Going to hang up the horns soon- tell me what to expect

[rhiOrion]

DD is going to be transitioning to the toddler room at day care soon, and can't have breastmilk there.  Yes, I know I could fight it, but I've considered all the factors and thought long an hard about it, and I've chosen not to (I'm happy to go over the details, but it's a wordy thought-process story). She'll be about 13 months when she transitions. 

My plan is to slowly wean myself from the pump so as to not completely tank my supply.  I'm wondering what I can realistically expect this to be like?   Currently I pump at 9, 11, 1-2, 4.  Sometimes it's 10, 1, 4.  My thought was to initially drop to 10 and 1.  Then eventually just the 1:00.   And then cut that out and be done pumping.  My supply is not huge to begin with- so I don't want to do anything that will make it disappear.

Should I expect any difference in how she nurses at home?  She'll be moving to cow milk at day care (or possibly goat or soy, we've had some dairy issues with her in the past).

Insights, thoughts, suggestions?

[Ravin]

Your plan sounds workable. Does she eat a lot of solids? If my DD had been in care full time at that age, I'd have fought cutting off the BM if she was getting that much of her nutrients from pumped milk. Do you cosleep? If you cosleep and your LO still nurses at night, I don't think your supply will be at risk.

And I'd go with goat's milk. Makes for an easier transition ime.

Edited to add: she might nurse more at home, depending on how many calories she's getting from solids/goat's milk. I'd limit how much milk they give her a day at daycare and have them also give her water, to encourage her nursing at home.

Edited by Ravin - 3/29/11 at 1:26pm

[rhiOrion]

She does very well with solids- some days are better than others, and it goes down a bit with teething, but generally she eats three good meals a day for someone of that age.  We do cosleep and she pretty much nurses through the night.  She currently drinks about 10-12 ounces of breastmilk while at day care- I'm not sure how much cow milk they give.

Goat milk is our first choice if the cow milk thing doesn't work (we'll have to get a dr note to do anything other than cow milk, since the state requires cow milk).  If we do the cow milk thing we'll pay the extra to have them give her organic, at least. 

So yeah, not the way I would like things to go, but it is how it is.

[Anna Phor]

I did this a few months ago. When I started weaning from the pump, I was pumping at 10 & 4, and getting about 8-10oz per day. I cut down to pumping 1x per day (around 1), and then I took a week to wean from the 1x day, each day moving it back about 30-40 mins. (But don't make the last day Friday! or you will be back on Monday having nursed all weekend).

My son first got whole milk in a straw cup, and he didn't take to it at all, despite being an enthusiastic drinker of water from a straw cup. So we switched back to the bottle, and now he drinks 6-8 oz of whole milk in the bottle. At almost 17 months, he nurses 3-5 times overnight, plus at least 2x in the morning before work and 2x in the evening when I get home.

Something unexpected for me; when I went down to pumping 1x day, I started menstruating again--and I get a substantial supply dip when I menstruate. Which is a giant PITA, because it means a fussy kid overnight who won't sleep. I've had some luck with mother's milk tea but I'm still figuring when I need to start drinking it.

[justKate]

I didn't really see a difference in DD's nursing when I stopped pumping.  Of course my supply went down, but she was still nursing on demand in the evening and through the night.  It didn't take long for my body to adjust, which really surprised me.  Obviously everyone's experience is different though.

I can't believe you have to get a note for cow milk!  That's rediculous.  I hope that everything transitions smoothly for you both. 

[One_Girl]

You might find that she nurses a lot more at night if she doesn't like the whole milk and her sleeping schedule may change.  If you provide it they may not need a doctor's note, but they can't count you in their meal counts so they may require you to provide all of her food.  The USDA is very strict about giving everyone the same thing with the same serving sizes and they do require a doctor's note when children need something different to prove the child isn't being given different things for bad reasons (prejudice, punishment, etc...).

[Gretchen_PDX]

One of the reasons I still pump at work is because my son wants to nurse non-stop over the weekend and I worry that my supply would go down to much for him to do this. It sounds like there are some experienced pumpers on this thread... any thoughts on this?

[justKate]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gretchen_PDX 

One of the reasons I still pump at work is because my son wants to nurse non-stop over the weekend and I worry that my supply would go down to much for him to do this. It sounds like there are some experienced pumpers on this thread... any thoughts on this?

 Well it wasn't that way for me, but you know, it's different for everybody.  When I was pumping at work, I would come home and immediately nurse DD, just one boob.  When I stopped pumping I started giving her both boobs, if she wanted it, because I was more concerned about her nutrition as she transitioned between exlcusively breastmilk and solids.  But by the time she was one (when I stopped), she was more into reconnecting through nursing, and then getting on with the playing.  I still let her nurse whenever she wanted to, which was probably 6-7 times in a 24 hour period when I was working 8:30--4:00.  I also had to make a bigger effort to get her to really nurse well on Monday mornings to avoid being uncomfortable all day.  But my body did adjust. 

This part is just my experience--when i quit pumping at work, a huge weight was lifted off of my shoulders.  It was awesome.  I knew I wanted to nurse DD, but we got off to a rough start and it was really day by day for the first six months.   (No lie, search my name in the Breastfeeding subforum.)  When I got to six months I promised to get myself to nine.  When I got to nine I said I'd go to 12, and when DD turned 1 I put the pump away and did not look back.  And I'm so proud that I cut myself that slack, because i needed it.  So I guess what I'm saying is that you have to make the decision that's right for you.  Most likely your supply will meet demand, and if not you can start pumping again to boost it.  Good luck with your decision, and be proud of the months of hard work you've already done!

[JudiAU]

I would suggest dropping the middle of the day first and drop one session a week. Any faster and you risk problems.

I pump longer (18m) so my experience might not be the same. I didn't notice any difference at night. One thing you might want to consider is how you feel about LO drinking replacement milk and in what form. I am not okay with bottles in my presence, my kids never have them unless I can't nurse them, and it wasn't okay for me. Are you okay with this? Are you okay her, say, demanding "milk" or whatever she calls it and not wanting to nurse when you are home. Dragging around a sippy cup in lieu of milk? Preferring another milk to bm?

My son weaned a few months after I stopped pumping and stash was gone. He never transitioned to another milk. I was pregnant and that was part of it but so was post-pumping milk supply. If I had known I would have kept pumping one time a day.  I was devastated. These are all pretty common issues mothers face and you might want to consider them before you stop pumping.

[Quinalla]

I would drop one pumping session at a time and try to space pretty evenly between the remaining sessions, I would say no more than one a week, but go based on your body of course. I was pumping only 2x a day for ~10oz a day by the end, so I dropped the afternoon session and also moved the morning session about an hour or so later. Then I moved that session later and later and pumped less and less over two weeks, tapering that last session off until I stopped. I probably could have gone faster, but I wanted to avoid any issues. I stopped pumping just after my DD turned 13 months. My DD didn't change her nursing habits on nights/weekends, so I do tend to be a little more full on Monday after the weekend and sometimes by Thurs/Fri night I can tell she is drinking everything in there, but she is nearly 17 months now and still going strong. My DD was still nursing 2-3 times a night in addition to 2 times after daycare and 1-2 times in the morning at 13 months, now she usually nurses right when she gets home, before bed, zero or once during the night and once in the morning. Sometimes she skips right after getting home or the morning nurse, but not often. On weekends, it is somewhat random, but she always nurses before her nap and usually 2-4 other times during the day, but if distracted enough, she might not nurse any other times except nap. Being sleepy always brings on her desire to nurse most strongly.

As far as emotionally, it was a relief to be done with all the bottle/pump washing, preparing/schlepping bottle for daycare, the time to pump, etc. but it was also a bit sad to be supplying less to her as well. My DD was eating and drinking great, so I didn't have worries about her getting enough, but despite all the hassle and time it takes, there is sometime special about pumping and knowing my DD was getting something so direct from me everyday at daycare.