How do I transport frozen breast milk without ruining it?
asked:
We are moving to South Carolina from Ohio, which is about 11 hours, and I have been pumping and freezing my breast milk. I hate to have it all go to waste so how do I transport it from here to there without ruining it all? I am currently storing it in an upright deep freezer. Please help!
Transport
A cooler filled with ice; pack your breast milk in that.
Transport
Get a good cooler and put tons of ice. Keep checking and half way if the ice have melted away, stop at a grocery store and put more ice. AS long as the breastmilk doesn’t thaw, it will be good. Once it thaws, you need to start using it soon.
Transport
According to the Center For Disease Control (CDC) the best way to carry your frozen milk is in a cooler with dry ice. Your deep freezer is probably set at 0 degrees F at the lowest. The temp of your milk may start at 0 degrees, but as you travel it’s going to begin to rise. As the ice in the cooler melts the temperature around your milk will go to 34 degrees or so, and your milk may begin to melt. You can add salt to the ice water and the temp may drop a few degrees, but you’re still going to be on the bubble.
Dry Ice should be available at some grocery stores, Sam’s clubs and the like, and ice manufacturers. Dry Ice is just Carbon Dioxide (CO2), but it is below -100 F. It lasts a long time and there’s almost no chance your milk will begin to thaw in 11 hours.
A couple of tips when using Dry Ice. Don’t touch it with your bare hands. It’s so cold it can freeze to your skin in less than a second. When it freezes to your skin it can be very painful and cause skin damage. Second, you need to vent the cooler because you’re using a solid gas, and as it thaws it creates air pressure which will need to escape. If you’re using a regular cooler just open the drain, don’t worry no water will come out, or crack the lid. Or you can buy a styrofoam cooler And punch a couple of small holes in the lid to let the CO2 escape.
Hope this helps,
Alan