Weaning from Pump

[Partaria]

Hey Mamas,

DS is just about to turn 1. We are still BFing, though he drinks much less than he did months ago. He's eating solids pretty well at this stage, so I'm not too concerned about that.

I still pump at work and give his daycare providers milk to give him during the day. I feed him in the morning when we get up, and we nurse again when I get home from work, then again before bed.

I'm wondering if it would be possible for me to give up the pumping, but still keep nursing at home. Pumping is lonely. I hate doing it, honestly. But I would keep it up if stopping meant my supply would disappear.

What do you think? Does DS need milk still during the day at daycare? Or could he still get enough for his age if we nurse when we're together? If I stop pumping @ work will my supply disappear?

[Skippy918]

I am trying to wean from the pump too! I am down to 1 (5 mins) session a day around lunchtime and I am finding it difficult to drop that session. My breasts feel full by lunch and i dont think i can make it to 5pm. Dd has been refusing her bottles at daycare all week, and was hit or miss the previous 2-3 weeks. I am wondering if she's now done with bottles altogether. She still nurses when we get home, before bed, then 1 or 2 times overnight, plus a dream feed before I leave for work about 6am. So I am guessing she gets enough milk.

[RStelle]

I stopped pumping at 11 mths, and I did have a supply drop, but it went back up after a few weeks. I  have a little letdown at lunch time and my breasts feel like I needed to pump, but if I don't pump I found that the feeling goes away and I feel fine. I did start wearing breast pads again just to be safe. I guess everyone is different, but my body adjusted pretty well. I have a highly variable schedule where I am at work 4 hours one day, 7 hours one day, and 9 1/2 hours one day, then home the rest, and DD nurses quite a bit when I'm home, but it was no problem once I stopped pumping.

We give her organic cows milk from a local farm while I'm at work if she wants it, she doesn't drink very much of it. I think she misses the comfort of nursing at nap time, so now sometimes we give her warm milk with a little chamomile tea in a bottle, and she loves that and drinks much more of it. I know they say not to give toddlers bottles, but whatever, it works for us.
 

[neonalee]

I stopped pumping around 17 or 18 months.  DS was mostly drinking sippy cups of water by then.  We were doing sippy cups of milk for a bit but he was always so busy running around a daycare he didn't always finish it and it was going down the drain :(

Anyway, I heard you can lose your supply, I didn't.  We continued to nurse at home.  I had to make sure I stayed just as hydrated as when I was pumping, which was about 64 oz of water a day.

I posted about this when I was thinking of giving up pumping too and was surprised by how many moms said they'd stopped pumping around 1 year.  I'd had no idea LOL

[Skippy918]

Skipped the pump today and I was a bit uncomfortable, but DD remedied that. I put milk in a sippy for her and she drank most of it this morning. Since she still nurses well on weekends, I hope that will kept up my supply. With DS, I stopped pumping at 12 months and he weaned at 16 months.

[Anna Phor]

I stopped pumping a year and a half ago, and my son is still nursing. Quitting pumping caused my period to come back, however--so be prepared!