If you expressed milk when you went back to work, when did you stop?

[hippygirllucky]

Hiya. I've been back at work since DD was 13mo. She's 19mo now and I still pump 2-4 times while at work. Some days I still pump every 2 hours of I have time. My plan is to stop pumping completely at 2yo. But recently I've been pumping so little it barely seems worth it (less than an ounce each time).

When did you stop pumping? And we're you still about to bf when not at work?

At 13 month I didn't pump at all, just BF morning, on pick up and at bedtime.

My baby is 18 months and I feed her before I go in the morning, pump at lunch (I get 2-3ozs each side) and then feed again when I collect her at 4pm. I’ve been back at work since she was 12 months.

Pumping as much as 2-4 times at work when your baby is 19 months seems extreme, is there any reason you’re doing it so frequently? Would you feed her every 2 hours if you were with her still?

And to answer the question, I’ll stop pumping when she’s 2 but I’ll keep feeding as long as she wants to.

@Pollywoddles to keep up supply! I only pump about half an ounce each time and I've notice when I've been too busy to pump I lose even more - seemingly permanently. I've managed to maintain supply for now doing this but it gets lower and lower each time I forget. I've read about power pumping etc but it just seems too late at this point to do that. I genuinely feel like it's time to stop now. It's too much effort.

You’ve done amazingly well to get to 19 months but it must be really difficult to have to pump so much at work. Nobody would judge you for stopping and you shouldn’t judge yourself either. Stop pumping or maybe only pump once but keep feeding and see how you go.

I continued expressing milk when I went back to work for several months. I found the DENICO Breast Pump Hands Free to be incredibly helpful during this time, allowing me to maintain a steady milk supply for my baby. Eventually, as my baby started transitioning to solid foods and needed less breast milk, I gradually reduced the frequency of expressing. By the time my baby was around 9 months old, I had stopped expressing milk altogether. It was a bittersweet moment, as it marked a new phase in my parenting journey, but I was grateful for the support of the DENICO pump throughout that time.