Dropping a pump at work/supply question....
Hello ladies!
First, I would like to say that this board is the best! I feel like you ladies give the best advice without judging and it's so nice 
Anyway, I have been EBF my baby for 8 1/2 months. I started back at work a few weeks ago and pumping twice a day at work is just getting to be too much on me emotionally, physically and I am having trouble getting my work done. So I decided to drop one pump at work (and not pump at night...I was doing that to try and get enough milk for the next day), supplement with formula during the day (we have already started to introduce the formula and she has been a little gassier than usual but happy and still pooping) so I have decided to drop the one pump this week.
My question is if this scenario is doable. I nurse her at 6:30am...pump at 9:30am then I wouldn't pump and just nurse her at 3:30pm and the rest of the night. I decided to drop the afternoon pump b/c I would only get an ounce most days. If this works for me, can I do this schedule and then nurse her on demand on the weekends too? If I decide to drop the morning pump as well and then just nurse her when I'm with her, will that work? Or do I have to supplement the two feedings on the weekends too (like mimicking the week)?
I hope this makes sense!! Essentially, I would love to nurse her when I'm with her and when I'm not with her, she would get a formula/breastmilk mixture. I am just nervous about losing my supply altogether.
Any advice is appreciated!!!! Thank you
Re: Dropping a pump at work/supply question....
Not sure if this is completely relevant, but I'll chime in with what worked for me when I dropped a session. I went back to work at 6wks, pumping 3x in 10 hrs at work. It was a major drag, and it was hard to make meetings, get my work done, etc so I dropped to 2 pumps/day, hoping my supply would stay the same. We nurse until "empty" at 7am.
So I used to pump at 9, 1 and 4 (had a 5 oz oversupply). I would get the most at 9 & 1, so I switched the pump sessions to 10 and 2, and still got the same amount of milk from the first 2 sessions, which was approximate to the amount that baby eats while away from me. Some days I would notice a slight dip in my supply over a period of days, and I would come home and make a huge batch of oatmeal cookies (oatmeal helps increase supply) and chow down.
Have you looked into ways to increase your supply? fenugreek, etc.
We nurse on demand exclusively when I am with baby evenings/weekends. I haven't had a problem doing this schedule for the past few weeks.
Hope that helps. Congratulations mama on making it this long!!!
+ 9/3/11, due May 2012. overdue baby born healthy!
+ 8/3/15, natural m/c @ 5wks
+ 1/4/16, due 9/14/16
Thank you for the response! I have tried oatmeal for breakfast & two lactation cookies a day and I even tried mother's milk tea. I saw no difference
It started to overwhelm me...worrying every day if I was going to make enough for the next day. So after a lot of thought and talking it over with my husband, this is just what is going to work. I just need to drop it for my sanity. The one thing I love about this board is the theory...happy mama happy baby! And knowing I am going to drop a pumping session already made me feel better!
I just don't want to stop nursing altogether. I guess I want to have it all but not sure if its possible.
I think if you're comfortable with introducing formula, then I think you can do what you're proposing. I would keep the morning pump as long as you can since that will help maintain the supply/demand cycle. I dropped my morning pump last since that was the one that gave me the most output. I dropped pumping all together at 1 yr and am still feeding LO twice a day and when he wants it on the weekends although he gets more WCM bottles on weekends then nursing. I think daytime nursing for him now is more comfort than hunger.
I don't remember if there are expected growth spurts after 6 mo but think if your LO has any growth spurts, you might find that you need to supplement with more formula. HTH!