4 months in, and I am ready to be DONE! I currently pump 5x a day for 20 mins each (roughly 6:30AM, 12PM, 5PM, 9PM, 2:30AM). I have enough frozen milk for maybe another 2 months.
What is/was your pump weaning strategy? Did you start by dropping a pump session entirely? Or decreased the amount of time at each pump, keeping the same number of pumps? Or something else? Trying to figure out which way to go...
pomelo / 5628 posts
I decreased by a session. I couldn't really drop the time because I always needed a full 30 minutes.
GOLD / wonderful olive / 19030 posts
I was an EP for 10 weeks, I just stopped cold turkey (I wanted to dry up.) I didn't wean because I heard it can prolong it, so I just wrapped ace bandages around myself as tight as possible and it sucked for a week but then eventually they stopped feeling engorged and dried up. If the pain got really bad I would take a shower and let them run a little bit, but I heard this is bad to do...however it helped me feel a little relief.
Edit: I guess I might have read this wrong, are you trying t stop or just cut a session? My advice was if you want to completely stop.
wonderful grape / 20453 posts
I would drop a pump if you could. I was down to pumping 3x a day when I stopped, then went to 2...and then was just like "fuck it, ice the boobies!" and popped a bunch of Sudafed. It took me a week to totally dry up. I started the process on Tuesday maybe? Started back at work on a Wednesday and they were so tender/sore, i was so glad I wasn't home with a kicking infant all day. Every day, they got gradually less sore, although i'd have a really swollen and sore spot or two that i'd hand express in the shower just to relieve some pressure. I did a lot of ice/cold cabbage/sudafed meds....
clementine / 806 posts
following this for the future - not ready to stop yet, but dreaming of that day!
pomegranate / 3716 posts
@LuLu Mom: Yes, trying to stop! Figure it will take a few weeks
@blackbird: If you take Sudafed, does that mean the milk goes to waste? Or can LO still drink the milk?
apricot / 305 posts
I gradually decreased the number of times that I pumped per day, usually dropping one session per week (so if I was pumping 5x/day this week, next week I would do 4x/day).
GOLD / wonderful olive / 19030 posts
@Meridian: the antihistamine pretty much dries you up in days, so the milk is gone.
apricot / 251 posts
Your baby can drink the milk if you take Sudafed. My OB put me on Zyrtec D (the kind with Sudafed) to cut my supply since I was producing waaaayyy too much each day. I'll likely be on it for as long as I BF since ice, cabbage, and Sage Tea didn't work for me.
clementine / 849 posts
I dropped sessions. I think the weaning experience definitely depends on your output - I was producing 65 oz a day at my peak, and wrapping myself wouldn't have done a thing. 
I would suggest dropping to 4 pumps a day, wait a few days until you're comfortable, then 3, then 2.
When you get to two, start dropping time off your pumps. When you get to 5 min a pump, you should be fine to just stop. 
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