Weaning too fast :(

lindseyb624

I know I never start discussions, but I'm having a bad day and I just need to get it out.  I had tons of milk in the freezer and thought I was good to go on weaning.  We made a trip back to my family in Ohio and I packed milk because we were going to be leaving DD for the first time overnight.  Since we weren't near our house (plane ride away) I brought more than enough.  Long story short that used a lot of my supply.  I planned to cut out my work pump so that I would only feed and pump in the morning and then feed at night and not have to pump during my workday.  Well at that same time DD started nursing more during the night which cut my ounces down from like 4 to 2 in the morning.  I had basically already cut out my day time pump for the week so my body adjusted.  I just checked my freezer supply which I knew was running low and I'm not going to make it to 12 months with that now.  I will be lucky if I make it to 11.5 months.  At my 9 month visit the doctor said she was totally fine with mixing in cow's milk starting at 10 months if I needed relief from breastfeeding so the doctor is on board.  I'm just really upset that I completely misjudged the supply in my freezer and just how fast my body was going to dry up.  I'm tempted to really try hard to increase my supply to make it the last month, but it just doesn't seem worth it.  I think I'm just really upset with myself that I misjudged this.  I mean in the grand scheme cutting her from breast milk half a month before she's 1 isn't going to matter, but I've had such an easy time and no real supply issues to date that I'm just a really upset that I messed this up by a whole month.  I think some of my tears are related to the weaning process and hormone shift, but I just feel like an inconsolable hot mess.

surpriseaddition

Don't be so hard on yourself.  I cut it really close and ended up exhausting my milk supply about 3 days before LOs birthday.  I just gave her some WCM in one bottle at daycare, and then BM in the other.  The daycare lady said she warmed the WCM bottle up for her just like usual, and she drank it just fine.  If you are still BF at 12 months, your a hero in my book!  A week or two of introducing a small amount of WCM before the one year mark isn't going to make a difference.

emilyrachael

Are you taking into account that your LO might decrease the amount of milk they drink as they get closer to one? My LO really started decreasing the number of oz per day he needed around 10/11 months as he ate more solids. Your freezer supply might last a bit longer!

jenn43

You've done a great job!  Right now I say do whatever causes you the least stress.  If that's trying to build your supply up to last that extra couple of weeks, then go for it.  And if you are just tired to death of your pump, then that's just fine too.  You have taken great care of your baby.

crash916

Hugs mama! You've done great feeding your LO so far. I say do what you feel comfortable with as far as pumping or introducing WCM. Just because you are done pumping doesn't mean you will be done nursing either. My LO is 13 months and I stopped pumping at work around 11 months. She still loves to BF but does great with WCM while at daycare. Good luck with your decision!

surpriseaddition

crash916 said:

Hugs mama! You've done great feeding your LO so far. I say do what you feel comfortable with as far as pumping or introducing WCM. Just because you are done pumping doesn't mean you will be done nursing either. My LO is 13 months and I stopped pumping at work around 11 months. She still loves to BF but does great with WCM while at daycare. Good luck with your decision!

Yes....I'm still BF and LO is 15 months, but I haven't pumped for about 2 months.

lindseyb624

Thanks everyone for the support.  I was having a melt down when I wrote this post and you've all made me feel a ton better.  I've decided to pump at work again for this last month and did 2 days of power pumping.  I also had a chat with my nanny and she said she doesn't think that DD needs 2 bottle during the day.  She said that she's not very interested in the bottle before lunch so we dropped that one which will help stretch what is in the freezer.  We also gave WCM for the past 2 days with no issue as well.  I'm feeling a ton better.  I'm not usually a melt down type of person, but I think the combination of my perfectionist personality mixed with changing hormones got the best of me!

crash916

Glad you have found a compromise that works for you. You LO is lucky to have a great mom who worries about these kinds of things.