2025Pumping While Travelling: What Worked For Us
A note before we begin: I pumped for the first year of our little one's life, so the pumping-specific parts of this article reflect that season. The storage and sterilisation practices, however, are ones we still use on every trip and they apply equally to formula prep and bottle feeding.
I was also an exclusive pumper, so no direct latching. Everything here is written from that experience.
Pumping On The Go
The Reality
Pumping while travelling is one of those things that sounds manageable in theory and reveals its full complexity the moment you're in an airport at 6am trying to finish the milk prep before your gate closes.
It means spacing out your own pump schedule around your baby's feed schedule. It means keeping milk warm enough till baby is ready to feed, as well as keeping it cold without a reliable fridge. It means washing pump parts in hotel bathrooms that weren't designed for any of this. There is a fair amount of mental gymnastics involved.
But it is manageable with the right gear and a system you've tested enough times to trust. Here's what worked for me.
The Pump:Imani i2 Plus
A hands-free wearable pump was non-negotiable for travel. I used the Imani i2 Plus and chose it over the Imani Pro specifically because of cleaning. The Pro has fewer parts, which sounds like less hassle — but in Singapore's humidity, the inner components are all attached and can't be fully detached for cleaning. For daily use at home and on the road, that becomes a real issue. The i2 Plus can be taken apart and brushed properly, which makes a meaningful difference.
Beyond that: the motor is small and light enough to not add significant weight to your bag, efficient enough for a full pump session, and the cup holds a generous amount per pump. It's also reasonably priced for what it does.
👗 What I Wore
Switching to a wearable pump also meant rethinking my wardrobe for travel. I deliberately wore only button-down shirts or tops with loose necklines, paired with an outer layer or jacket — so the cup could sit discreetly underneath while I went about the day. You don't need a special nursing bra; a regular bra works fine as long as the cup sits comfortably against it. It became second nature quickly, and meant I could pump without needing to find a private space every time.
🕐 My Approach On The Road
I pump one side at a time, which reduces the number of cups I need to bring along. One motor is sufficient — no need to bring a backup, which keeps the weight down.
Pump frequency was every 3 to 4 hours, which I'd space around our little one's feed schedule as best I could. On travel days, I'd pump once before boarding and work around the flight from there.
🧴Washing Pump Parts On The Go
I'm not a fan of washing pump parts mid-outing. Wiping doesn't feel thorough enough, and there are parts that really need a brush and proper cleaning. So my approach: pump once, then swap to a fresh set for the next session. If we were in a cooler climate — indoors in Japan, for example — I'd reuse one set within the 4-hour window before switching. Back at the hotel, everything gets a proper wash.
Milk Storage
The Ceris Chill
For storing expressed milk on the go, I use the Ceris Chill bottle.
It can keep milk cold for at least 24 hours, which covers long-haul travel, unexpected delays, and those days when transit runs longer than planned.
It is bulkier and heavier than a standard bottle — worth acknowledging given how much you're already carrying. But for me, that was a small and conscious compromise for the reliability and peace of mind it offered. I'd rather carry the extra weight than second-guess whether my milk is still good.
This was a deliberate choice over two alternatives I'd considered:
Ice bag in a ziplock — works in theory, but the efficiency is unpredictable. I didn't want to leave something this important to chance.
Hotel mini fridge — convenient in concept, but in practice, not all hotel mini fridges are cold enough for breast milk. And asking the hotel to store milk in their main fridge introduces a different set of variables — response time, availability, whether the service is reliable wherever you happen to be. One less stress point to manage.
Ice is readily available in most hotels, either upon request or as self-service on specific floors. Around 7 large cubes with a little water is sufficient to keep the Ceris Chill working effectively.
Washing & Sterilising
This is the part that requires the most improvisation, because hotel bathrooms were not designed with pump parts in mind.
The Sink Situation
If we have double sinks: one gets designated entirely for baby items — washing, soaking, everything. The other stays clear for our own use. This is the easiest setup.
If we have just one sink: that single sink does everything — handwashing, toothbrushing, and baby items. It works, but requires a bit more coordination.
🪣 The Container Problem
Washing pump parts and bottles properly requires soaking, and soaking requires a container. This is not something you can easily improvise in a hotel room, so I bring one along specifically for this purpose.
I've tried two options, in order:
Large silicone pouch (2L) — this is where I started, and for good reason. Early on, the volume of items needing washing was high; pump parts and bottles together, so a larger soaking vessel made sense. The silicone pouch is flat and malleable, which makes it easier to fit into luggage than you'd expect. The one we used first was large enough to soak everything in one round, which saved time. However the sides can be unstable without support, so putting it in a designated corner along with a third support point (like your toiletries bag) would keep it steady.
Collapsible bucket — as our little one grew and the washing load reduced (no pump parts, fewer bottles per session), a smaller vessel became a feasible option. The collapsible bucket works well for this stage. Less to wash means less soaking volume needed. The trade-off is that the rigid frame makes it bulkier in the bag than the silicone pouch despite its smaller size.
The broader point: your container needs will change as your baby grows and your pump routine simplifies. Start bigger, scale down when the load allows.
🚿 Sterilisation
I use Pigeon sterilisation tablets — one tablet per 24-hour window with 2.3 litres of cold water. The process: wash everything first, then soak in the tablet solution for 30 minutes. No rinsing needed within that 24-hour window. Whatever's been washed goes straight in, comes out ready to use.
This is considerably more practical on the road than boiling water, which requires multiple rounds if not everything is ready to go at the same time, and risks scalding if you're working in a small hotel kettle. The tablets remove that variable entirely.
A Final Note
No system is perfect, and what works depends on your pump, your baby's schedule, and the kind of travel you're doing. But the through-line across all of it is reducing uncertainty — choosing gear and methods that perform consistently rather than ones that might work depending on the hotel, the climate, or the day.
That's the standard I held myself to, and it made the whole thing feel a lot more manageable than I'd expected.nal Note
No system is perfect, and what works depends on your pump, your baby's schedule, and the kind of travel you're doing. But the through-line across all of it is reducing uncertainty — choosing gear and methods that perform consistently rather than ones that might work depending on the hotel, the climate, or the day.
That's the standard I held myself to, and it made the whole thing feel a lot more manageable than I'd expected.