Breastfed DD for a year - yeah! But expressing output suddenly down...

[MedicalEd]

I never thought I'd breastfeed for this long but see no reason to stop.
I went back to work when she was 8.5 months and was merrily expressing enough for two bottles a day (she has am and pm from me) until a couple of weeks ago. Now I can only get enough for one bottle and am going through my freezer stash.
Is DD taking less from me now, so overall output is down?
GP seemed to think she was having a lot of milk still and suggest I put her on follow-on formula as TTC but don't want to.
Should I make her drop her mid-morning bottle?
And am I feeding enough to stop me conceiving? (haven't fed in the night since before Christmas)

Ability to pump does seem to level off after about 6m (though some women will be able to pump for a long time). It doesn't relate to milk production in the sense that you are making less milk, more like your breasts make milk on the fly as and when your DD feeds rather than storing it for long periods just in case.

You may want to swap one of the ebm feeds for cow's milk in a beaker/cup now she is over one which could lessen the pressure to pump.

Have you resumed your periods? If you have and you are ovulating, the time between ovulation and your period starting (known as the luteal phase) is what is determined by bfing (to a certain extent) whether you can get pg or not. If your luteal phase is abnormally short (under 10 days) that can hinder you getting pg, if it is 12-16 days then bfing isn't the reason behind you not getting pg (as bfing works by stopping ovulation or by 'delaying' ovulation until too late in the cycle for implantation to occur).

I have got pg when bfing an 11m 12+ times a day and feeding a 13m & 23m prob ~20 times a day so bfing an older baby (or more) isn't a great contraception tool!

Good luck with the TTC

Thanks Truth,
That's really helpful.
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