Important Prepping Tips For The Traveling Breastfeeding Mother

Planning a vacation is no reason to stop breastfeeding. You can definitely continue this healthy practice. And guess what? It is often easier to traveling while breastfeeding than it is with a formula feed infant. Just think of all the extra baggage you would have to take like cans of formula, bottles, nipples and other bottle feeding paraphernalia. With breastfeeding, it's essentially a one-stop shop with no worries about finding a place to warm up a bottle.

Whether you are traveling by car, train or plane, you should try to keep to a certain schedule with your breastfeeding. You know how fussy babies get if they don't get fed when they need to get fed. They don't understand schedules. Keep yourself hydrated and refrain from alcohol and caffeinated drinks. When traveling, it is natural to experience some dehydration, so maintaining a good fluid intake is important so that you have plenty of milk for your baby.

As a breastfeeding mother, it is safe for you to have vaccinations. Some vaccine viruses do enter the breast milk but rarely affect the baby. There are a few vaccinations that have not been tested on breast feeding moms, so you should always check with your doctor before receiving any. It is also important for your baby to be immunized on schedule. However, with some vaccinations, they cannot be administered to newborn infants. Therefore you should check on the requirements, if any, for the destination to see what is required. You just may have to postpone traveling with the baby until he is old enough to receive the immunizations he needs.

If you are traveling to a place where malaria is a problem, you should know that there are a few malaria treatments that are safe for breastfeeding mothers. However, your baby is not protected. Therefore you will have to take proper precautions such as treated mosquito netting to ensure your baby does not get infected from malaria-ridden mosquitoes or other disease carrying bugs. Also, practice safe eating and drinking practices. You do not want to nurse while you are suffering from traveler's diarrhea.

Another thing to think about is plane travel. Many babies and children have ear problems during the flight. In order to do as much as you can to make your baby comfortable and keep the crying to a minimum, have a game plan ready for soothing your baby. Many mothers believe that nursing during take-off and landing forestalls the ear pain. The sucking action seems to keep the ears from becoming too painful because of the cabin pressure. A pacifier should be at the ready as a back-up. Also, it might be a good idea to give your baby a pain reliever that your doctor suggests right before take-off. This might head off pain at the pass.

Traveling with baby is always a challenge which is compounded by the fact that you breastfeed. Just remember that you are doing your child a huge favor and protecting his health. Of course, you will have some travel adjustments to make, but both you and your child will be all the better for it. By having a game plan in place, you can better enjoy travel time with your baby.

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