How Long to Pump?

I stopped gradually. Weaned my daugher by 9 mo. I guess I was ready to do it then. Although, I think I'll BF my son for the year. I think it's my last so I'll hold on as long as I can.

Hi J..
I was at work 3 days a week (worked from home the other two) and I pumped until my daughter was 18 months old, gradually weaning off toward the end, as my daughyter weaned.
If it is going well for you, there is no reason to stop--you will continue to provide great nutrients for our child.
At my office, my girlfriends were always amazed that my daughter neverhad a single ear infection, and was rarely sick. I contribute a good portion of that good luck to the fact that she had breastmilk for so long!
Good luck to you!
J.

My son is 10 months. After he was on solids for a couple of months he wasn't very interested in nursing. It went from several times a day to two or three, and then 1 or 2 times. Drove me crazy. I was pumping 2 times at work and sometimes a little at home. When he started to refuse the breast at 9 months and pumping gave me little milk I knew it was time to stop. For a week I nursed him one time a day(usually at night) and pumped one time a day. The next week I nursed him once a day, but didn't pump at all. By the end of that week I was pretty well dried up with little discomfort. Cool packs at night fwlt great for two or three nights. I went cold turkey with my daughter and I was in misery. Good luck.

With my second child I continued to pump until she was nine months old. When I did finally quit I went down to one pumping during the day and within the week quit. I dried up within a week. My milk however was stored up in the freezer to the point that when I did stop pumping I was able to transition her onto the toddler formula by the time she was 11 months old. Whatever the case, pump as long as you feel comfortable doing it. You can continue to breastfeed as long as you choose.

hi J.:
the way i did it, i started pumping less so that your milk supply starts decreasing, if you do it at once, your breast are going to get full and its going to be uncomfortable, specially at work.

If you are not having any difficulties doing this it would be great to continue on for the full year. I was told that a pump can not match the suction of a baby so you won't be able to express the amount by pump that your baby could, therefore slowly reducing your supply. I found that by decreaing my pumping times as my son got older slowly reduced my production of milk so that when I switched to whole milk I did not get that painful engorgement issue. My first son rejected me about 2 days after getting a bottle so I only pumped. But going longer on pumping times worked for me. Good Luck.

Hello -
I would definitely recommend you continue to give your child breastmilk AT LEAST until her first birthday - longer if you can. The benefits are unbeatable and your child will continue to benefit nutritionally even though she is starting solids. Breast is best!
Good luck!

That is wonderful that you are pumping during the day. I exclusively breastfed for 6 months and decided when I returned to work that I was going to use formula for during the day. I still nurse mornings and nights and my son takes 3 bottles at daycare. When I was starting to cut back though, I cut out one feeding a day for a week. Then another feeding the next week, etc. I only noticed an engorgement one day and it wasn't so bad. I pumped for just a couple minutes to express a little milk but not produce more! Now, I do not have any problems and still producing enough to keep my son happy! Keep pumping as long as you can!

The national accademie of pediatrics and all of the research out there regarding the benefits of breastfeeding recommends that you breastfeed for the first year. I pumped until my daugther was 13 mths old. I would gradually miss one pumping session and do that for a week and then skip another one until I wasn't pumping at work at all but I would still nurse my daughter at home. At 12 mths your child is old enough to have regular milk so I would give her that while you slowly cut back on pumping. As your baby gets older she will require less milk and your body will stop producing as much. I never had to worry about buying expensive formula and I know I did what was in my daughter's best interest. It was very difficult finding the time to pump especially during tax season but I just had to constantly remind myself of the benefits and everything worked out. At 16 mths I still nurse my daughter every 2-3 days whenever she needs the comfort but I stopped pumping totally when she was 13 mths.

Hello,

How long to pump depends a lot on you, the american academy of pediatrics recomends to breasfeed for a year; I personally pumped for 13 months.

The way I stoped was be reducing a pump a day every few days until I completely stoped; that way your body gets used to producing less milk on a gradual way so its not painful for you.

Good luck!

I pumped until 11 months, then used my frozen supply.

I exclusively nursed and pumped until my daughter was 1 year (she's almost 18 months now). At 10 months, during my period, she started to refuse the day-time feedings (I guess my production was down) but would nurse in the am then before bed. At 11 months, during my period, she refused all together and got frozen milk until 1 year. With the less feedings and the return of my cycle, I NEVER had engorgement (this is a tip I have for nursing mothers � if your period returns while you�re nursing, wean-when you/baby are ready-during a cycle!)

~J.

WELL IF YOU ARE HAPPY WITH IT WHEN YOU ARE READY YOU WILL KNOW