Mothering Forum banner

If you work full time, when did you completely stop pumping at work?

4K views 37 replies 36 participants last post by  nina_yyc 
#1 ·
It wasn't until just a few months ago that I stopped pumping on all my breaks, and now I am down to one. DS eats about 6 oz. a day and I pump about that much after I cut it down to once a day.

I have a darn good stash in the freezer now, I will have to count it but it could be in the 300-400 oz. range.

It's impossible to tell how long DS is going to be nursing regularly (I'm guessing at least another 1/2 year to a year) so it's hard to tell when I should stop pumping, especially since I seem to be way ahead now.

So should I just stop pumping (it is a pain and not comfortable at all) and use up the stash, whereas at that point he will no longer need any milk at daycare, OR I was thinking, continue pumping once a day and...

http://milkshare.birthingforlife.com/donorscreening but I can't tell how donation works or if they will even take freezer stash.

Thanks!
 
#2 ·
12 months with both kids. With ds, we switched him over to cows milk in bottles. Dd reverse cycled, and so she drank water and/or cows milk from a sippy cup during the day.

I didn't have supply issues with either one. My supply is much more affected by night nursing than anything else. I hated pumping, couldn't donate my milk to milk bank because I'm on some meds, and I was very happy to stop.

Dd is still nursing at age 3. (Though we are weaning. Finally down to once a day!)
 
#7 ·
I stopped completely right when DS turned 13 months. But I did it gradually and in conjunction with weaning him from the bottles of ebm, so I didn't have much of a stash at that point. I didn't want to quit until I was sure he could go without during the day.

Holly
 
#9 ·
I stopped at 8.5 months. By that point, I was only getting maybe an ounce or two over 2-3 pumping sessions throughout the day. I was never prolific at the pump but man, 1 or 2 ounces a day just didn't seem worth all the aggrivation and frustration and smelling like IHOP from all the darn fenugreek.
 
#10 ·
I stopped pumping completely at 11 mos. There were a variety of reasons. I was leaving for a week long business/pleasure trip 3,000 miles away from home just before my daughter's first bd and although I was bringing my dd, I would be away from her during the day and I frankly didn't want to lug the breast pump with me on top of the stroller, carseat, backpack, and toddler I had to keep track of in the airport (I was travelling alone). I wasn't about to ship the pump through baggage and risk having it damaged. Also, my yield was decreasing a lot by then and my stash was pretty much gone. I switcher her to cow milk and soy milk (she liked my strawberry soy milk) in a cup at 11 months and continued to nurse her until she was 3. Seems like forever ago...she turns 5 this month!
 
#13 ·
Cherre - you sound like me!!!

With DD1, I weaned myself from the pump slowly after I became PG with DD2. I dragged it out as long as I could hoping against hope to make it to her first birthday. DD1 was 8.5 mo when I got PG and 10.5 mo when she had her last EBM. We still nursed, but there was no milk, so pumping was out.

With DD2, I pumped until 12.5 months. I slowly weaned myself from the pump starting at 11 months. But I have to warn you, once I stopped pumping, the milk was nearly gone. DD2 self-weaned at 13-14 months. She only nursed for the milk, not the comfort, so she was done.
 
#14 ·
12 months both times.

With #1, especially, the returns on the time it took were going down so quickly. I always had to use pressure and breast compression to get anything out while pumping for him, and by 12 months as my supply was adjusting to him eating more solids, I was having to pump for 20 minutes to get a scant 4oz.

I worked half-time, so even when they were infants I only pumped once and only needed one bottle while I was away.

With #2 my supply was better and I could have pumped and actually gotten something for longer, but there was a lot of upheaval at work and I lost my nice pumping spot, leaving me pumping in a private bathroom, which just wasnt' relaxing and was not conducive to pumping either. If she'd still been younger I would have kept at it, but again by 12 mos she was eating more solids and we used cows milk in a sippy to replace the one bottle she'd been getting at the sitter.
 
#16 ·
Around 12 months...and I was pregnant again when dd1 was 18mo!
(the two weren't really related, my cycles came back at 7mo pp).

DD also reverse cycled so we did a LOT of night nursing and weekend nursing. By a year dd1 was eating maybe half her calories in solids? It was a while ago so I'm not positive, and we've always gone with the "mini meals"/grazing approach so I'm sure some days she had more and some days less...but about half sounds right. When I stopped pumping I made sure she was offered a few higher cal/healthy fat options each day (like plain yogurt, tofu, avocado, flax seed muffins, etc) and she was fine. We continued to nurse and she now tandem nurses with her little sis (I'm on maternity leave for a few more weeks, but I've already dusted off the pump).

Donation- I donated a lot of milk (I have over active supply). I found it was easiest to connect personally with someone in my area to donate to. LLL or and AP group, a high risk pediatrician's office, even a midwife practice should be able to help you reach a low supply or special need family. The national milk banks each have their own way of doing things, some sell your milk for a serious profit margin, and most sterilize the milk (which studies have shown can diminish the benefits of breastmilk for the babe). Donating directly to a mama let's you know that the milk is going right where it needs to be, and many low supply mamas will pay you for shipping if the milk needs to be sent that way.
 
#18 ·
18 looooonnnggg months with ds. He would not eat solid food! Ihad horrible pumping supply issues, he tried to out eat me. I was pumping 24hrs a day plus nursing on demand for the first 12 months. It was really really hard.

12 months with dd. She started solids at 5m and I think would have eaten earlier had we let her.
 
#19 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by nina_yyc View Post
Those of you who said 12mo, how much solids did your baby eat?
DS ate a lot of solids. He took eagerly to eating solid foods right from the beginning and had a pretty varied diet by 9-10 months, when I began cutting back on pumping.

DD really ate very little solids by the time she stopped nursing during the workday at 15 months, and she's still a very picky eater. But being essentially cut off from access to breastmilk did encourage her to ramp up her solids (and cows' milk) intake some at that time. She didn't seem distressed by the change and it certainly didn't hurt her health any.

Holly
 
#20 ·
I stopped pumping about 12 mos. and ds reverse cycled (until 18 mos.) and drank a little cow's milk or water at daycare. By 8/9 mos. he was eating tons of solids and if he hadn't been such a big solid eater by then may not have stopped pumping by 12 mos.

He's still nursing at 21 mos. with no end in sight.
 
#21 ·
I'm still pumping at work .... at 16months.
When I went back to work at 12 weeks, I was nursing before I left for work, and then pumping 2 times, sometimes 3 in an 8 hour day. A lot of times, DH or my best friend/nanny would bring me the baby to nurse sometime during the day.

Now ... I'm working part time, 20 hours a week, in the evenings (3p-1a). I usually only pump once per shift -- somewhere between 5 and 8pm. Last night, I didn't pump at all (worked 3p-11p) -- I pumped as soon as I got home. Tonight, DD came by worked, and I nursed her at around 7pm. No pumping after that, since we were crazy busy!

I'd love to give it up totally, but DD refuses to drink cow's milk, so I still have to pump for her. I figure once a day, 2 to 3 times a week isn't too bad.
 
#22 ·
My first two weaned at 9 months, but I stooped pumping around 6 months. Luckily my then husband worked nights so he could bring them up at lunch time to nurse. My youngest weaned at 4 months and I just was not interested in constantly pumping for her. Besides as a teacher I don't get a lot of breaks.
 
#23 ·
With that much in the freezer I would think you would be running into an issue with having to use it up before it is unusable. I believe 6 months is the limit for using frozen breastmilk isn't it? (Check Kellymom.com) With 400 oz. in the freezer and baby having ~20 oz. a day, you'd have enough for about a month of workdays.
 
#24 ·
for dd it was 9 months, for ds it was 13 months. ds did not wean until over 2. He was also a big solids eater. He was just a big eater in general. By 13 months af had returned and I was really struggling to get more than an 1-2 oz. It was mentally freeing to be done with it. I enjoying nursing him in the evenings/mornings/weekends that much more.
 
#25 ·
I stopped pumping at work at 6 months and when my freezer stash ran out we supplemented with formula during my work hours and I continued to breastfeed her until she was 14 months old.

With my last baby, I stopped pumping at work when she was 8 months old; then also supplemented with formula until she was a year old, and I continued breastfeeding her (evenings and weekends) until she weaned at 30 months old.
 
#26 ·
I just posted about this in life with a babe. DD is 8 months old, and takes 3 bottles during the day, for a total of about 14 ounces of bm. She also eats a jar of puree and a little yobaby yogurt.

In the next few months, will she just lose interest in those daytime bottles gradually? How does this work?

I want to keep nursing her in the morning and at night.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top