Hotel doesn’t have freezers

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the best thing would to be to ask for some ice and stick it in a cooler.

This. Does the hotel have ice machines? Fill some bags with ice and put them in your cooler. If there are no ice machines, ask for ice at the restaurant.

I have never stayed at a hotel that doesn't have access to an ice machine somehow--in cheap ones, there is a vending machine and an ice machine, and in ritzier ones, you get ice via room service. And there is always an ice bucket, whether a cheap plastic one, or one for icing down your champagne.

Why did you discard it, instead of putting ice in your cooler bag?

+1. I don't understand this either. I've traveled several times for work, store pumped milk in the fridge, and fill my cooler bag with ice upon departure. There was one time where the mini fridge in my room wasn't working and I asked to switch rooms.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is a good thing they wouldn’t store your bodily fluid.

+1

I always think people who refer to breastmilk as "bodily fluid" do so with a sneer and a wrinkle in their uptight noses.

FFS, she's not asking to store vaginal discharge or urine. This is FOOD FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION.

Breast milk carries many of the the same diseases as vaginal discharge or blood would. It isn’t safe for universal human consumption unless it has been screened and processed, just like blood products you would receive from a donor.

Don't worry, none of us want you to personally consume it.

As I’m sure no one staying and eating at the hotel wants to either- which is why it is against health code to store the bodily fluids of others in food space/preparation areas for the public. Surely you are smart enough to comprehend this.

[Anonymous]

Would you want the prep cook’s seman sample on ice next to the salmon fillet you are about to order?

[Anonymous]

From my experience, it depends on the refrigerator and the usage. If the hotel provides food for customers and has to have a license for it, like if they have happy hour or serve an included breakfast, then they cannot store this for you. If they have a fridge that is used by the employees to store lunch or keep things like bottled water or free bonus items for guests, then they can do it. So basically, if they are licensed for food service they cannot, but if they are not and it's just for perks, they can do it.

My suggestion for what you do, is to purchase a plug in ice chest that you can take with you. If you are traveling by car, all the better because you can get ones with both an AC plug (for outlets) and a DC plug (for car lighters) and you can keep it cool en route. If you are traveling by plane, then you can get a bunch of blue ice packs and pad them around the breast milk and make sure that they chill overnight before your travel. The ice packs should keep things cool enough until you get home and either plug the cooler back in or transfer the milk to your own freezer.

One like this works:
https://www.amazon.com/Koolatron-P-20-Thermo-Electric-12-Volt/dp/B00009PGNS/ref=sr_1_8?keywords=ac+plug+in+ice+chest&qid=1560790285&s=home-garden&sr=1-8

[Anonymous]

I recommend always calling ahead, but I have never had a problem at a hotel. I typically just had them freeze ice packs and stored the milk in the mini fridge in my room. It varies whether the freezer was in an employee break room, restaurant, or whether they provided an in-room mini fridge with freezer. Most hotels have a few freezers they can put in your room, but it helps to request it ahead of time so you can make sure one will be available for your stay.

[Anonymous]

Why freeze? BM is good for 6 days in the fridge. Will you be gone for 6 days?

[Anonymous]

I mean it sucks to pump and dump but a few days worth of breastmilk really isn’t worth all this effort and hysterics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Would you want the prep cook’s seman sample on ice next to the salmon fillet you are about to order?

When one tries to be witty, it helps to know how to spell.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No way can you put breastmilk in a restaurant freezer!!!!

In the future you tell them 1-2 days in advance you need a mini fridge with a freezer compartment for “medical reasoa and they will give you one.

This. Or you give it to the baby to drink while you are at the wedding. Or you get ice from the ice machine. It will also last 4 hours or so at room temperature.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why freeze? BM is good for 6 days in the fridge. Will you be gone for 6 days?

NP. I typically travel for 11-13 days at a time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why freeze? BM is good for 6 days in the fridge. Will you be gone for 6 days?

NP. I typically travel for 11-13 days at a time.

Presumably OP isn't leaving her 7 mo for 11-13 days to go to a wedding. But in any case, she was wrong not to have called in advance. Just buy a cooler and fill with ice zealously.

[Anonymous]

Ask for a mini fridge. You don't need to freeze it, jut refrigerate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh wow, I've traveled all over the world and hotels have always frozen breast milk for me. Never tried it in the US, though!

OK I have to ask - how come you were storing frozen breast milk all over the world?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh wow, I've traveled all over the world and hotels have always frozen breast milk for me. Never tried it in the US, though!

OK I have to ask - how come you were storing frozen breast milk all over the world?

NP but I travel for work and have a baby, so... storing frozen breast milk all over the world. Not much of a mystery? Anyway, I have had hit or miss luck. Smaller hotels even in cities in Western countries have always accommodated me (e.g., multiple hotels in Strasbourg, which I've had to travel to a lot); bigger chains and, in particular, bigger chains at airport hotels almost never have. Rather than commercial grade freezers, I've had hotels stick it in the freezer part of the fridge their employees use for lunch. That's what I do at work too. I prefer freezing my milk so that I can then stick it in an insulated carry on to get through commute-flight-commute; refrigeration isn't enough for Transatlantic flights. Not sure if that was OP's intention too.

(Also, all of the people talking about bacteria are being a bit insane. The milk is in a bag. It's no more bacteria filled than the other things in the freezer -- e.g., frozen meat -- and the milk itself isn't coming into contact w/ anything at all. Also, freezers kill/temporary hold bacteria at bay. That's their purpose.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh wow, I've traveled all over the world and hotels have always frozen breast milk for me. Never tried it in the US, though!

OK I have to ask - how come you were storing frozen breast milk all over the world?

NP but I travel for work and have a baby, so... storing frozen breast milk all over the world. Not much of a mystery? Anyway, I have had hit or miss luck. Smaller hotels even in cities in Western countries have always accommodated me (e.g., multiple hotels in Strasbourg, which I've had to travel to a lot); bigger chains and, in particular, bigger chains at airport hotels almost never have. Rather than commercial grade freezers, I've had hotels stick it in the freezer part of the fridge their employees use for lunch. That's what I do at work too. I prefer freezing my milk so that I can then stick it in an insulated carry on to get through commute-flight-commute; refrigeration isn't enough for Transatlantic flights. Not sure if that was OP's intention too.

(Also, all of the people talking about bacteria are being a bit insane. The milk is in a bag. It's no more bacteria filled than the other things in the freezer -- e.g., frozen meat -- and the milk itself isn't coming into contact w/ anything at all. Also, freezers kill/temporary hold bacteria at bay. That's their purpose.

It may not be more bacteria-filled - or it might be - because your breast milk isn't inspected like the meat, animal milks, and produce in the commercial refrigerators. They have to be cautious about cross-contamination. I know some of those small hotels in Strasbourg, they aren't tied to chains or franchises and are often more laid-back. Those with ties to multi-national chains probably have enterprise-wide rules.

In any case, OP didn't do her homework, she's only in NY for a weekend, and could have done any of things other PPs suggested.