How to Ship Breast Milk: A Guide

Are you planning to ship breast milk but do not know how? Read on for a complete guide on how to package and ship breast milk.

385,000 babies enter the world every day. If you are a new mother, you might be wondering if you can ship breast milk. Shipping breast milk can be useful if you are away from your child but still want your baby to have breast milk.

This is important since breast milk is full of important vitamins and minerals. But how can you ship it safely? How can you make sure that it will not spoil on the way?

Keep reading and learn how to ship breast milk properly.

What You Need to Know About Shipping Breast Milk

The first step is to collect your breast milk. The most efficient way to do this is to use a breast pump. There are many breast pumps from which you can choose.

It is best to choose one that has enough suction but not too much that it is painful. There are electrical and manual pumps. Electrical pumps are more efficient because they allow you to use your hands for other things.

Manual pumps require you to pump the device by hand. Manual pumps are also not ideal for women who do not express milk easily. It is best to collect as much milk as possible when shipping it.

There is not much of a point in only shipping a tiny bottle of milk. Shipping several bottles will ensure that the shipment will last a while. You will not have to go through this again for a while if you do that.

Put the breast milk in the freezer once you collect it. Do not fill up the milk containers to the top. This could cause the containers to burst.

This is because milk expands once it freezes. Make sure there is a bit of air between the surface of the milk and the top of the container. You will need to gather a few different supplies for shipping your breast milk.

The Details

Obtain a Styrofoam cooler or a similar insulated vessel. It should be large enough to fit several bottles of breast milk along with dry ice. Dry ice is much colder than regular ice and it will last longer.

It also will not turn into water when it melts. This ensures that your package will not turn into a sopping, spoiled mess. You will need gloves to manage the dry ice. 

This is important because you could burn yourself if you handle dry ice without protection. Do not forget basic shipping supplies such as packing tape, a cardboard box, shipping labels, and so on. Plastic bags would also be useful for securing each bottle of milk. 

This prevents any accidental spillage. Packing paper can also help keep the bottles from clamoring around inside the box once it is in transit. You can use regular newspapers if you do not have packing paper. 

Once you have all these supplies, you will be ready to start packing your frozen breast milk. The milk should arrive in perfect condition if you do it properly. If you do it improperly, the milk might arrive spoiled.

This is why it is important to be careful when going through this process. 

How to Ship Breast Milk

Make sure your containers of breast milk are completely frozen before you ship them. Keeping them frozen will ensure that they stay fresh for as long as possible. Put the milk containers into resealable plastic bags like Zip-Lock bags.

These bags are durable and waterproof. This will ensure that if the milk containers leak, the contents will stay inside the bag. This will prevent the other milk containers from getting ruined. 

Remove the air from the plastic bags to save on space. If you are worried about the containers leaking, you can always use two bags. Put these bags into your cooler of choice. 

Make sure that the cooler is several inches thick on all sides. It should be a minimum of 2” inches thick. This prevents the heat from external factors from penetrating the cooler. 

A Styrofoam cooler is a desirable choice since it is lightweight and cheap. It is also durable enough to manage being thrown around during the shipping process. Do not put the dry ice at the bottom of the cooler. 

What You Need to Know

Instead, form little pouches of dry ice with newspapers or packing paper. Scatter these pouches around the containers of breast milk. This will ensure that the coolness from the ice circulates around the cooler.

This will not happen if you only put the ice at the bottom. Dry ice packets will also fill up much of the excess space inside the cooler. This prevents the milk containers from sloshing around too much.

Use your remaining paper to stuff any additional empty spots in the cooler. This also acts as extra insulation and will keep the cooler very cold. Seal the cooler with tape when you are done packing.

Do not completely seal the cooler as the CO2 from the dry ice needs room to escape. Put the cooler inside a cardboard box or another container before you ship it. Slap a shipping label on the box.

Make sure you send it to a shipping center that allows shipments with dry ice. Otherwise, you might get in trouble.

How to get Breast Milk through Airport Security

According to the latest TSA screening policies on breast milk, breast milk in quantities greater than 3.4 ounces (or 100 milliliters) are allowed in carry-on bags and do not need to fit within a quart-sized bag.

Breast milk is considered a medically necessary liquid. This also applies to breast milk cooling accessories, such as ice packs, freezer packs, and gel packs. Your child or infant does not need to be present to bring breast milk and/or related supplies.

Inform the TSA officer at the beginning of the screening process that you are carrying more than 3.4 ounces of formula or breast milk. Remove these items from your carry-on bag to be screened separately from your other belongings. Be aware that TSA officers may need to test the liquids for explosives or concealed prohibited items.

Although not required, to expedite the screening process, it is recommended that formula and breast milk be transported in clear, translucent bottles and not plastic bags or pouches. Liquids in plastic bags or pouches may not be able to be screened by the TSA’s Bottle Liquid Scanners, and they may ask you to open them for alternate screening such as Explosive Trace Detection for the presence of liquid explosives. To give you some peace of mind, it is important to know that the TSA’s screening process will never include placing anything into the breast milk.

TSA X-ray machines do not adversely affect breast milk. However, if you do not want your breast milk to be X-rayed or opened, please inform the TSA officer. Additional steps will be taken to clear the breast milk, just know that you will more than likely be subject to additional screening procedures.

All about Shipping Breast Milk

As you can see, it is not difficult to ship breast milk if you do it properly. You just need to freeze your breast milk and pack it with dry ice in a cooler before you send it to its destination.

If you have any questions, feel free to call us at (888) 977-2229 to speak to a breast pump or maternal health professional.

1 Natural Way helps moms get a breast pump and maternity wellness benefits through insurance. Set up an account today to get a breast pump and/or convenient access to maternal wellness benefits.

To learn more about breast pumps, explore our products.

About the Author

Cindy Puppos is 1 Natural Way's Customer Service Manager, so she has a good idea of all the different and wonderful questions that moms have for her team. Thankfully, as the mother of two boys (who are now grown!) and a veteran of the company and breastfeeding, Cindy is always knowledgeable about breastfeeding, pumping and all the latest and greatest pumps!