WOHM and BF mums: When did you stop pumping at work?

[RoRoMommy]

I have just stopped my one pumping session per day (down from three when I first started back at work when DS was six months old, then two around his first birthday, then one about two months after that until last Friday). DS is 18 months old, and still has BF when I get home at 6pm, then when he does down to bed at 8pm (sometimes he sneaks another feed in between those two as well), then again at about 11pm, then again at probably 2-3am, then in the morning at 6:30am (until probably 7am).

He will take cow's milk in a bottle if I am away at bedtime, or in a cup at nursery. I guess I am wondering if it's okay for him to do that instead of having a bottle of my milk, which he used to have before I dropped the last pumping session in the day at work. It's nice not to have to get my norks out in my office anymore, but I just feel so strange giving him cow's milk instead of mine and I guess I need a bit of reassurance that this is healthy for him (and not hugely less so than having mine).

Are any other WOHM still pumping during the day at this stage?

I plan to BF for as long as he wants (and considering what a boob monster he is, this will probably be a while longer).

Thanks in advance.

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Hi Roro, I am still bf-ing my ds 2 years' old and have been back at work Mon-Fri since he was 11 months.

I think so long as your ds is eating a reasonable variety of solids during the day, it is fine for him to take cow's milk in a bottle or cup, rather than breastmilk.

Since my dcs started nursery at 11 months, they have always cow's milk in a cup/beaker/bottle since they were one year old. As far as I know, they are alright.

I have never pumped at work because I cannot be bothered. It has never been a problem with maintained extended bf-ing. My ds is still the boob addict and is very attached to me when I am home. We co-sleep too.

Wow, blueshoes, that's really helpful, thanks! Our DSs sound exactly the same, mine is attached at the hip (or ankle, I guess) to me when I am at home, and we co-sleep too.

Can I ask, how much does your DS feed at night?

I stopped pumping at 11.5 months Couldn't take it any more! He was fine with a cup of cow's milk at that time, too

I dropped from 2 to 1 session when ds3 was 12 months, then stopped altogether when he was 14 months

Roro, my ds is a terrible sleeper and so I feel I need to set limits on his nighttime bf-ing. He is allowed to feed once at the start of time I go to bed 10 pm and after 5 am in the morning (that way he does not get up at 5 am!). Otherwise I tell him it is nighttime and he only gets 'cuddles'. Sometimes it results in a tantrum (I never give in) and other times he accepts it. Totally random.

On weekdays, he bfs once after he wakes up and off and on (1-2x an hour) from about 6 pm until 8:30 pm which is his bedtime and once every 1-2 hours during the day on weekends. I did say he was an addict.

I have to say that ds' bf-ing started to wane around 18 months but then suddenly picked up again around 20 months. I think it is the onset of separation anxiety, his developing vocal and other skills and bad eczema which triggered it. If I had my way, I would have weaned him by now because it is terribly restrictive on me to have to sit down so many times a day

Thanks NAEN and Chip, that's really helpful to know!

Blueshoes, my DS is also not a great sleeper, but I guess it depends on what you call a good sleeper. He knows that night time is for sleeping, but he loves to have a little boob at night from time to time. To be honest, my OP is a bit misleading, because it's hard for me to tell what time it is or even how often it occurs that he wakes up for some boob. But I've also started cracking down at night, because if it were up to him he'd be latched on all night long. Seriously.

So, after the first feed, once I am sure he's just comfort sucking, I say "say bye-bye boobie, boobie night-night" and delatch him. It's about one out of five times he'll protest, and I let him have a few more minutes, then do the same thing. Almost never does he ask again after that.

I am impressed at your resolve keeping your DS off of the boob from 10 to 5. Did you use any guides or books? You sound like a lovely mummy to me, so here

thanks, Roro

I did try Elizabeth Pantley's No Cry Sleep Solution which is perhaps not too dissimilar to your gentle unlatching technique. Sadly, both my children take no prisoners and subtlety is lost on them. With ds, I just let him cry and thrash next to me until he accepts the limit and lets me cuddle him to sleep.

hi blue shoes and sorry roromommy as im hijacking your thread a min did you manage not to pump at work from 11 months? interested becasue my ds is 6 months and im trying to get him to take a bottle a day atm, to lower my milk a bit before i go back to work in 2 weeks. i really dont want to express because im a nurse and work faitrly non stop so my half hour lunch is a bit precious. BUT i really want to keep feeding him on my days off (working 4 sifts) and around work. please tell me it may be ok!

Ro! [waves enthusiastically}

How are you doing?! So good to see you (It's IARCFB by the way ... ) - are you getting sleep for the most part?

I have been lucky enough to get home from work most days since returning but for the last couple of months DS hasn't asked for a feed at this time unless he's been tired and ready for a nap. Nowadays (he's 14 months) he has a bedtime feed around 7pm, most nights he feeds again at 11ish and then again at 2ish and 6ish. Have just reread and realised this is exactly what Ro does ). He is offered cows milk in the daytime but makes do with water mostly. As I say he could have a lunchtime BF if he wanted but he's not fussed.

I think you can quit pumping now - he's getting lots of nighttime milk and you might find he's not so bothered about getting any milk in the daytime. that's certainly been our experience.

Hope things are good for you and yours

That was totally incoherent - it should say: I get home at lunchtimes to feed DS - these days he isn't interested.

chloeb - you will still be able to feed around your shifts. Don't worry about reducing supply too much - the first few times you might need to express a bit for comfort but it will soon adjust.

chloe, after quitting pumping I went on to bf ds3 till he was 2.8. He was a total boob-monster and I would be instructed to "sit down!" as soon as we got in the door and for most of my days off! But in that year and a half I never felt uncomfortable full in work and he still seemed to get enough milk when he did feed.

thanks somuch for the comments and apologies ro ro mommy for hijacking your thread! with dd i didnt work but did stop and start bf'ig a few times when she was older and was ok.. fingers crossed. thanks again

hi chloe, I am sure it will be alright. I did not want to express because I also only have a half hour lunch break. I am separated from ds for 10 hours Mon to Fri and we still manage to feed alright during weekends. Your supply will take a few days to adjust. I would suggest handexpressing if you get uncomfortably full. You could practise at home. I never collected bm to bring home because I wanted to avoid all the paraphernalia.

Well done on going back to nursing work at 6 months. It sounds quite hard with shifts and running around, to pump on top of that.

chipmonkey, out of interest how did you manage to get your boob-monster to give up? Mine issues commands to me as well - he is 2 with no signs of abating.

Hi everyone! Great to see the thread getting more lively. IARCFB! It's really great to see you. Do you ever see any of the other SIFTW ladies? I have so little time for mn these days with work and little DS, plus DH and my mum, ergh. I hope they're all well.

Anyway, that's great to hear that your DS has been okay with water in the day, and our DSs are on very similar schedules! Chloe, I think you'll be fine. Around six months and after I've found the boobs are very adaptable. Mine have adjusted well in several different over many different cycles over the months.

Thanks again to everyone for the reassurance, and blueshoes, here

I occasionally bump into them on other threads, and I think they are still running a reunion thread in Meet-ups as well. There seems to be a trend towards second, hopefully more sleepful, babies as well!

Lovely to see you, I hope you are all getting on well and nice to come across someone else still feeding their toddler like a newborn all night but not actually minding!

I pumped twice a day, mid morning and mid afternoon, whilst my DD's were between 6 and 12 months old, and fed them "direct" at lunchtime (onsite nursery!). I stopped pumping for DD1 when she was about 14 months and she drank goats milk from a cup at nursery, DD2 is cows milk intolerant so I pumped until she was about 20 months a d she still drinks rice milk or water at nursery. I co-sleep with DD2 and she is still a boob-monster at 2yrs 4 months, DD1 (5) just boobs first thing inthe morning (when she comes through from her room) and at bedtime.

Does this help?

I stopped expressing at work when DD was about a year, simply because I was only getting really small amounts (1oz in 30 minutes) and she wasn't drinking it at nursery.

She is just about 19 mo (as of tomorrow) and BF regularly at home. We co sleep and she tends to feed at some unearthly hour (5am if I'm lucky; 3am if I'm not)

Thanks GM, that's really helpful. Thankfully DS is fine with cow's milk, so I think it should be fine for me to stop pumping, unless I know that I'll be away for a night and DH might need it to put DS to sleep.

It's also great to hear of a mum who is still feeding both LOs, I hope to be able to do that once we try for another.

Cat, I hear you about the unearthly hour, it's really difficult to feel rested after a night of the LO attached to the boob!

Ahh, tandem feeding, it has it's good points, but it's not for the faint hearted!! Good luck with ttc!!!

I still find myself with a boob-monster attached to me in the wee small hours, it was 3am last night, but I know it won't last, after all DD1 doesn't still nurse all night.........

I stopped expressing at work when DS was 14 months old and had decided to drop all his daytime feeds. We continued to bf until he was 23.5 months old and self weaned. I had continued to pump when away for work until that point though.