Hellobee Boards

Following.... I'm going to be in the same boat when LO is about the same age, and have the same questions about how it works when you quit pumping at work but keep nursing at home.

I have never pumped, my lo is 15 months and we nurse quite frequently when we are together on weekends. During the week when she is at daycare we obviously don't nurse. Doesn't seem to have caused a problem. But since I've never pumped I have no idea how much she is getting.

Eta- I should probably mention I was home with her nursing on demand until 12 months,

So I pumped until 13 months and then pump weaned. I continued to nurse morning after wake up and night before bed until about 21 months so it is possible!

We tried to stick to cow milk during the day but
LO occasionally wanted to nurse and I left her, but she was usually happy to have milk from a cup with meals (we bottle weaned at 11 months).

You can do it!

@mfa_lady: I was nervous about it too but it really was fine. I am sure my supply diminished but after a while it was more about the bonding than the milk and I am really glad we were able to do it. Good luck!

@mfa_lady: Honestly it was SO FREEING. I got into the habit of always pumping before bed even if R got a night time bottle. It's how I built up a little stash and was great...but by 6 months I was over it. But continued to give the bottle anyways! I wish I had just nursed before bed. It's 20-30 mins of me time....I used to pump and watch tv in bed...but then had to go downstairs and wash parts.....and just felt tied to being home at a certain time to pump. I would absolutely drop that pump ASAP!

@mfa_lady: yeah i know the feeling of being ready to kick the pump to the curb! But I ended up bringing my pump with me to work the first few days after I weaned to make sure I didn't need it!?!

With Xander, I day weaned nursing when I cut out bottles because I figured I needed to be consistent. But with Logan, I'm thinking I will still nurse on the weekends even when I'm done pumping, mostly because we nurse to sleep for naps. I'm planning on giving him cups of milk during the day though because I doubt he'll get much from me...

I pump weaned at 12 months and basically decided to "day wean" at the same time. She was already used to getting milk in a bottle during the day at daycare, so we just switched to that on weekends too, and gradually switched the BM to regular milk and the bottles to sippy cups. I kept the AM/PM sessions and assumed she'd drop them on her own but she didn't. I weaned her from the AM one about 6 months later and still have the PM one now at 25 months (!). Good luck! It feels great to stop pumping.