Thinking of giving up the pump - how to maintain nighttime supply?

[2goingon2]

...just that. I have pumped for a year and now my 14 month old eats more solids than he nurses. I work full time so I pump 2-3 times every day and am getting less and less. On the weekends, he does the old 3 minute nurse and then he's squirming to get down and play. He still nurses to sleep and we co-sleep so the milk bar is open all night. He will nurse 2-3 times during the night just to get back to sleep if he's awakened. I don't want my supply to go away as I still want to nurse him in the evenings but I am really, really ready to quit pumping. There are times in the evening when he's nursing himself down for bed that he seems to get frustrated because the milk flow is weaker and it takes longer for a let-down, etc. I'm worried that will get worse if I quit pumping.

I know my body will regulate itself to a certain extent but I'm still worried about supply. Should I be taking a supplement? I just recently weaned myself off of domperidone so I don't want to go back on that. I was wondering more about an herbal supplement or am I needlessly worrying? That seems to be one of my specialties....

[Baby_Cakes]

I also stopped pumping at work around 14 months. I think you'll find if you search a ton of us working/pumping mamas stopped pumping around then, too. I mean, as long as you're still bf'ing on demand when you're together, your supply really shouldn't take a hit.
This is also an age where they nurse for shorter periods of time, and but the milk has more "bang for it's buck" nutritionally -- so even though it may seem like your LO is nursing less, he is still getting a ton of benefits from it.

Once I stopped pumping and that stress was gone, I enjoyed nursing so much more, and I found I had more than enough milk for DD whenever she wanted. It was so much less about ounces and bottles and more about comfort and what she wanted.

FWIW, we're still nursing at 18 months.

Good luck. You'll figure this out, it's all about balance.

[Super~Single~Mama]

If you don't want to pump then don't! Your DS is old enough that it will be ok!

I stopped pumping a few months ago (I still do when DS has overnight visitation with his dad - but only at night and first thing in the morning), and my nighttime supply hasn't suffered a bit. I love not pumping, and my baby still loves to nurse!

Just don't stop all at once - try to phase one pumping session out at a time to decrease your discomfort.