Ask A Bear: Breastfeeding Around Bears?

Our resident bruin expert answers all your questions in our weekly feature, 'Ask A Bear.'

Q: My wife has been breastfeeding our 3-month-old daughter, and she'd like to get out for her first post-pregnancy backpacking trip this summer. While we cannot take the little one along with us yet, we had planned to take a breastpump and dispose of the pumped milk.

We can't seem to find any information about whether it is safe to camp in bear country while...uh...lactating. So, how about it? Is it safe to camp in bear country when you are a breastfeeding mom? Thanks! —Mike from Virginia, via email

A: Hey Mike. First of all, congratulations on the new cub—here's hoping she has two eyes, ten claws, and a shiny fur coat.

Secondly, as long as you dispose of the milk properly, your wife should be good to go on that backpacking trip. There's no evidence to suggest that lactating females would attract bears any more than those who aren't. If it's inside your body, a bear probably can't smell it; any food or external odors left on your skin or clothes are more likely to attract bears.

As for disposal: You can treat it much the way you would treat dishwater. Scatter it broadly at least 200 feet away from water sources, and well away from your camp (strain it, if need be). This way, impact should be minimal. If you want to truly reduce your impact to zero, however, you should probably wait to go backpacking until your wife stops lactating. It'll certainly cut down on her discomfort.

And if you ever need a babysitter...

—BEAR

Got a question for the bear? Send it to askabear@backpacker.com.

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READERS COMMENTS

Mike just take the baby too that way u don't need to worry about the breast milk!!
Posted: Aug 06, 2010 Liz

wo
Posted: Mar 25, 2010 li

Treat it as you do dish water? Oh my. And you must have been joking when you said to possibly strain the breast milk. Chunks in breast milk? Chunks of what may I ask? A sad lol on your misinformation. And I must agree with an earlier response. Breast milk has less of an odor if any then the odor of menstrual blood. Please get your facts straight.
Posted: Mar 20, 2010 Michele Marlene

I agree with the comment about odor. I cannot see any way that a new mother who is breastfeeding can be absolutely certain that she will not contaminate clothing during the trip. Especially given that her backpack straps possibly expressing milk via pressure they would likely apply.

The question to ask yourself is how risky is it? If you're in an area of relatively low incidence, such as most locations in the eastern part of the country I wouldn't stress to much over it. But if you're backpacking in a location where the local bear population is know to widely associate human smells with food (the Sierras for example, although eastern locales such as GSMNP or Shenandoah NP would qualify in my book), I'd probably abstain from the trip while lactating.

Whatever you decide, remember that you're much more likely to have problems with rodents and small mammals due to food odors. This can happen virtually anywhere. I wouldn't want a milk-stained lactation pad in my tent while I slept for fear of mice or raccoons chewing holes in my gear. Make sure you dispose of those, too...and inspect clothing for stains every night.
Posted: Mar 18, 2010 Russ

Surely fresh breastmilk would be the perfect trail food for the couple...? Fancy making all that nectar and throwing it away! Seriously... people take powdered cows' milk with next to no nutritional value. And I SO agree about taking the baby... just like they do in most parts of the world. Or wait til next year when baby's need to be with her mother is less because she's old enough to understand and will be eating solids. What's one year??
Posted: Mar 18, 2010 Sara

"strain it"?? If your breastmilk has chunks in it, you have other problems!
Posted: Mar 17, 2010 jen

I am currently breastfeeding my 14 month old. My husband & I have been camping with baby, with pump, and with both baby & pump in all kinds of animal country 5 or 6 times (mommy brain, can't quite remember) since her birth. Your wife will be perfectly fine. Breastmilk has way less odor than menstrual blood and women go camping with their periods all the time! Sorry Bear, but just because a woman is lactating should not exclude her from doing pretty much anything she is capable of or wants to do. In fact, going camping without her baby might be an awesome way for her to celebrate the miracle she helped create and is capable of feeding with her wonderous body. I am unclear why she would suffer discomfort. Pumping with the correct size flanges is not supposed to hurt. If it does, Mike's wife could meet with a IBCLC to review her pumping techniques so that she takes the proper pumping equipment on her trip. If Mike's wife is worried about leakage, she can use breast pads. There are cloth options available so she will not have any extra trash. Also, I would think that some of the pumped milk could be saved for baby. I have used a small cooler, some ice and plenty of breastmilk storage bags and returned home with lots of milk that is just too precious to waste. A baby will not drink spoiled milk. Hope you and your wife have a great trip Mike!

Posted: Mar 17, 2010 Crunchy Mom in NC

How about taking your baby with you instead of the breastpump? A 3 month old baby is a little too young to be separated from his/her mother for any length of time, don't you think? Babies really need their mothers, probably even more than they need their mother's milk.
Posted: Mar 17, 2010 Barbara

No pump can empty a breast as efficiently as a baby, so Mike's wife's breasts may leak milk which would create odour on her clothes or skin.
Posted: Mar 17, 2010 Katrina Voysey

New signs along trail read " Don't breast feed the animals"
Posted: Mar 16, 2010 Capt. Bad Idea