some final tips on making traveling with breast milk a good experience

You can definitely make it through security with breast milk and without a search. 

Here are a few additional tips to help you be ready to carry on breast milk. 

1. Let the TSA agents know before they send it through the scanner that the cooler is full of breast milk. Usually, they will call an additional agent over while they’re scanning everything else so they can start looking it over if they need to right away. 
2. The cooler your milk is in is allowed as an extra bag, so you don’t have to shove it in your purse or carry on. Just say it’s breast milk and the gate agents and flight attendants won’t question you.

Conclusion

I’m confident that you can travel through airport security with your breast milk in tow, with very little inconvenience. 

Continuing to pump while you are traveling can be a challenge, but it’s doable and worth it to feed your baby. 

What tips or tricks would you suggest for traveling with breastmilk? Leave your ideas in the comments.