How Do I Reduce My Pumpings?

I exclusively pumped for all three of my children. When it came time to wheen I gradually decreased based on my schedule. I would try stopping the 12:00 and see how it goes. You might have to play around with it for a little bit. It took about 2-3 weeks to fully stop. However, each time I became engorged between 7-10 days later and pumped one last time to relieve the pain. If you do this, limit the time you pump so you don't begin producing milk again. Good luck!! M.

Sounds like every body is different. It seemed like only 2 days and my body stopped producing milk, but then again I was aways using herbs to help keep my supply up anyway.

I didn't pump much, but I did breast feed. Reproduction is by how much you take out. I wasn't eating right so my body didn't produce that much. My son bit my nipple so I quit cold turkey. He did have substitute milks on the side, only when I was out and about and couldn't breast feed. Some babies cry when they dont breastfed, but he didn't. It takes more than 3 days to dry up. When you stop pumping and nursing, it will slow down. The less you pump, your more likely to slow your production down a bit. I think pumping depends on when your breasts are full at your intervals. 12pm is late, if not you can store your milk in the fridge also.

HI M.,

I wouldn't suggest just cutting out a single pupming. It will make you very engorged and painful. If you typically pump @ work @ 9, 12 & 4 you should instead try to pump @ 1030/11 & 230/3 and for less time. Your body will naturally adjust and make less milk. After several weeks you can adjust to 1 pumping at about noon or 1 pm. Just try and do it gradually so you can avoid any painful side effects. Good luck. It will probably be about 2 mos before you can completely stop pumping.

If it was me doing it, I would cut out the 4:00 pumping first - and then feed my son as soon as I could after that. You can also keep pumping, just don't pump until you are completely empty - the only problem with that is that you are going to continually make less milk at each interval.... When I weaned my daughter off, I cut the pumping during work hours and breast fed only when I was at home, to be honest with you, I wish that I would've done it longer, I know that it is a pain in the rear to pump at work, but you may want to re-think, and be sure that it is really what you want to do.

what i did was reduced the amount I pumped out.. each time..

like when I got 8oz, pump until I had 6..

once I was able to really get down I was able to cut out a pumping.

Hi M.,
Both of my daughters stopped nursing on their own at 10 months. With my first I was worried about her not getting enough nutrition from just solids, but her doc encouraged me not to use formula. He said just to mix some baby cereal (oatmeal, rice)in with her baby food since it is fortified with plenty of iron etc. and to introduce plain natural yogurt (mixed with apple sauce or some other unsweetened fruit). This worked great and both of my daughters continued to gain weight and develop right on schedule.
As for any age child (or adult for that matter), real food is the most healthy choice. It will set your little guy up for a healthy and happy future!

I have been told by a lactation consultant that if you want to reduce the amount of milk you produce, you have to pump out less. Just pump out enough so that your breasts aren't full and uncomfortable and after a few days you will produce less. I would say don't cut out the third pumping at work at first if you can help it. After a week or two of pumping less milk out each time, you might be able to eliminate the third pumping.

Yes taking out the 12:00pm pump would be a good start. Do that for a week and then gradually stop either the 9:00am or the 4:00pm pump. If you are taking Fenugreek or anything other supplement, that would be good to stop too. For me, when I stopped pumping, it stopped pretty fast so I'd say it will be different with each other. I gradually reduce my pump times and that really seemed to help.

Please don't take this personally, as I have seen many mothers on this list who switch their babies from breast milk to either formula or some other milk substitute, but for the life of me I cannot fathom why when there are so many benefits both for mother and baby.

That said, if you really want to reduce your supply some things that I noticed in myself that seem to 'dry' me up are drinking less and, for whatever reason, taking probiotics. My thought is that if you reduce the amount of milk you produce then it shouldn't be that big of a deal to reduce the length of time that you pump and then stop the mid-day pumping session. I just say mid-day because you could probably go longer in between pumpings, but I think this may really depend upon what is going on with your job (like structured breaks and lunch times). I would recommend that you keep the times that are less intrusive in your work day.

Good luck.

My first question is... why do you want to wean him? If you are working full time, your feedings are important intimacy times for the both of you. Plus, weaning a child before they are ready can have consequences in behavior problems. I understand how difficult pumping is at work, but if this is an important link to you for your child, it might be worth it to let him wean on his own. Weaning ages or more like 18 months, not really 9 months (Le Leche League). Check out Dr. Sears and what he says about weaning.

Good luck with everything,

B.

for me it was to make sure there was as little stimulation to the nipples as poss. maybe your hubby won't like that for a while, but it makes a difference. also when you're skipping that mid-day pumping, either use ice packs or bind the "girls" with an ace bandage or something similar. I've also heard of using cabbage leaves for when/if it becomes painful. good luck hope it all works out well for ya

Hi M.

I had a similar situation. I stopped breastfeeding at 6 months shortly after I went back to work. My breast supply really went down when I went back to work. So, I started pumping twice a day at work like you are suggesting. I would get really busy at work and realized that I could go the whole day without pumping, so I did. It didn't take that long for me to stop producing milk altogether. Maybe a week or two. If you taper off gradually, it's amazing how your body adjusts. Of course every woman is a little different, but I don't think it even takes that long for your milk supply to deplete if you go cold turkey.

Here is the advice I have for you. I nursed 4 kids, twins till 4 mths, and the last 2 for 1 year. I would shorten the time you do pump.
Remember your milk is on supply and demand. You pump less, you make less. And you will start seeing it decrease.I would definately get rid of the 12 oclock pumping and keep the other two. And if you are too uncomfortable (engorged) pump at 12, but if your used to pumping 6oz out of each side, then only pump 4oz, this too will help.
When you start weaning to formula, start with example.. for a total 6oz bottle, 4oz breastmilk to 2oz of formula. And start decreasing the amount of breastmilk to formula ratio. Your best to continue pumping until around 10 1/2 month then start weaning, but if your ready now it will not take long for it to slow down in production. I had a ton of milk and when I weaned my little guy, I would say 4-5 weeks later it was pretty much gone. Good luck, trish

Pumping down is the easiest way to stop your milk production. I would first cut each of the pumping by about 5 minutes. I'm not sure how long you pump for but if you want to stop the middle one first, Cut that one in half each day and in a few days you'll be done with little to no uncomfortableness. At the same time slowing shorten your pumping time for the other pumping, maybe a minute a day. Before you know if you'll be done and you won't have that full hard feeling in your breast.

Cut out one pumping for a few days (you might even want to do one less pumping a week), then cut out the next and wait for a few days, etc. Do it too fast and you could end up with mastitis. Milk production will stop as you cease pumping. Are you sure you don't want to make it to a year?

i pump at 10am and then around 230 pm. two times a day. only 6oz (3 oz from each breast) per pump.

you can continue to breastfeed ur baby after work or only at nights. your milk will continue to produce so why not try keep up breastfeeding until she s ready for real milk (instead of giving her formula)

my friend doesnt pump at all during the day and still able to breastfeed when she gets home. milk amazingly comes out to benefit the baby.

bet u cant wait to be a stay at home mommy! i wish i could do that. maybe someday!

Hi,
I pumped at work with my first daughter, Tess. I don't know what time you start in the a.m. at work, but I think I would cut out the 9 am pumping and just do 12 and 4. Assuming you nurse your son at home before you go to work, I would cut out the 9 am pumping and just do 12 and 4.

Good luck!

J.

For your comfort, probably reducing the amount of time pumping at work slowly would be good. I think any of the 3 sessions could go, depending on which one would be better for you to cut out.

Also, have you thought about just trying to increase solids to make up for less breast milk instead of going to formula? And then you could continue to breastfeed, but at a less frequent interval. You're giving the best to your baby and could easy save the $ and possible problems formula can bring with a little work. It can be hard to transition off bottles of formula at one year because we get attached and think of it as "insurance" that our child is getting enogh nutrition, when the child really needs a more varied diet.

Good luck and congrats on havng made it 9 months EBF!

I'm in the middle of doing this myself. My little one is a year now (can you hold out another 3 months?? Sorry, I know a lot have already mentioned it, but then you wouldn't have to do formula at all, and it's healthiest for him!). I pumped 2x, at 10:00ish and 2:00ish, then went down to once a day for a month, then stopped. But I developed mastitis about a week later, after I stopped. The advice I got was to do it more gradually, and maybe pump just a little bit, or pump when I'm feeling full. So that's my strategy right now. But I am also nursing when I'm at home and on the weekends, not weaning completely just yet.

I would not pump at noon but maybe0bring the nine up to ten or eleven and the four down to two or three. I soley pumped for my son and I weaned by pumping a few ounces less each time instead of cutting out a pump. I did it so slowly that I never felt engourgment. As for getting my guy to drink formula I started mixing it with my milk. Again just a little at a time gradually adding more formula and less milk. My guy was allergic to the formula the very first time I tried it so you may wish to try it before you slow your production. I waited a month and tried it again. It wasn't until the third try that he was able to tollerate the formula. Good luck.

I pumped for 3 children at work and I would recommend adjusting your times to maybe 10:00 am and 3:00 pm. If you just drop out the noon one, you may be really uncomfortable by mid-afternoon. The adjusted schedule will gove your body a little more of a chance to make the adjustment. If you are really trying to wean him completely, see how that goes for a couple weeks and then try to go to just one around noon. I would say it takes a good week for your body to adjust to each eliminated feeding/pumping. Everyone is different so you'll have to see how it goes. However, if you have pumped this long, why not keep it up another several weeks until he's 11 or 12 months and then go to milk in a sippy cup? I would try to eliminate the formula if you can. Good luck.

When I started weaning my pumpings when I worked, I tried to push each pump time back 10-15 min each day. Also I would decrease the amount I would express. I would only pump 4 oz. instead of 8. I was a little uncomfortable in the begining but my body adjusted after a few days.
Good Luck.
T.

I guess we all have these same questions. I stopped a few months ago and for me, it did not cease quickly. I would agree with your thoughts on reducing slowly for a half a week or possibly a week and see how it goes. I was amazed how fast overall, the milk just stops. Just like this whole experience, the body is amazing. Good luck!