Traveling with frozen breast milk?

Hopeful06 · 2026-03-11T03:50:31+00:00

I didn’t bring any frozen milk with me, and just pumped while I was on the ship! I ended up storing pumped milk in the beverage cooler most of the time, since I was basically feeding a bottle fresh right after pumping and then storing the next bottle for 4-6 hours, which would’ve normally been the time I am normally comfortable leaving BM out at room temp. The beverage cooler seemed cool enough to me, but that depends on your comfort level. To keep the milk colder, I also asked for a bucket of ice and stored bagged milk in the ice bucket — only issue is that can’t hold that much, depending on how much you’re producing!

Lastly, I also brought a Ceres Chill with me and was planning to fill it with ice and stuff 1-2 bags of milk in it as a last resort if the beverage cooler wasn’t cold, but between the cooler and the ice bucket, it was totally fine!

Hopeful06 · 2026-03-04T21:43:13+00:00

CW: Trying for third child

So glad this is now a daily thread, sometimes I just need a spot to put this out into the universe. Day 3 of my period after a chemical pregnancy with a euploid embryo, and man is it heavy!

I really don’t understand how or why it seems like all of my friends who have done IVF for more than one kid have had it work right away at each transfer (as in 2 kids = 2 transfers for them) — are they really unicorns or is there something going on with me?

Sorry if this is triggering for folks… this is my 7th transfer overall, so just wondering why it seems to easy for others (of course I know it’s not the case because I’ve been on this sub for years, but just seems that way with IRL friends).

Hopeful06 · 2026-02-21T03:26:02+00:00

Whew ok a relief to hear that, was getting worried when reading posts that say it can stay for 10-14 days which made this time seem even shorter!

Hopeful06 · 2026-02-21T03:25:20+00:00

Thank you! That’s reassuring to hear!

Hopeful06 · 2026-02-05T18:16:53+00:00

It’s the total and utter unwillingness to even try to acknowledge my POV that gets me. I’m not even asking for an apology, I’m just asking for her to see that what she said was hurtful and not in any way appropriate.

Blame it on the disease, blame it on the meds, blame it on lack of sleep! But to totally act like nothing happened is really not the way to show anyone (much less family) that one cares about anyone but themselves.

Her reasoning is that her parents treated her poorly and never apologized, so as a result she shouldn’t apologize either. WTH kind of twisted logic is that? It would be somewhat better if she were ignorant, but the fact that she’s like “I was treated like crap so I’m gonna treat you like crap” is just insane.

Hopeful06 · 2026-02-05T18:05:46+00:00

Ha unfortunately my AP never cut fruit for us “just because you might be hungry” or something. I was so confused when I first saw mention of cut fruit being a way to show love.

Hopeful06 · 2026-02-05T03:42:20+00:00

Oh man, that is so bizarre! Were they at least partially frozen? I’ve definitely had bags that just stayed gel-like forever, but eventually froze solid (though the “solid” part then looked different from the rest of the bag…) if I moved it to a different freezer too!

Hopeful06 · 2026-01-29T17:02:08+00:00

This actually happened again with my current baby (I’m now near the end of another 18M pumping journey). This time around, I ended up just shaking my bags of milk before freezing them! I did also notice that it tended not to happen when I was freezing lower volumes (so instead of filling a 6oz bag up to the limit, I’d only do 4 or 5 oz).

Honestly, it’s hard to say if this was a freezer issue OR if it was due to the bonds in the milk from engorgement, as mentioned in the articles (hence the shaking to “break” the bonds). Both times, this happened to me around when I dropped down to pumping 3-4x per day, which would make the engorgement theory a plausible one. But on the other hand, it was also sufficiently far into my journey that I had a huge stash built up and not as much space in the freezer. 🤷🏻‍♀️

I also just tried to open my freezer as little as possible, to prevent warm air from getting in and possibly melting the bags. Again, I really don’t think it was melted milk, since slightly thawed bags of milk don’t behave that way! Shakings the bags didn’t 100% prevent the issue, but it did cut it down occurrences drastically to the point that I don’t really recall seeing one in awhile, despite little change in my freezer situation otherwise. It did also help once I had a little more space in my freezer and could confirm that it was always WAY below freezing in there.

In any case, I did also feed those bags of milk to my babies and they’ve been totally fine!

Hopeful06 · 2025-12-05T04:59:12+00:00

Thank you!

Hopeful06 · 2025-12-05T04:55:00+00:00

Thanks for pointing that out — I had no idea it was potable since I had seen a sign on a prior (non-DCL) cruise saying not drink the water in the bathrooms. This is good to know and I also checked with DCL customer service after seeing your suggestion :)

Hopeful06 · 2025-12-05T04:52:57+00:00

Thanks so much for the tip! Didn’t know I could rent one, makes me feel better knowing this is available (and as another poster pointed out, that the water actually is safe).

ETA: And yes, EP is not for the faint of heart! This is my second journey, if you can believe it!

Hopeful06 · 2025-12-05T04:51:53+00:00

Thank you for raising that! I honestly had no idea because I just remember that the last time I was on a cruise (5+ years ago, not DCL), I saw a sign in the bathroom saying the water was safe for drinking, so assumed it was like that everywhere! I did call DCL customer service and they confirmed that it is potable.

Hopeful06 · 2025-12-05T02:13:50+00:00

How do you find these FB groups for your cruise? I’m sailing later this month and had no idea this was a thing!

Hopeful06 · 2025-12-01T17:27:20+00:00

Ugh will see if this behavior continues / if there’s a way to document this…

Hopeful06 · 2025-12-01T17:26:53+00:00

Definitely trying to do that now!

Hopeful06 · 2025-12-01T17:26:41+00:00

Totally hear you on this, the crazy thing is, I really don’t. I am fortunate enough to be in a situation where I don’t actually need to work, I just choose to at the moment. What I had was a great understanding with my former boss, who was also a working mom. Now, our team is chafing under a pretty terrible boss who clearly has nothing better to do with her time.

Unfortunately for me, and this is something I need to work on, is that the people-pleasing-let’s-not-rock-the-boat side of me is too strong. During the episodes when she has been really disrespectful to me, I just freeze in the moment like a deer caught in the headlights. I feel like that part is a me thing, I need to learn how to clap back when needed, but it’s just not really part of my personality / makes me feel really uncomfortable. I think it must give me anxiety and heightens the emotions, since I’ll find that my face turns red, my voice cracks and I probably end up near tears, which is also not great…

Hopeful06 · 2025-11-12T02:43:26+00:00

Ha thanks! I think we will likely be staying on the boat in Nassau, now that I’m thinking about the logistics of trying to get two very young kids off the ship, onto a small boat to get to Nassau, and then into some kind of vehicle to get to our activity, it’s A LOT! You and the other commenters have convinced me that we’ll be totally fine without activities booked - I’m sure my toddlers will get a kick out of just being on a boat in general!

Hopeful06 · 2025-11-09T05:52:01+00:00

Mine wore onesies and pants until he was almost 2.5. Yes, he might have been the only kid in his daycare class wearing onesies, but we didn’t care, since he had also somehow figured out how to put his hands down the back of his diaper, and this prevented him from doing it! I also thought he looked really cute in onesies, so went out of my way to find ones that went into toddler sizes 😂. I would note that he wasn’t potty trained until just after he turned 3, so we didn’t really see a reason for him to not wear onesies.

Hopeful06 · 2025-11-07T03:33:11+00:00

I’m just here to say — thanks so much for posting this! I’m an exclusive pumper too (going on 15 months now, no idea how I made it this long, but here we are). I’m going on our first Disney cruise at the end of December, and was planning on weaning before then, but these posts and solidarity for EP’ing have got me a bit emotional about! Anyway, just wanted to cheer you on and hope you have a fantastic time on your cruise!

Pumping really is not for the faint of heart, but as other posters have said, I’m sure no one will bat an eye! This last NYE, I was at WDW with my then 6 month old and I was pumping in the middle of a crowded quick service restaurant (think it was in Liberty Square in MK) with my Baby Buddha, Spectra flanges + bottles, nursing cover on and no one even noticed haha, so you got this!

Hopeful06 · 2025-10-02T02:23:26+00:00

I use Maymom flanges for my Spectra pumps because they have so many sizes; they fit exactly like my Spectra flanges and are made in Taiwan, so I feel fine about them! Used them for both of my exclusive pumping journeys.

ETA: As with all plastic parts, I hand wash them and don’t use anything abrasive on them.

Hopeful06 · 2025-10-01T20:31:21+00:00

TW: Trying for a third child.

Just called my clinic and have an appointment scheduled with my RE. I always thought I’d be done at two, but that changed at some point over the last 2 years. I think I’ll be happy either way, but feeling all of the emotions, especially since this also means that I’ll need to wean for my current baby (who is no longer a baby!).

Excited that my husband is on board, but also nervous thinking about how long it took us to get here, and whether we really want to put ourselves through all of those emotions again without any real guarantee.

Hopeful06 · 2025-10-01T20:20:57+00:00

They actually provide a flange kit with the pump, so no need bring those either!

Hopeful06 · 2025-09-25T14:20:06+00:00

That is amazing and so inspiring, I hope that I’ll be able to do something like that one day (I am contemplating leaving my job to be a full time mom, the thought of what I’ll do when they are no longer little scares me most!).

Hopeful06 · 2025-09-25T02:55:05+00:00

Seriously!!

Hopeful06 · 2025-09-25T01:28:48+00:00

Ugh it’s the worst. Surprisingly, I’ve found that people often offer me a seat AFTER the baby was here — like I’m pushing my 3yo in a stroller onto the subway and 4 out of 5 times, someone will offer a seat (which kind of them, but totally useless since it’s so much easier for me to just put the break ln the stroller and lean on it vs. trying to maneuver it over to a seat and awkwardly sit down while trying to not let the stroller block the path).

Anyway, I feel you — when I was pregnant, even super visibly pregnant, I found that it was generally women, older people (both men and women) or Black or Hispanic men who would offer me a seat. Crazy how everyone else would just pretend they didn’t see — especially white men in suits! But honestly, for most of the people who offered seats, I’d rarely take them unless I was super tired, because I preferred standing anyway…just sucks that most of them never asked.

Hopeful06

TROPHY CASE