What is your "exit strategy"? When do you plan to stop, and how do you plan to do it? Are you going to continue nursing when you're both home?
I pump very little- like 2oz per session-, so I am planning to stop the end of the week of J's birthday (which is on a Wednesday), and I am planning to stop cold turkey. I will probably bring my little Medela Swing pump for a week or two in case of emergencies, but I will only use it if necessary.
I do plan on continuing his other 3 nursing sessions- morning, after work, and bedtime, for as long as he wants, and nursing on demand when we're home on weekends, and over the summer.
Re: If you pump at work....
I don't want to think about it! It makes it all too real that our babies are growing up. I pump twice at work and once in the morning before I leave for work. I'm planning on dropping the morning pump soon and dropping another after her first birthday. Then after a couple of weeks drop the last.
I will nurse her in the morning and in the evening for as long as she wants.
When DD's top teeth came in, latch issues surfaced and I chose to stop nursing. That was heartbreaking. I was pumping at work already, so I just pumped in the evenings, too. But my supply was affected, and I decided to just stop pumping completely. I started supplementing last week.
I went from pumping 3x at the office (every 3 hours), then a week later, to 2x - 8:30 and 2:30. 2 days after that, I dropped the 2:30 pump. TBH, that was over the NYE weekend. But I didn't notice too much discomfort. Yesterday I skipped the 8:30pm pump, and this morning I was definitely engorged. I'm planning on pumping 1x daily for a few days, but not pump as much. My friend suggested that if I pump, I just pump an ounce or two - I was only getting 4-5 oz total a session.
I should probably quit. I pump, but sometimes get nothing. In a whole day of pumping I get about 3 oz now. Oh for the days of 18 oz's!!!!
I keep telling myself to stick with it until 12 months. I am trying to be better about the funugreek and fluids, but I'm not sure I'll make it. I do feel better that I found an excellent formula that we are comfortable with, but LO is getting more and more of those formula bottles.
When I do quit I think I will just go down to one pump session at work. I produce so little right now that I don't expect engorgement issues.
I am planning to pump 2X a day until we wean.
Exit strategy is: Night wean beginning the week or two before his 1st birthday. Gradually decrease the time he's allowed to nurse in the middle of the night. After he is night weaned (this will likely eventually involve some sort of CIO), cut off nursing.
Now, with the girls, I just stopped nursing, no big deal, they ate more food. But this little guy is ravenous. He nurses at 1:30 AM, 5:30 AM, 9:30 AM, 2:30 PM, 5:30 PM, 7:30 PM. He eats a TON already. Example: he ate a 6 oz jar of 3rd foods then devoured a full 1/4 of my Maggiano's lasagna. Followed that up with Cheerios, bread and some shreds of flatbread. This was IMMEDIATELY after a full both side nursing session.
So I am sort of freaked out about how weaning will go - he might be totally miserable, but I cannot wait to stop pumping. I plan to decrease how much I pump and supplment more during the day toward the end....sigh, the best laid plans....