Dumping the pump. Break it down for me.

L L CG

In 8 days I want to stop pumping.  I've already gone from 5 pumps a day to 3.  So, as of now, A nurses first thing in the morning, I pump at 10 and 2, she nurses at 6:30, and I pump around 9.  

She can nurse in the morning and at night as long as she wants, I just want to not pump anymore.  So, do I just pump at my same times but not to empty?  And, should I be prepared that once I stop pumping I'll dry completely up and that will be the end of nursing?  (If its the end, brace yourselves for some crazy LLCG in the next few weeks.  TIA)

I'm posting and running, btw. 

rssnlvr

Get pregnant. Your supply will drop and weaning from the pump will be a cinch.

For reals though, I'd drop the 9 p.m. one first. You're used to waking up full, now you'll just be a little fuller. Then I'd merge the 2 daytime pumps into 1, at like noon. And then you'll only have the one to work on dropping. 

I stopped pumping on her birthday and still nursed morning and night for another two months. If you want to keep nursing, your supply will likely regulate to the new demand times. 

smb29

rssnlvr:

For reals though, I'd drop the 9 p.m. one first. You're used to waking up full, now you'll just be a little fuller. Then I'd merge the 2 daytime pumps into 1, at like noon. And then you'll only have the one to work on dropping. 

Ditto.  I dropped my home pumping first, then combined two work pumps into one, then dropped that.  I nursed am/pm for another month before M self weaned.  Props to you for making it to a year!

Temp13436125005166

I would drop the 9pm pumping first, then wait ~3 days and pump once a day at work (noon-ish), then on day 8 drop pumping all together.  If it was me I'd probably give it a week between each pumping session dropping but I up'd it to fit into the 8 day schedule :-)

When I stopped pumping with Megan she weaned about 6 weeks later.  I was trying to wean her though (14.5 months and I was pg with Ryan and morning sickness and bf'ing were a bad combo for me).  Megan was super easy to wean, I think she lost interest when my supply dropped.  She would nurse though, but if I didn't offer she didn't ask (much).

Ryan is totally different. I stopped pumping at 13 months and he's still nursing,  he has no interest in weaning.  I think he takes supply dips as a personal challenge to get the supply back up ;-)

Good luck, I hope it goes smoothly and that your supply adjusts!

BubbleToes

rssnlvr:

For reals though, I'd drop the 9 p.m. one first. You're used to waking up full, now you'll just be a little fuller. Then I'd merge the 2 daytime pumps into 1, at like noon. And then you'll only have the one to work on dropping. 

This would be my strategy too. 

Both of my kids kept right on nursing after I stopped pumping.  Audrey continued for another 6-7 months and weaned when I was around 20 weeks pregnant.  I stopped pumping when Finn was 10 months and he's still nursing in the AM and PM (and before nap time if I'm home) a year + later.  Your body will adjust.  It's nice to be able to enjoy nursing without fretting about supply issues. 

brideonjuly8

I agree with PP, drop the nighttime pumping first. 

I was exclusively pumping when I finished with the pump (4ish times a day), and I just dropped a session every 5-7ish days.  I wasn't in a hurry.  

august8080

Rssn's plan sounds like a good one. I also wanted to encourage you that just because you stop pumping, you can still nurse A in the am/pm as long as you'd like. Just as your body responds to make enough for a constantly nursing newborn, it also responds to nursing just 2x/day. My son nurses morning and evening and it works just fine for us. I don't feel full either time (well, slightly more in the morning, but not like when he was little and I woke up with watermelons) but he's obviously getting milk and shows no signs of wanting to wean.

mrs.wildman

Michelle&Russ:

I would drop the 9pm pumping first, then wait ~3 days and pump once a day at work (noon-ish), then on day 8 drop pumping all together.  If it was me I'd probably give it a week between each pumping session dropping but I up'd it to fit into the 8 day schedule :-)

This is what I would recommend too. I might also suggest taking lecithin to prevent clogs. I was always prone to clogged ducts for the entire year that I nursed, and lecithin always helped with that, so I started taking it again when I started weaning myself. Then in the last week of pumping (I did a 4 week process) I started taking sudafed 3x a day and I'm pretty sure that helped with drying me up- but D quit nursing by week 3 of my 4 week pump weaning, so I didn't need anymore milk.

JenniferL923

I second rssn's advice since that's how I did it. ;-)