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A Guide to Weaning from Exclusively Pumping September 9, 2014
Note: This is just based off of my experience so I cannot guarantee this will work for you by any means. I’m just stating how I weaned and that it worked for me.
Weaning from Exclusively Pumping
If you’ve followed me through my breastfeeding journey, you know I exclusively pumped for over 13 months because direct feeding didn’t work for us. I had a fear of weaning because I’d heard horror stories…the clogs, the engorgement, the mastitis, the need for medication, the HORMONES, the emotions. And I really didn’t want to deal with any of that. I think that’s part of while I pumped for so long…a fear of stopping.
But praise the LORD, my time finally came to a close and it was not nearly as awful as I had imagined! Clearly, I did something right in my weaning process, so I thought I would share my method with you. But first, we need to take a trip back to the start of my pumping journey!
For starters, here is the pump I used & loved!
Also, I wasn’t really sure how to organize this for effective reading, so I put the most important statements in bold. However, I do recommend reading through everything so you can get the full picture.
I pumped every two hours until Landon was 12 weeks old. That’s when I was told my milk would be established and it would be okay to drop a pump. The first pump I dropped was the middle of the night (MOTN) pump. This is also when Landon started sleeping through the night (STTN). Let’s just take a minute to soak in the amazingness of that feeling……….okay done. The first night this happened, I was woken up by my massive boobs leaking all over, so I hand expressed until I was comfortable (per the recommendation of my lactation consultant) and then went back to sleep. It took a few nights of this for my boobs to adjust. I also adjusted to pumping every 3 hours in the daytime (about 6 times a day…still a huge pain in the A**!)
About a month after I went back to work, the 6 times a day was way too much for me to handle while working, so I dropped to 5 pumps per day (PPD). This looked like one pump when I woke up, one late morning, one early afternoon, one late afternoon, and one at bedtime. My milk output remained the same. To drop this pump, I spaced out my pump times to about 4 hours. So for example, if I pumped at 6am and 9am originally, I would pump at 930am one day and then 10am the next day to help the boobs adjust. Honestly, it was such a small difference they didn’t notice.
I kept the 5ppd for quite some time because I was nervous about what would happen to my supply when I dropped to 4ppd. I made the jump around 10 months (I think) and oh my gosh it felt like heaven. I used the same method…I extended the time between my pumps slowly over the course of a few days to help my boobs adjust. I did drop a but in my supply, but at this point Landon wasn’t taking as much milk because he was eating more solids. I also had a deep freezer full of milk.
At 11 months I dropped to 3ppd to help prep for the full wean. This looked like a pump first thing in the morning, one early afternoon, and then another at bedtime. Again, using the same method, I extended pump times. My supply took a BIG dip at this point. I was just making enough to get Landon through the day and would occasionally need to supplement with frozen milk.
At 12 months, I dropped to two pumps, morning and bedtime. My supply dropped. I started introducing Landon to cows milk (which then changed to almond milk because of a slight reaction), and I would use one bag a day of frozen milk. I kept the two pumps for about a month, to give Landon some time to adjust to the almond milk and to make sure he had no further reactions. When he was getting two full bottles of almond milk a day, I decided it was time to drop again.
At 13 months I dropped to one pump…in the morning. This lasted for a week because my milk supply was just gone. I pumped a half ounce TOTAL on the day of my last pump. Landon was getting more almond milk than breast milk at this point, and I was able to dip into my freezer stash for his nighttime bottles. I cried for one day, mourned my journey because I had come so far….and then when I woke up the next morning and realized I didn’t have to pump, I was all PRAISE JESUS HALLELUJAHHHHHHHHHHHH!
My boobs were a sad, sad case at this point..I could tell there was minimal milk left because they FELT it. My plan was to just hand express if they felt engorged or if I noticed any clogs. Every day I would massage to make sure no clogs were to be had. About a week after I stopped, I noticed HUGE clogs in both boobs, so I did hot compresses, massage, and hand expressed until they were gone. After that, I was fine!
No mastitis (thank the LORD). Minimal clogs. No crazy emotions. And I got my boy to over a year of breastmilk.
The most important tip I could give you is to be ready to wean. Women’s hormones effect our emotions so much, and weaning is naturally an emotional process. If you’re not ready to wean, it could take a significant toll on your mental status. I hate when I hear stories of women who were forced to wean for medical or other reasons because it breaks my heart knowing how difficult it is on them. So if you can, be ready to wean. If you’re being forced into it, please know I’m so sorry this is happening and I pray you get through it as easy as possible. <3
I don’t know if weaning from nursing is any different (I’m assuming it is!), but I felt like this method was a good one! Especially when I literally had NO idea what I was doing. You know, usual first time mom stuff.
If you have any questions that I may not have answered here about weaning from exclusively pumping, leave them in a comment below and I promise to respond to you (and maybe update this as well!).
Check out our Exclusive Pumping category for more posts that may fit into your lifestyle!
I want to thank you so much for everything you’ve written about EPing. I can’t even begin to explain to you how much it has helped me or how thankful I am! My daughter had a lip tie and never was able to really latch, even after we got it fixed. She was hospitalized for FTT because she hadn’t gained enough weight back by two weeks. I pumped so we could track intake (and sadly had to supplement with formula for a while which burned my soul basically). She was never able to go back to the breast, so now I’m EPing as well. I don’t Know that I would have felt it could work long term or be a viable option had I not read all of your blog posts on Eping. We’re 7 weeks in and I’ve got about 200 oz in the freezer and she’s definitely getting enough milk and gaining. I’m glad I have this post for later down the line when I need it, but I hope to get to a year too! PS, what are you doing with all your pumped milk you froze? I’ve been looking for somewhere to donate mine to when the time comes, so I was curious what organizations you’ve found! Again, thank you! I really don’t feel like I could do this without hearing your success story!
Hi Chelsea!
Congrats on making it 7 weeks! I know it may not seem like a long time, but it is!!! I saved my frozen milk and used it while I was weaning. We purchased a deep freezer off of Craigslist because it lasts for a year in there, and I used it to supplement as I dropped pumps because my supply dropped as well. Once I weaned, I was still giving Landon one bottle of breastmilk from my frozen stash for 3 weeks! There are many organizations you can donate to as well. Search for your local Human Milk for Human Babes and Eats on Feets chapters. Let me know if you have any other questions! 🙂
Again Lauren, thank you for this. Thank you for making me feel normal. Some of my friends don’t understand why i would want to continue to BF and pump any longer. But the thought of having to stop…saddens me and I can’t even think about it without getting teary eye. However, when you described your feelings towards stopping it validated mine but i can also feel that i too would be HOORAY in the am…when I don’t have to make time to pump.
My baby is 8mo next week. I was lucky, I truly do feel lucky to have been able to BF but i also have to pump because I work full time. and during the day she only drinks BM and she then NF when I come home and at night. I will need to take another look at your post above for when the time comes. I actually don’t know how I would do it because my milk doesn’t freeze well — it tastes bad unless i scald it. Maybe I’ll have to do that about 2 months before I decide to wean my little bubbas. Thank you again!
You can definitely scald the milk before freezing to help with that! I got lucky with Landon, he drank the frozen stuff just fine. Another thing you can do is mix fresh and frozen. Proud of you for breastfeeding this long!!! xo
Just found your blog. Congratulations on exclusive pumping…it can be a labor of love! I had to exclusively pump due to a 10 week premature baby. Next week will be 12 months! I’m down to 2 PPD, and it hasn’t been nearly as hard as I thought it would be to wean from the pump (I was an over-supplier). Thankfully, I still have a lot of frozen milk in my deep freezer 🙂
Congrats on making it to 12 months!!!!!! The frozen milk helped me make it a month past when I stopped pumping! Sometimes there are benefits to the pump! 😉
Wow i JUST found your blog and i feel we have so much in common! You seem like such a sweet and relatable gal! Pumping is the hardest thing i have ever done! Like you i just assumed i would have an amazing breastfeeding experience and it would be beautiful. NOPE. disn’t work out. I was exclusively pumping by month 2! I did that for 6 months and oh my goodness you did an amazing job making it 13! <3 In love, Rachel
Awww thanks Rachel! Congrats on making it 6 months!!!!!!!!!! That’s such an achievement! I feel like pumping was harder than childbirth! LOL
I have been officially been EPing for 3 months, and pumping 5 times a day. I freeze an excess of 24 ounces every night. Since I already have a full freezer, do you think it would be fine to drop a pump? Or will my supply really drop?
Wow, I’m so glad I found this post!! My little one just turned 10mo last week and I’ve been lucky enough to last this long without having to supplement yet. My supply dropped big time though about 2 months ago and I had to dig into my frozen supply and she soon caught up. I am not even producing half of her daily intake now so I’ve decided it’s time to start the weaning process. I am going to use your tips and really hope that I can make it to 12 months! Thanks!
Hi,
Your blog is definitely inspiring and extremely helpful. I have made it 3 months today with exclusively pumping for my twins! I am able to supply for both of them and also freeze about 20 ounces a day. I’m exhausted and really need to start weaning. I’m so nervous to cut out my overnight pump because I get close to 8 ounces on each breast. Any suggestions on removing this pump would be great.
Hi Julie! You can space out the pump gradually until you can eliminate it all together. That would be my best suggestion 🙂
Im so glad I found your blog. I have been exclusively pumping and was going to stop at a year then got a little nervous bc I realized all that goes into weaning. Your article definitely helped and im atartinf today, though I have been at 3 ppd for a while now. Going down to today, wish me luck. Congrats again!!
Thank you so much for this… I’ve been at 3PPD for awhile and I’m a little nervous about dropping to 2PPD. Any suggestions on how to do this without too much pain?
Gradually space the pump times out until you can drop one completely! 🙂
Thank you for sharing your experience! Getting ready to wean from EPing after 9.5 months, and I found your words comforting. Thank you 🙂
Lauren, thank you for this post. I’ve been EPing for my daughter for 7 months and struggling with the decision to wean. You’re right—it’s an emotional process (I wasn’t prepared for it!) but I found your experience comforting and extremely helpful.
Hi! Thank you so much for sharing your journey and writing this! I am currently trying to wean but am struggling becuase I have an overuspply. I am slowly adjusting my night time pump to extend 45 minutes and then the rest I push back 30 minutes. I am not completely emptying my breast but have panicked because by middle of the day I can start feeling some cloggs, not painful or anything but I had mastitis so I start to pump and then get close to draining them. I feel like it is a cycle I can’t seem to break. Any advice? I pump 7 times a day. Thank you!!