15 month old - I don't want to stop breast feeding but TIRED of pumping at work!!!

[type1momma]

DD is a bright happy little one. I have enjoyed our nursing experience tremendously and have no intention to stop until she is ready (honestly I dread when the day comes).

However, I returned to work when she was 4 months and after 11 months I have had ENOUGH of pumping. She is on solids now, her appetite has finally picked up (we did BLW) so I have gotten away with sending less milk, which means I now only have to pump once a day.

I've spoken with her Dr. and he recommends just stop pumping and she'll be fine. He recommends that I continue to nurse her in the morning and through out the night as she wants (we co-sleep). I'm not a fan of cow's milk for her so we've tried to give her goat's as well as soy. She refuses to drink any other milk, but will drink water from a sippy cup. We experimented with the other milks when I'm not around to make sure it wasn't a matter of her wanting me instead of a bottle.

Has anyone else had a similar experience and if so what did you do? Should I just stop pumping a let her have water through out the day? Additionally, she is leaving her home sitter to go to school at 18 months. I'm worried about making a drastic change of the school as well as removing her milk at the same time!

[Ellien C]

I stopped pumping with my first at 10 months and she went on to nurse until she was 4.5 years old when I weaned her. (Was DONE by then). 

With my second, I stopped pumping around 13 months and he's still nursing just fine 2 months later. He does nurse a lot throughout the night so I'm just giving water at day care. I was giving a bottle of cows milk (small bottle) but he's just not interested in it. So he really doesn't get any other milk. 

I agree with your Dr. that you will be just fine. Your supply will do what it needs to and it's not nearly as fragile now as it was in the beginning. I left my daughter for 3-5 days at a time HOPING she'd wean on her own but she never did as she got into her toddler years. 

[Rani]

I did what your doc describes...Just sort of stopped..replacing the pumped milk with rice milk for daycare.  DD's tummy didn't do well on cows milk for a long time and it made her agressive.  She really didn't seem to notice because she was fully exploring foods by then.  But, we nursed AS SOON AS WE GOT HOME almost every day lol...and at bedtime..Just be careful to wean your system off pumping gradually so you don't get any ill effects from engorgement.  If you pump several times a day, reduce by one, then next week, two, and so on..don't just stop cold turky. I only was pumping once a day anyway because I was working part time a good while at first.

Forgot to say...dd didn't like soy or goat milk either...try rice milk or hemp..,oat milk..she may like them better...also, give some at night to taste so its not just associated with daycare. Good luck

[Heba]

I also stopped expressing at work when ds reached one.  We continued to breastfeed for another 2 1/2 years.

[Sharlla]

I stopped pumping a few months ago and we are fine

[~Boudicca~]

I stoppeds pumping when dd2 was just about a year old. she continued to nurse until a couple months before her 4th birthday. It doesn't have to be all or nothing.

[Anna Phor]

I had a somewhat similar experience--I stopped pumping and switched to whole milk in a sippy at the same time as a new child entered our nanny share (so the child who was previously with my son since he was 5 months old had left--family moved out of state). 

It turned out to be too much change at once, so I kept pumping for a couple weeks more, and then we went to whole milk in the bottle, not the sippy, and then transferred a couple months later to the sippy. 

Six months after stopping pumping, I've found:

• my son breastfeeds much as he did when I was pumping; a couple times mornings and evenings, and a couple times overnight, plus through the day on weekends
• he doesn't drink a ton of cows milk during the day--maybe 4-5 oz max
• my supply seems fine although stopping pumping made my period start back so I do get a supply dip around that time

The only potential problem I see with her not getting any milk at all during the day is that you might be up all night nursing. Could you maybe introduce cheese or yoghurt? Cottage cheese is also a big favorite for us. 

[Illiana]

your supply will adjust to just nighttime nursing. Try almond milk or rice milk or one of the other types out there. DD is 5 and maybe drinks a glass a day in her morning cereal. (if she has some)

[type1momma]

Ladies,

Thanks so much for your shared advice and support! I'm glad that I posted here. I feel a lot more comfortable with making the decision to stop pumping, and confident that I can continue to breastfeed!

Anna Phor: yes she does eat yoghurt and cheese. I haven't tried the cottage cheese, I'm not a fan so I didn't think to offer it to her.

Thanks again!!

[Quinalla]

Yup, I stopped pumping at 13 months and DD just recently weaned at almost 19 months, I will say that she only occasionally slept through the night so right before bed and usually one to two other quick nursing sessions at night were pretty normal for her, but towards the end when I was working towards weaning I was only nursing once a day and my body still kept going. Heck, when we finally weaned, I was full for an entire week of no nursing before my body finally decided I was really done.

Make sure to reduce pumping gradually to ward off discomfort and possible infections. For us, I did introduce cow's milk and she likes it ok, she tends to get a cup or two of milk, occasional juice, but mostly water. I just make sure she gets dairy through food as she loves yogurt and cheese, so I don't worry if she doesn't want a bunch of milk.