Weaning from the Pump

I'm officially done pumping.  I have been for 3 weeks now, and thought I'd give a run down on how I decided to wean from my breast pump.  I read A LOT of articles, blogs, etc when I decided to stop pumping. Some women stop cold turkey, others wean verrrrry slowly, and others are gradual but quick.  I had already dropped down to 2 pumps a day (each pump about 15 mins) by 11 months, so I really didn't think I would have any problems.  I didn't get engorged anymore even if I skipped a pump, I just felt "full".  So I decided to drop my pump before bed and see how 1 pump went.  It went fine (no engorgement), so I did that for a few days and then started pumping every other day for about 10 minutes.  After the fullness between pumps started subsiding a little I started decreasing my pump time to 7 minutes and then I did 5 minutes for a couple of days.  Since I still wasn't having and pain or anything I decided to just stop completely and see what happened.  I felt full, but didn't have any pain.  And that was the end! I honestly expected that I'd have to pump at least once to relieve the pressure, but I never did.  I had one small lump form, but it worked itself out and didn't even hurt.

At church there was a baby crying and I felt an all too familiar "tingle" and thought "seriously??" THREE WEEKS LATER??  Sure enough, I am STILL producing milk.  I'm not sure how long it will actually take to dry up completely, but I am for sure done with the pump until Baby #2.

I still have a deep freeze full of frozen breastmilk, so I am giving Grant 1 bottle of BM before bed each night.  I know, I know, no bottles after 1! Well, he REFUSES to drink BM from a sippy cup.  Water and whole milk he will drink from a sippy cup happily, but BM?  Nope. Not doing it.  Throws it on the floor as soon as he figures out what it is.  So for now, it's 1 bottle before bed of Mommy's milk, so I can use my freezer stash up!


So, as a word of encouragement to any exclusive pumping moms out there, YOU CAN DO IT! You can make it to your goal! It's tough and time consuming, but you can make it!  And if you do decide to stop early or your supply just isn't there, that's fine too.  Do what is best for your baby and YOU! Your baby needs a happy, healthy mom!