Weaning from Pump?

You are making this too complicated! You'll be amazed at how easily this will "flow" (pun intended) if you just do what you want and stop worrying. It isnt considered partial weaning...you are still nursing! Just cutting out pumping. On the weekends, just nurse on demand! Nurse anytime your baby wants to, save the frozen milk for when you arent there. Eventually your body will figure out this system. There are days as your baby gets into toddler years that they will want to nurse 7 times in one day, then nurse only twice the next day. Its the normal course of breastfeeding, so your body will figure it out. Try pumping only once for the next week or two. Then stop pumping by week three, but have it handy over week 3 and 4 in case you get uncomfortable with engorgement. Then if you do, pump to relieve yourself, but dont empty the breasts. In a month (at the latest) you will be completely done pumping, still have enough milk in the freezer when you are away, and still be able to nurse when your baby needs you. Its the best case scenario! Good job Mama for making it so far, and may you continue to nurse blissfully until your baby is ready to wean!
~Tara~ breastfeeding counselor

I never got very much from pumping. By the time I stopped I was only getting about 3 oz total. So I just stopped. But I continued to nurse when I was with my son. I never pumped with my daughter. As long as I was with them I nursed them and I never had a problem. What I would do is drop the pumping down to 1 time a day, then decrease the amount you get. Then in a week or 2 you can totally stop.

What if you dropped to one time day pumping at work?
You'll need to do that initially anyway to prevent engorgement. You can then still nurse on weekends during the day.

When you stop pumping completely, try both ways (bottle or nurse) and see what works for you. What's the worst that can happen? Leaky boobs, wet spots on your shirt, engorgement? Wear some extra breastpads and you'll be ok. :-)

Hi A.,

At this age, most women are able to successfully breastfeed on weekends and days off without pumping at work. It's not likely to be successful with a baby younger than 6-9 months but in the 9-12 month range, it's usually not a problem at all.

Hi A.,
I went through the same thing a few months ago when I weaned my son at one year. Honestly, it was so easy to wean him I was surprised. I did the same thing you are doing- gave him bottles of expressed milk when I wasn't able to nurse and then nursed when I was home. The weekends I nursed on demand, but you may find that your baby doesn't want or need to nurse that often, especially if he/she eats solids well. We cut down to twice a day, and as a result my milk production slowly decreased and I never had a problem with engorgement. At 11 months I was given the ok by my ped to start whole milk during the day as long as I continued to nurse at least twice a day- you may want to check with your own ped on that though. I too was tired of pumping and did not have milk in the freezer. By the time he was twelve months and able to be switched to cow's milk full time, he was done with nursing. I just gave him a bottle at night and sippy cups during the day. At 14 months he still gets a bottle of milk before bed (then we brush his teeth) and he hasn't seemed to miss nursing at all. If you need advice as you go along I am sure the local birthing center or hospital has a lactation consultant that can help you out.

Hi,

I am a full time working mom myself. Pumped twice a day, and nursed at night when I was home. I started at ten months pumping once nursing less. By the 11 month my doctor told me to start introducing him to whole milk because I had done so well in nursing him that his immune system should be able to handle it, and it did. I am happy I started at this time because weaning him from me now helped me a lot at 1 it would have been horrible he is a very strong spirited boy he would not have it if I waited to wean him. Little steps at a time, because you start feeling emotional about it took. Like your body is telling you something is not right, it will pass.

I stopped pumping at work when my daughter was 9 months old. I was able to nurse on demand on the weekends and then go back to daytime bottles during the weekdays. I felt a bit more "full" on Monday but not so much as to be uncomfortable. I'm sure it probably differs from person to person though. It's worth trying. You can always take your pump with you on Mondays just in case.

Hi A.,
Everyone's body responds differently, so you'll just have to try it and see how things work. My daughter weaned herself at 10 months, but I travel a lot for work and I couldn't pump as much traveling as I did in the office. She got to the point where it was so much easier to drink from a bottle than from me that I came back from a trip and she was done (due to a much reduced supply on my end). You should have no problem nursing on demand on the weekend and not pumping at work, but you may want to supplement those middle of day feedings with food or expressed milk. As one of your other responses said, you may want to go down to once/day pumping first - this will help your body adjust and minimize leakage.
Good luck, you've given your baby a great start already!

I had no trouble maintianing a 2-3 times per day nursing schedule during the week and on demand on the weekend. My body adjusted. Currently, I nurse ones a day (at night) during the week, and on demand on the weekend and that is still working out fine. Hope that helps.

I'm about 1 month ahead in the same situation. I moved to pumping once a week at work then phased that out completely - I hate pumping too! You can cut out pumping in about a week...BUT it will slow down your milk supply. I still feed morning and night but found that I did not have enough milk after work for two feedings. I started by feeding from the breast after work, than offering 2-3 ounces of bottle, then breasfeeding at bedtime. When I was phasing out pumping, I would still breastfeed on the weekend but once or twice daily I would offer 2 ounces of milk after the feeding just to make sure he is getting enough. At this point, I'm down to feeding only morning and night and plan to continue until he's one year. Good luck!