Bottles, breastmilk and pumping while hiking?

Any hiking moms out there? During and before pregnancy I was an avid hiker but I haven’t really been out since giving birth. I dreamed of being able to breastfeed while hiking with her, but at four months old, we just now got her lip and tongue tie revised and we’re still struggling with breastfeeding. With that said, she’s bottle fed breastmilk and I pump after each feed. The logistics of this has made it feel so hard to get outside with her. How do I pump while hiking? How do I make sure the breastmilk doesn’t spoil? She sometimes drinks cold milk, but it can be hit or miss. If anyone who’s exclusively pumped and brought their little one on hikes has any experience, I’d love some advice 😅 I miss hiking so much…

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Hi! I have a set of hands free pumps and bring a cooler bag with ice packs and some empty bottles when we’ve gone hiking.

I had a preemie and couldn't breastfeed for quite a while. I used a nipple shield which was a godsend in helping her learn to BF. When I was pumping we were only doing short hikes. We BF now and just stop for a lil snackie as she needs it.

Exclusively pumped for 18 months here! Cups never worked for me, so I used pumpables genie and just brought along an oversized front zipped jacket along, and wore nursing tops. I have a very tiny cooler bag so I’d get frozen medela ice packs and store my pumped milk that way. And I’d just make sure I’d remove the cold milk out for an hour before the feed so it’s almost room temp.. on colder hikes, we’d get a thermos with boiling hot water filled and an oversized mug. We’d put the hot water and dip the bottle to bring it to right temp. I usually tried to time my pump such a way that the milk is used up within four hours. (Freshly pumped breastmilk is good for 4hrs). On especially colder hikes/days, I’ve stretched it up to 6 hours. Having pumped for 18m, I was quite shameless and had gotten used to pumping in public, that zipper jacket was my favourite and didn’t mind weird stares.

Do you have wearable pumps? You could also get a portable bottle warmer. Get a really good small cooler and pack it with ice and leave space for like 1-2 bottles to keep it cool? I haven’t tried hiking with my baby yet, but these are things I’d look into trying! I also hear the ceres chiller is good for keeping milk cold on the go.

Look into the ceres chill! Also, I follow two accounts on insta that have advice on pumping/breastfeeding and one is outdoorsy mom stuff https://www.instagram.com/karrie_locher?igsh=MTgzbDkyODhwZGhvdA== https://www.instagram.com/haileyoutside?igsh=MWJ6NjRyOGw0MjljZQ==

My Momcozy pump works great for pumping on the go. Just make sure not to bend down while pumping or it makes a big mess. If you bring a lunch bag with frozen packs that will keep your milk safe for a short hike until you can get it to a freezer. I used my packit lunch bag with built in freezer packs. You can use a thermos filled with boiling water to heat your milk on the go. Just make sure to leave space for you to dip your bottle into the water without it spilling over. The kinnde bottles I use worked great because they warm quickly. They may need another dip if your baby is picky about temperature like mine was though. I also recently got a pop up tent to use on our outings for a bit of privacy/sun protection on the go. My friend had one when we went on a hike and it was nice for lunch and a short break to have my little play with having to get his toys all dirty.

I’d definitely recommend a portable warmer, we love ours for adventures. Also a hands free wearable pump is a great idea. Just started using one, and loving the ease of it

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