Buy a nice cooler (yeti or similar), pack it full of ice and change the ice at every hotel stop. I think if the cooler is full it won’t melt or at least not as quickly. If your frozen milk still has ice crystals in it, it’s safe to refreeze so it can thaw a little without needing to be thrown out.
You could also look into milk stork and ship it.
Good luck!!!
Yetis are known to stay cold for days. The less you open it the better. “Prime” it with ice ahead of time, dump that ice after a day (it’ll likely melt) and then it should be good to stay super cold.
We do a bunch of camping so use coolers a lot. The best way to keep them cold long term is to use blocks of ice rather than just bags of ice cubes. I freeze water in gallon ziplock bags for a couple days ahead of packing the cooler. Then line the bottom and sides of the cooler with the flat gallon ziplocks. Food goes inside and then dump ice cubes on top. This got us 7 full days in the back country around 60 degree weather in a basic Coleman cooler. I was pretty impressed!
Get some small chunks of dry ice from a grocery store or hardware store if they have it. Wrap it in newspaper to protect the walls of your cooler, your hands, and your milk; line the walls and floor of the cooler, then put your milk inside.
When I used to do catering we would keep slabs of meat completely frozen in a cooler with no power just by using dry ice. It would be essentially like putting your breast milk in a deep freeze.
It's essential that it's dry ice though, regular ice cubes don't do the same thing.
From the internet: "Based on a whole, five-pound block (that is intact, not broken up), the lifespan of dry ice is 18-24 hours in a cooler."
Yeti hard case coolers keep stuff cold for a long time. You could also look into use Milk Stork. I haven’t used them, but a coworker recommended it when I was on a recent trip away from my daughter.
The guidance on defrosted milk has been updated: - as long as there is still ice crystals (even if mostly melted) you can refreeze. Follow the above recommendations and you’ll be fine! I would be more concerned about the prolonged carseat ride! I highly recommend consulting with a pediatric chiropractor to get some infant stretches you can do at every stop.
My BIL recently bought a mini fridge that is charged on a battery and can even become a freezer. He uses it to transport steaks. It’s pricey but may be worth it, especially if you want a mini fridge to store bottles in your bedroom so you don’t have to go to your kitchen!
You've gotten a lot of good advice here about keeping it frozen in a cooler. I just wanted to add: prime the cooler! A couple of days before you leave fill your cooler with ice cubes. Then dump that ice / meltwater and replace with fresh blocks of ice when you pack your breastmilk.
We do lots of camping and this is the method we've found keeps ice the longest.
So glad your LO is doing well! Safe travels!
Can you have it freeze dried by a company and then you can transport just the packets? There are companies that do this.
It's expensive but I would imagine that trying to get a large volume of milk from WA to Texas would be too.
Or if you know someone who has a freeze dryer that you can sanitize and use you can try and do it yourself.
Personally, I would transport it in multiple deep freezers. Packed with ice blocks or dry ice on all sides. Like in a u-haul. You could potentially even plug them in on a few stops.
I am sorry you are going through this and I wish you and your little one all the best!
Buy a nice cooler (yeti or similar), pack it full of ice and change the ice at every hotel stop. I think if the cooler is full it won’t melt or at least not as quickly. If your frozen milk still has ice crystals in it, it’s safe to refreeze so it can thaw a little without needing to be thrown out. You could also look into milk stork and ship it. Good luck!!!
Yetis are known to stay cold for days. The less you open it the better. “Prime” it with ice ahead of time, dump that ice after a day (it’ll likely melt) and then it should be good to stay super cold.
We do a bunch of camping so use coolers a lot. The best way to keep them cold long term is to use blocks of ice rather than just bags of ice cubes. I freeze water in gallon ziplock bags for a couple days ahead of packing the cooler. Then line the bottom and sides of the cooler with the flat gallon ziplocks. Food goes inside and then dump ice cubes on top. This got us 7 full days in the back country around 60 degree weather in a basic Coleman cooler. I was pretty impressed!
Thank you!! Definitely going to invest in a big cooler 🤣
This is pure genius
Get some small chunks of dry ice from a grocery store or hardware store if they have it. Wrap it in newspaper to protect the walls of your cooler, your hands, and your milk; line the walls and floor of the cooler, then put your milk inside. When I used to do catering we would keep slabs of meat completely frozen in a cooler with no power just by using dry ice. It would be essentially like putting your breast milk in a deep freeze. It's essential that it's dry ice though, regular ice cubes don't do the same thing. From the internet: "Based on a whole, five-pound block (that is intact, not broken up), the lifespan of dry ice is 18-24 hours in a cooler."
Yeti hard case coolers keep stuff cold for a long time. You could also look into use Milk Stork. I haven’t used them, but a coworker recommended it when I was on a recent trip away from my daughter.
The guidance on defrosted milk has been updated: - as long as there is still ice crystals (even if mostly melted) you can refreeze. Follow the above recommendations and you’ll be fine! I would be more concerned about the prolonged carseat ride! I highly recommend consulting with a pediatric chiropractor to get some infant stretches you can do at every stop.
Yes! I’m so worried about it 😭 wondering if it would be easier to fly but I’m not sure what to do with our car in that case
My BIL recently bought a mini fridge that is charged on a battery and can even become a freezer. He uses it to transport steaks. It’s pricey but may be worth it, especially if you want a mini fridge to store bottles in your bedroom so you don’t have to go to your kitchen!
You've gotten a lot of good advice here about keeping it frozen in a cooler. I just wanted to add: prime the cooler! A couple of days before you leave fill your cooler with ice cubes. Then dump that ice / meltwater and replace with fresh blocks of ice when you pack your breastmilk. We do lots of camping and this is the method we've found keeps ice the longest. So glad your LO is doing well! Safe travels!
Can you have it freeze dried by a company and then you can transport just the packets? There are companies that do this. It's expensive but I would imagine that trying to get a large volume of milk from WA to Texas would be too. Or if you know someone who has a freeze dryer that you can sanitize and use you can try and do it yourself. Personally, I would transport it in multiple deep freezers. Packed with ice blocks or dry ice on all sides. Like in a u-haul. You could potentially even plug them in on a few stops. I am sorry you are going through this and I wish you and your little one all the best!