Question about pump weaning at one year and intro of cows milk

Altima80 · May 2014

I work full time and pump 4 times a day. I have a 10 month old and want to wean from the pump at one year. Here are my questions.

After one year, if I nurse once in the morning and once in evening, with introduction of sippy cups with bm and white cows milk, is that still considered "exclusively breast fed" beyond a year or is EBF only a term to be used when the baby is only getting breast milk?

Is it common at all to never really introduce cows milk? Like when people say they nurse for 2 years....is that just nursing a few times during the day but giving their child cows milk for their meals or are they really nursing like 8 to 12 times a day even when their child is beyond one year? Is there drawbacks to NOT introducing cows milk?

I have a huge freezer stash and I want to use that while weaning from the pump and mix it with wcm to get my baby to drink wcm but I'm just curious, is this what other working BTDTs do around a year when they are ready to be done with the pump? Is it common for working moms to pump for like two years and not introduce cows milk?

@Casey78, what do you plan to do?

Myaflowers · May 2014

EBF means the baby is only getting breast milk, so once solids are introduced, a baby is no longer EBF. I can't speak for what other moms do, but there was no way I was going to keep pumping 4 times a day at work after 1 year! I started weaning from the pump around 11 months and dropped my last session when DD was 13 months old. I had to wean from the pump very slowly because I'm prone to mastitis (8 times!). I started mixing WCM and breast milk when DD was 11.5 months. We did 3/4 BM, then 1/2 BM, then 1/4 BM, then 100% WCM. We did it over a 4 week period. Some people go cold turkey WCM, but I still had freezer stash to use. DD still got one sippy per day of breast milk through 14.5 months because I still had freezer stash. DD now gets solids and about 10 oz of WCM while I'm at work. We nurse in the evenings and on weekends.

I hope that all made sense! Maybe some working moms pump for 18+ months, but I just couldn't take pumping for one more day! Good luck and congrats on making it this far.

[Deleted User] · May 2014

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vvvvvfee · May 2014

PPs have covered it pretty well. i pumped at work until DS was about 14 months. after i used up what was left in the freezer, i sent him to DC with WCM. he is 20 months now and still nursing 3-5 times a day when i'm at home. it is definitely not necessary to introduce WCM if your LO has an otherwise balanced diet. once your LO is a year old, your supply is well-established, and you can keep nursing for a long time even if you aren't pumping at work. i don't think anyone really pumps at work much past 18 months (and most people stop around 12 months). i would start to drop pumping sessions until you're down to 1 a day around the time you want to stop.

Altima80 · May 2014

theresat858 said:

1. Hopefully your 10 month old is already not EBF. If you haven't introduced solids, you should do so ASAP. The AAP does not recommend exclusively breastfeeding beyond 6 months.

Sorry I didn't explain that well. He started solids at 6 months and gets three meals a day now plus the breast milk.

Thanks for everyone's input! And @Casey78, sorry, I had forgotten about Leah's milk allergy. :-(

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