If I cut out a pumping session ?

winofairy

My LO is 4m and we are EBF.  He normally eats 7x a day.  While I'm at work he is on an every 3 hour schedule and I pump 3x while away from him.

I have an over supply and generally pump 20-24oz each work day.  And I pump right before bed and get another 3-7oz (I do this because I keep getting recurring clogged ducts and have had mastitis).

He is eating 12-15oz while I'm at work.  So I have a huge freezer stash.   Right before I went back to work we bought a small deep freezer for my milk and it's now becoming extremely full.  I am not ready to donate yet because I'm not sure how long I will continue to EBF and I surely do not want to buy another freezer.  I'm taking 1m at a time.

My question is if I cut down to 2 pumping sessions instead of 3 while at work will I still be able to produce enough milk for my LO on weekends?  I'm TERRIFIED of ruining my supply. 

greyt00

I want to say you will be OK.  I have been pumping 37-40 oz per day (across 6 sessions) while EP for several months.  At almost 2 weeks into 5 pumps per day, the worst I've done is 35 oz.  I'm usually at 36-38.  It hasn't hurt me much.  I am, however, in the ramp down process as my boy approaches 1 year (he's 9.5 months old).  I have about 1000 oz in the freezer.  I was worried about losing supply, too, in particular because my son has food allergies and I'm the only option.

I realize this is not the question at hand, but have you tried to give him any of your frozen milk to make sure he takes it? 

Bets of luck.  You could always try cutting back for a week, and if you're not comfortable with a drop, if one occurs, go back up again.  Good luck!

 

TJ1979

I would go for it! If your supply suffers, add it back in. But it will probably be fine.

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Rochacha2013

JandACoffee:

Most likely you will be fine and since you have been breastfeeding so long and your supply is wellestablished, if it does decrease noticeably, you should be able to add the pumping session back in and ramp it back up again if need be. Really though, if you are producing that much extra, you should be perfectly okay. I would do as PPs suggested though and make sure your LO will take your frozen BM. I have about 50 ounces in the freezer that DD won't touch because I found out after pumping all of it that I have a lipase issue. Now I scald any milk I pump before I freeze, but this isn't much because I haven't had an oversupply since 6 weeks andnbsp;I'm a SAHM mom, so my supply pretty much matches what she needs now...

What is lipase? What is scald the milk?