Day weaning? No more pumping.... How to?

[Lit Chick]

Hello all!

My son is nearly 1 year old. He still loves night nursing and does so heavily, and I have no problem with that. However, I would like to say goodbye to the pump and I think he's ready. My day supply is getting lower and lower, and even with half-bottles my son sometimes doesn't even drink it all. He only wants his bottle at naptime, and much prefers his sippy cup of water or juice.
I know it's not my parent's holding out on him either - milk is offered but ignored. When I arrive to pick him up, he wants to play but refuses to nurse. He used to scramble over and tug my shirt up, but now he smiles, waves, and plays. If I try to nurse him, he squirms away. We have a good nurse when we arrive home for the day, so it's not a strike - he just has better things to do.

So - I am ready to quit my pump and I think he is too. I only pump for 2 15min sessions (prob only 10 of actual pumping) and get maybe 6 oz of milk total. Can I go cold turkey? Switch to just 1 session?

TIA

[PJJ]

Clw

Originally Posted by Lit Chick

Hello all!

My son is nearly 1 year old. He still loves night nursing and does so heavily, and I have no problem with that. However, I would like to say goodbye to the pump and I think he's ready. My day supply is getting lower and lower, and even with half-bottles my son sometimes doesn't even drink it all. He only wants his bottle at naptime, and much prefers his sippy cup of water or juice.
I know it's not my parent's holding out on him either - milk is offered but ignored. When I arrive to pick him up, he wants to play but refuses to nurse. He used to scramble over and tug my shirt up, but now he smiles, waves, and plays. If I try to nurse him, he squirms away. We have a good nurse when we arrive home for the day, so it's not a strike - he just has better things to do.

So - I am ready to quit my pump and I think he is too. I only pump for 2 15min sessions (prob only 10 of actual pumping) and get maybe 6 oz of milk total. Can I go cold turkey? Switch to just 1 session?

TIA

I would only switch to one session if that is an option. The first year to the second is unpredictable and why not give him that GOLDEN 6 oz? Or mix the milk with other things so he still gets it. IMHO, the juice and water with the sippy cup is contributing to and can really lead to non child led weaning.
And since this is CLW forum, the pumping is really worth it. It will not last long and it can really make a difference in your supply. I think even one ounce is worth the effort since there is nothing compared to mommy's milk around. Can you have more positive thoughts, would that help? Are you getting pressure from others due to that CRAZY one year idea that comes from the medical community?

Good luck deciding.

[Lit Chick]

No, there's no pressue at all. I am just REALLY sick of pumping. That, coupled with my son's lack of interest in BM even "from the tap" during the day make me think perhaps it's time to drop the pump.

I still love nursing him, and have no intentions of night-weaning. But today when I went to pick him up, there was about 1.5 oz untouched, and when I offered him the bottle he tossed it away. Offered the breast, he pushed away. Cut to evening, and he settled in for a nice long nurse after dinner.

If that's not child-led, then what is?

ETA, I work outside the home. LO gets milk on demand when I am around him, and even on weekends he is skipping a lot of day nursing - he started reverse cycling ages ago so his primary milk intake is night anyway.

[Carita]

IDK - my child went through some ups and downs of milk intake, based on teething and reaching milestones. I would give it just a bit of time before you decide to ditch it or not. I always thought I would quit at 12 month, so by 11-11.5 I was of course very excited to see signs that he might be cutting it out. So we went from 2 bottles - 1 at 11 and one at 3:30 that he would sometimes refuse, to to 1 bottle before nap, 1/2 way through his day about 12:30, and he has been pretty stable about drinking the whole thing (about 4-4.5 oz, which is what I pump now).

My situation is very similar, he also has reverse cycled even on the weekends and he is in DC FT.

If he refuses that singular bottle for a couple weeks in a row without signs of teething, then I will reconsider.

Good job making it one year!!!

[MeepyCat]

Lit Chick, what you're describing sounds about like what I went through with my son when he was about a year old. He's 20 months now, and "Nurse?" is his favorite word - he hasn't stopped, but he only gets it from the tap now, and we're down to about twice a day.

I cut out pumping pretty gradually - I dropped from two pumping sessions to one (which, for a week or so, was a crazily productive session), and then stopped altogether after another few weeks.

[Meredith&Alexander]

Going to one pumping session seems like it would be a great idea, and give that a couple of weeks to see how it goes. It doesn't have to be set in stone!

[lechepatito]

I think you'd be fine going down to one pumping session - but I wouldn't do it cold turkey, as you risk plugs/mastitis that way. A good way to slowly drop that pumping session is reduce the session by 5 mins for 3-4 days, then go down by another 5 mins for 3-4 days, etc, until it's gone. For example, if you usually pump for 15 mins, then go down to 10 mins for 3-4 days, then down to 5 mins, etc. Good luck, and kudos for pumping for a full year! As long as he's nursing 3-4 times a day, he doesn't need any other milk if you don't want to offer it.

[La Sombra]

This happened with my daughter around the same age, too. What happened was that I had built up quite a stash of milk in my freezer but soon it became clear that she wasn't interested in a bottle of milk while mommy was away (and she wasn't getting cow's milk or juice or anything with my mom, who watches her, either). I think a lot of babies just aren't interested in milk unless it's nursing mommy. In my case, because I had a stash that was growing as she cut out bottle-feeding, I pretty much did quit cold turkey and I can say that I never had any problems with plugged ducts or the like--but I may have just been super lucky there.

Now my daughter is 18 months--whoa, almost 19--and she nurses pretty much just three times a day--morning, before nap, and before bed. Then she nurses all night long! : But she occasionally goes through phases where she nurses more during the day, or where she nurses less in the night, too.

[ASusan]

I was in your exact situation a couple of months ago. Except that I also discovered high lipase in my pumped milk, so I went to a situation where I was scalding small amounts of milk in a bottle warmer under my desk at work, sending it to daycare divided into a sippy and 2 bottles the next day, only to have both bottles and sippies returned to me - virtually untouched - at the end of the day. Then what do do with those 6-8 used ounces that evening? It was taking me 1.5 hours out of my work day to pump and scald.

I gave up pumping. We still nurse on demand and throughout the weekend and days off, and night-time, of course. And when my body needs to make more milk, it does. Mondays, after 2 days with him, I'm always a little fuller by the end of the day. And I still respond well to oatmeal by increasing production. So I know that if I had to produce more, I could.

[gini1313]

Around the same age, dd (20 months now) stopped taking pumped milk, too. I kept pumping twice a shift for a while (I work 2 12 hour shifts a week), and got a bunch of milk in my fridge. Then a friend needed it, so I started giving her all my pumped milk.

Now, at 20 months, dd still doesn't want milk from a cup or bottle, but nurses alot when we are together (8-10 times a day, probably, on a slow day I still need to pump once at work for my comfort (and because I never had a fabulous milk supply, so I am scared to stop pumping all together). The horrible thing for me about pumping is that I don't have anything to do with my milk, so I keep some in my freezer (just in case) and dump the rest It hurts to see that milk go down the drain!!!

Why don't you keep bringing your pump with you so if you get uncomfortable, you can pump, and see what happens. If you are comfortable, and your supply doesn't get affected negatively, I would say go for it...

[Lit Chick]

Well, this week begins my reduced pumping. Last week I was ill and it was a short work week anyway. Being sick and a bit dehydrated killed my supply, so I went for both sessions. I am so looking forward to not doing this anymore. Yay.

And oh, right now I am tempted to fully wean (I certainly won't though). Why? Kiddo is chewing me up. I am SO SORE. Teething, and right now the only thing that makes him happy is a latch, with the occasional gnaw. He's been on me almost constantly at night - comfort sucking. Not drinking. When I try and de-latch, much crying. Sigh. I know this will pass, but it would be nice if it passed faster. If he keeps this up I might have to see if he'll take a binky.
It's so bad I was worried about thrush! But we're fine - I'm just totally over-sucked. Bleeeh.

[Farore]

Originally Posted by Lit Chick

And oh, right now I am tempted to fully wean (I certainly won't though). Why? Kiddo is chewing me up. I am SO SORE. Teething, and right now the only thing that makes him happy is a latch, with the occasional gnaw. He's been on me almost constantly at night - comfort sucking. Not drinking. When I try and de-latch, much crying. Sigh. I know this will pass, but it would be nice if it passed faster. If he keeps this up I might have to see if he'll take a binky.
It's so bad I was worried about thrush! But we're fine - I'm just totally over-sucked. Bleeeh.

I feel for you--not so much the gnawing, since we have that in check--but the being "over-sucked." I'll be watching this thread to see what others have to say.

[purplepaperclip]

Wow LitChick! I could have written all your posts myself. LOL We are going through the same exact transition here, right down to the teething. OUCH! I am trying to wean from the pump at work and keep nursing when we are together on nights and weekends. I don't know anyone who has successfully done this, so I'm looking for some encouragement. I am sooooo tired of pumping. How are you doing with it now?

[Lit Chick]

Suebee - we did it! After my last post I stopped pumping at work. I brought my pump just in case, but did not need it. During the day, my son gets a bottle of whole cow milk before his naptime (so 2 4oz bottles a day), and the rest of the day he eats his solids and drinks water and a little juice.
The first few days I was slightly uncomfortable when I picked him up, but not engorged. Now, when I get him he barely even nursed - he's too busy playing. I grab him and he'll have a quick nurse on each breast, and then we go home (an hour drive and another nap). When we get home, he has a long nursing session, with another short snack one before bedtime. And we nurse on demand at night and co-sleep. I think he nurses maybe 3 or 4 times at night. When we wake up he has a good nurse as well. On the weekends we nurse a bit more, but my DS had really made a transition to real food. A few weekends ago he was clearly hungry, kept latching on and then crying and popping off and saying "more". Took me a while to realize he wanted more food and was trying to tell me the only way he knew how. So now on the weekends we have our wake-up nurse and when he pops off I ask "more?" and then say "do you want food?" and he'll run over to the kitchen if he wants solids (generally it's a YES!)

After the teething, I got my period, and then he got sick, and I think I'm PMSing again, so my poor nips have stayed fairly sore. But the chomping is not as bad as it was.

It's totally possible to day-wean and not wean... just like other people night-wean and not fully wean.

Tell me how it goes for you!

[purplepaperclip]

Congratulations!!! I'm so glad it owrked well for you. It is so good to hear a success story!

I'm down to pumping once a day at work from 3 at work and once before I left the house. LO seems to be definately eating more "big people" food during the day and is still nursing like a champ at night, sooooo I think we're on the right track.

[Lit Chick]

Good for you! I'm glad the transition so far has been smooth.

Now that I am not chained to my pump, I can see nursing for another year at least.

[Teenytoona]

Good to see it transitioned for you so well!! My DD is about 10.5 months, and I can see something similar happening with us. She's taking less in the daytime (I'm making less too), but still a champ at night.

I've been wondering how something like this would go, so thanks so much for sharing!

[NicoleCS]

I thought I'd let you know that I'm in the same transitioning period too! I'm not quite done pumping at work (as much as I want to be though) because I also just went back on the pill and I figured I had better wait a few more weeks to make sure that doesn't affect my supply too drasically. I was quite taken back by some of the earlier reply's. I recently posted a thread very similar to yours on Breastfeeding Beyond Infancy - and received wonderful support and ideas. Interesting. Anyway, great job and I'm thrilled to hear your success story.

[rcr]

Congrats for pumping for so long!!!!!

I quit pumping a month ago, and no problems so far. I figure I can always start pumping again if my supply drops too low. My LO stopped drinking BM from a bottle or cup at 9 MO, and is now 12 MO and still won't do it. He likes mama milk only from mama. I have no problem giving him water at day care, and he still nurses plenty at night and before and after work, and on the weekends.

I was also a little surprised by the earlier replys. If you still have Qs, maybe try posting in student and working mamas, there are lots of us there who have quit pumping and have had no problems.

[PJJ]

earlier replies...

value to mama's milk above the water and cow's milk. And stopping with the pumping can and does cause earlier weaning in my experience personally and professionally.