Ditching the pump

melody921

Does there ever come a point where I could be away from DD for an entire day or overnight and not pump, then come home and nurse her like usual? Or would this kill my stash to the point that I'd be forced to wean her? I have some work travel and one overnight girls' getaway (woohoo!) planned this summer, and I'm wondering now that she only nurses 3 times a day if I'd ever be able to just be apart from her and not pump.

jayro10

Aside from not wanting your supply to crash, I would think that going 24 hours without draining your breasts either by pumping or nursing regularly would cause you a lot of discomfort. You also don't want to risk clogged ducts or mastitis.

jnnfrrose6

I think taking a day off won't kill your supply since you'll be going back to nursing the next day, but agree with PP that it probably won't be very comfortable.  You may want to pump just for comfort, but not what you'd fully do for a session.

surpriseaddition

I think it matters how committed you are to still nursing. When my DS was sick and wouldn't nurse for 2 days I didn't pump and that was the end of nursing.  I had been down to 2 nursings a day and my LO was 18 months at the time so I was ready to let it go.  You could always try hand expressing in a hot shower while away, but know that your nursing days could end with that long of a break.

blu-eyedwife

The short answer is yes - there does come a point you can be away from DD an entire day and not pump.

The long answer is - I'm not sure if you're there yet or not.  Right now I only nurse once a day.  If he skips that session, or I can't make it, it's NBD.  When he was nursing twice a day, skipping both sessions sometimes made me uncomfortably full, so I would think three sessions would have a similar issue.