best way to stop pumping

summersoff17 · May 2011

I've been pumping and feeding my DS a combo of breastmilk and formula since about 1 month--he will be 4 months soon and I want to stop pumping and switch to formula only. What is the best way to stop pumping. The doctor said cold turkey but should I just start pumping fewer times a day until I'm down to none. I only pump 4 times a day now- once at 5am, 10:30, 4 and 9pm

any advice would be great!

Jenniferk08 · May 2011

I would double check the breastfeeding board but I believe you just slow it down. pump enough to get rid of engorgement but do not empty the breasts.

kimski · May 2011

The girls i work with have always slowly weaned to avoid engorgement. They usually stick a pump session/spread the rest further out. the less you pump out the less you make

AnneEB · May 2011

I can't imagine that cold turkey would work. That would be so painful for you! I would think you would just drop one of your pumping sessions, wait a few days, then drop another, etc. Also, I would agree with PP that you wouldn't want to drain the breasts, just pump enough to stay comfortable.

ear6385 · May 2011

My DD would never nurse so i pumped for 2 1/2 months and froze as much as i could then when i wanted to stop i slowing cut out pumpings. I cut out one and waited several days till it felt normal then cut out another one. and i actually only pumped twice a day for a week or so. i was blessed with a large milk supply but it made stopping much harder so slow was very good.

Bridgetkate28 · May 2011

I was an exclusive pumper for 6 weeks and when I called the doc to ask how to stop she said NOT to go cold turkey. The risk of getting mastitis is much more than if you were to wean yourself off.

So however many times you are pumping now in a day... take one session out for a day or two and see how you feel. Then go down another session and so on...

The last day when you stop completely will be uncomfortable and may last for a few days but it goes away. And warning .. stock up on breast pads. You'll be leaking like crazy if you were anything like me.

greyt00 · May 2011

I had planned to stop pumping slowly, but I went cold turkey. Maybe I was lucky, but I didn't get mastitis. What I did was manually express as little as possible to relieve the engorgement. After only 2 days I didn't even wake up in pain in the middle of the night anymore, and I think after about 10 days I didn't need to squeeze anymore. This is just about the only time I needed pads, didn't really need them while BFing. Not saying this is what you should do, but that's how it went for me.

magdalina.h · May 2011

Don't pump to empty, just for relief. Don't stand directly under the shower head. The hot water can help with produce milk. Wear a sports bra whenever you're at home. Put cabbage leaves in your bra. Break it up so the veins are exposed and that will help stop the production of milk. I wouldn't stop cold turkey because that can be painful.

Jennabug25 · May 2011

Maybe I have been doing it the long drawn out way but I have been decreasing pumping sessions by one a week. I haven't have any engorgement issues really. I am still pumping morning and night but I only get a total of 6oz. I can go the entire day now and my boobs don't hurt or feel engorged at all. I am now thinking about cutting out the night time pumping and then just pumping in the am until my milk really drops then stop.

OctGirl80 · May 2011

I went cold turkey. Totally agree with the cabbage leavse. Keep it in the fridge. It feels great when you put them on cold. It did hurt the first 2/3 days but it wasn't unbearable. I didn't express any to relieve pressure but I leaked really bad the first night (like through fresh pads, bra & soaked half my t-shirt. I also enjoyed the Baileys I had in my coffee the first morning I quit. Wink

greyt00 · May 2011

I would have found reducing my pumping sessions slowly a more attractive option if I had use for the milk, but my son has some sort of allergy (we tried to work with it but had some other issues too and threw in the towel). I hated pumping and was really trying to enjoy the final days of my maternity leave withOUT the pump, so that's another reason I quit cold turkey. The first 2 days really sucked but after that it wasn't too bad.

mocknine · May 2011

Bridgetkate28:
I was an exclusive pumper for 6 weeks and when I called the doc to ask how to stop she said NOT to go cold turkey. The risk of getting mastitis is much more than if you were to wean yourself off.
So however many times you are pumping now in a day... take one session out for a day or two and see how you feel. Then go down another session and so on...
The last day when you stop completely will be uncomfortable and may last for a few days but it goes away. And warning .. stock up on breast pads. You'll be leaking like crazy if you were anything like me.

THIS!!

Lucky_Dragonfly · May 2011

I had trained my body to make way more milk then I needed so that I could store the rest and it took me almost a week and a half to get my body to only make what I need to feed DD. My left boob though still makes a little more. I am going to start weaning her as well and start using my freezer stash so I have only been pumping very little. Just trying to stick to straight nursing. I will admit it did make me sad to look at my calendar and see that I am only freezing about 5-7oz a day instead of the almost 20 I was doing the beginning of the month, but I made the decision to stop.

Just pump a little less each session and every few days decrease the amount again. Once you can go almost a whole day without feeling full then stop pumping all together.

Lilena · June 2011

I actually just reduced the number of times I pumped and milk just kinda.. "dried up" so to speak.

I've only stopped pumping completely for about a week, and I bet if i pumped id get some milk etc. Just go from 4 to 3 etc. But pump off engorgment as it's just going to drive you nuts.

I actually intended to stop a few weeks ago but the whole house got sick so I manged to make 1 bottle of BM a day to help baby from getting sick! And it TOTALLY worked. Hubby and i had the W O R S T colds, and baby only ended up with the sniffles a tiny bit. So I am very happy I stuck with it for those 2 weeks.

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