Road trips, air travel, day trips, and trips to the park – it’s summertime, and many nursing families are on the move. We’ve shared many travel stories on the New Beginnings blog recently. You can go back and reread some personal experiences, like Leslie’s and Kenisha’s accounts. In a recent discussion with our followers on the New Beginnings Facebook page, we asked: Have you taken your nursing baby on a trip with you? Where did you go and how was it? We hope the tips and experiences below can inspire you no matter what your plans may entail.
Michele K. found that her children could find comfort wherever they were by offering to nurse in a carrier. She said, “My children were very portable as babies. We often nursed in a sling on our adventures. I took one baby to the National Zoo to see the pandas, and he fell asleep. I took that baby to Niagara Falls, and again, he fell asleep. My children went to football games with 100,000 fans, and they fell asleep. Fireworks displays, they fell asleep. A performance of the 1812 Overture by the Indianapolis Symphony, asleep, with the comfort of nursing. We did manage to stay awake for one adventure, a visit to Graceland.”
Some parents find it exciting to document where they’ve nursed or keep track on a map! Emily M. shared, “I’ve kept a note of every different place where my nursling (almost four and still nursing) has had milk. We’ve been all over the place! Starting in a premature baby unit and on to so many different locations. Many parking lots! Cafés, waiting rooms, houses, floors, beaches, lakes, an aquarium tunnel in Windermere, hotels, by the sides of roads, funerals, forests, hairdressers, vet clinics, cathedrals, a farm, a windmill, a steam train, a nature reserve, the Cobb in Lyme Regis (a 14th century harbor wall in England)… The list goes on.” It really is wonderful that babies can come along on adventures easily with nursing and the comfort of their parents.
Véronique L. shared: “I live in Monterrey, Mexico, and have four kids. Their first school used to organize family trips to areas of Mexico easily reachable by car. When our youngest turned six months old, we packed everyone in the minivan and joined the five-day trip to the Huasteca Potosina, our first trip as a family of six. The other families were doubtful about how things would turn out with a six-month old. Actually, it was the easiest thing ever, since I was breastfeeding. Whenever he was hungry or tired, I could feed him anywhere and anytime without any afterthought, be it in the carrier while visiting Edward James’ surreal gardens in Xilitla, sitting on the floor by the waterfalls and natural pristine pools, or enjoying a tamale wrapped in banana leaves. Years later, parents still would tell me that he had been the best baby ever on that trip.”
Sometimes, breastfeeding while traveling can be a superpower and a source of calming relief when travel plans change unexpectedly. Laura P. recalled, “We were stranded at O’Hare airport for nine hours with my nursing toddler. I was so thankful to be breastfeeding! Moms without formula were panicking.”
Jann H. described a memorable moment from nursing in an unusual location. “One of our most memorable moments was nursing Mark at the top of the dormant volcano on the BWI island of Montserrat in the late 70s. (We were long gone when the volcano erupted in the 1990s, and where we had stayed is now in the exclusion zone.)” How cool!
Submit your reflections and stories to Kylie at [email protected]
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Posted: July 30, 2024 by Yael Breimer
Oh, The Places You’ll Nurse! – Vacation Edition
Michele K. found that her children could find comfort wherever they were by offering to nurse in a carrier. She said, “My children were very portable as babies. We often nursed in a sling on our adventures. I took one baby to the National Zoo to see the pandas, and he fell asleep. I took that baby to Niagara Falls, and again, he fell asleep. My children went to football games with 100,000 fans, and they fell asleep. Fireworks displays, they fell asleep. A performance of the 1812 Overture by the Indianapolis Symphony, asleep, with the comfort of nursing. We did manage to stay awake for one adventure, a visit to Graceland.”
Some parents find it exciting to document where they’ve nursed or keep track on a map! Emily M. shared, “I’ve kept a note of every different place where my nursling (almost four and still nursing) has had milk. We’ve been all over the place! Starting in a premature baby unit and on to so many different locations. Many parking lots! Cafés, waiting rooms, houses, floors, beaches, lakes, an aquarium tunnel in Windermere, hotels, by the sides of roads, funerals, forests, hairdressers, vet clinics, cathedrals, a farm, a windmill, a steam train, a nature reserve, the Cobb in Lyme Regis (a 14th century harbor wall in England)… The list goes on.” It really is wonderful that babies can come along on adventures easily with nursing and the comfort of their parents.
Véronique L. shared: “I live in Monterrey, Mexico, and have four kids. Their first school used to organize family trips to areas of Mexico easily reachable by car. When our youngest turned six months old, we packed everyone in the minivan and joined the five-day trip to the Huasteca Potosina, our first trip as a family of six. The other families were doubtful about how things would turn out with a six-month old. Actually, it was the easiest thing ever, since I was breastfeeding. Whenever he was hungry or tired, I could feed him anywhere and anytime without any afterthought, be it in the carrier while visiting Edward James’ surreal gardens in Xilitla, sitting on the floor by the waterfalls and natural pristine pools, or enjoying a tamale wrapped in banana leaves. Years later, parents still would tell me that he had been the best baby ever on that trip.”
Sometimes, breastfeeding while traveling can be a superpower and a source of calming relief when travel plans change unexpectedly. Laura P. recalled, “We were stranded at O’Hare airport for nine hours with my nursing toddler. I was so thankful to be breastfeeding! Moms without formula were panicking.”
Jann H. described a memorable moment from nursing in an unusual location. “One of our most memorable moments was nursing Mark at the top of the dormant volcano on the BWI island of Montserrat in the late 70s. (We were long gone when the volcano erupted in the 1990s, and where we had stayed is now in the exclusion zone.)” How cool!
Submit your reflections and stories to Kylie at [email protected]
Supporting Breastfeeding Families–Today, Tomorrow, Always
Please consider donating to La Leche League USA.
Your gift helps support this blog and the website!
Donations of any amount are gratefully accepted. Thank you!
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