A Quiet and Well-Lit Space for Pumping (Or: Where to Pump When You’re Away From Work)

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Medela Pump In Style Advanced Breast pump

Where can you pump if you’re away from work and home (and not just in a different office)? I’ve heard more than enough “fun” stories about pumping in public restrooms (at the sinks, where the outlets are — AWESOME), so when I saw this question posed recently on my local parents’ listserv, I thought it would be a great topic for us.

So: What are your strategies for finding acceptable spots to pump in public places?

Note that if you’re in a pinch you can always use an app like Charmin’s Sit or Squat (which tells you which bathrooms are diaper-changing friendly, with filters for cleanliness, free, and more) or visit Moms Pump Here, which looks promising… but here’s the list that the folks on the listserv came up with:

  • Baby stores, which often have dedicated feeding rooms, such as Buy Buy Baby, Babies R Us, and Giggle
  • Hotel lobby bathrooms
  • Dressing rooms in both department stores (or other large retailers) and maternity stores
  • Nursing specialty stores like Upper Breast Side
  • Hospital or ob/gyn waiting rooms

(Pictured: Day 5: You’re a hard habit to break, originally uploaded to Flickr by jamie h.)

Stay tuned for some of our favorite items for pumping!

Ladies, have you pumped anywhere creative? If you’ve had to, do you like to find a regular spot, or do you prefer to take a “scorched earth” policy?

Psst: see our recent roundup for all of our favorite bras for pumping — these were some of our favorites!

where to pump in public

Picture below via Flickr.

The Best Places to Pump Breastmilk if You\'re Away from Your Home or Office
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I highly recommend getting a nursing poncho for pumping. I got mine on Etsy. I have pumped multiple times on a plane (in my seat), in a car, and in a United lounge. Can’t imagine doing it without the poncho. Covers everything up, and also kept me warm.

For some more fun, check out the places I have pumped tumblr and this article about it: http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/5644452

One more not so fun place: in the (single) lactation room at work, sharing with another coworker – because we both gave up and decided we prioritized getting to all our meetings those days over modesty and privacy. Kinda weird to pass your coworker in the hall and know you’ve seen her topless – but after the number of people that have seen me semi-dressed postpartum, I didn’t really care anymore, and neither did she.

Hi everyone,

Finally catching up on this board. I posted as “Anon” yesterday (and whoops, the day before! sheesh did I get told about that one! seems someone could have just said: try yesterday again – there are helpful posts there) – I didn’t realize there were many expecting moms on this site in addition to “full fledged, in the trenches moms!

To the woman who responded that she just found out she was having a girl – congrats! That’s so fun. Hello dresses! I saw this adorable decal for a nursery wall with the Shakespeare quote, “Though she be but little, she is fierce.” I just! love! it! Search for it on e!sy if you dig it, too.

We decided not to find out whether we are having a boy or girl. Anyone else make that choice? Sounded romantic at the time, but the reality is settling in that I always had a “feeling” we would have a girl, and if a boy pops out, I’m going to have a lot of readjusting to do at a time that..well…I have a lot of readjusting to do anyway!

Just want to say, so glad to be here. Excited to start following the thread!

Nordstrom and Ikea have the best nursing/pumping rooms, bar none.

I keep the battery pack to my pump on hands at all times so I’m not stuck standing over the sink. In warmer weather I generally just slip out to my car.

My mom said when she was out and about (30 odd years ago), she would go to cemetery parking lots – morbid, but no traffic.

How timely. Yesterday, I attended a symposium at a multi-level conference center located at a huge state university. I asked ahead of time where the nursing facilities were, and I was given a room number.

The room was the handicap accessible bathroom (a room with a single toilet,) where they had placed a chair. I was one of 5 nursing / pumping moms at the conference, all of whom were directed to use this single room. The conference was also attended by at least 1/2 a dozen people in wheelchairs who needed access to the bathroom – none of the nursing moms could occupy that room for 15-20 minutes at a time.

I ended up pumping in my car, twice. Open lot with lots of people walking by. It was 20 degrees. Ironically, I was attending a human rights seminar, with multiple programs throughout the day about the state and federal legislation re: workplace accomodations for pregnant and nursing employees.

I pumped while sitting on the floor of a dark, filthy, freezing server closet once at a training course due to a serious of miscommunications. The facilitator got an earful from me, and I got an office to use for the rest of the week. It was pretty awkward kicking out the office occupants 3x a day, but you do what you have to do.

During the bar exam, I had to pump standing in a bathroom stall at Javits. Not ideal, but it worked.

This is timely for me as I have a job interview set up next week (yay!), but I’ve got meetings with several partners and attorneys, followed by lunch with a couple associates. Tack on a long bus commute, and I’m looking at HOURS without a pumping break. I figure as soon as I’m done I can bolt to a dressing room or restroom with my manual pump. As much as I hate pumping in my office, it seems so nice in comparison to pumping without any available space. Last week I wound up in a stall at my law school (at least I still remembered the least popular bathroom).

I live in a car-centric place, and I can’t even begin to tell you the number of different parking lots I’ve pumped in over the 2 total years I was nursing/pumping. I also used to pump and drive on my commute (setup at home in driveway with handsfree band, turn on pump, turn it off when I was done and just stayed hooked up until I got to work and parked in the far corner to take it off/pack up).

For anywhere else I had to go, I would usually use a hand pump in either a bathroom or a fitting room – slower, but able to do it without needing to be seated or have an outlet or make any noise.