weird schedule, want to pump wean

[sweetawreet]

My baby is now getting the equivalent of one bottle replaced at daycare by solids, and I'm building up a freezer surplus fast. I'd love to cut my pumping down to one session a work day (instead of two), since I feel weird about pumping at work.

I work three different shifts during the week, which means I'm never pumping at the same time. Since I work all over the clock, I won't be able to cut, for example, "the three o'clock session," and I'm worried that it will all be too confusing for my body.

Has anyone had this experience? If so, please advise!

[ashtonsmom]

How old is babe?

[Stephanie]

How old is baby? The baby in your av looks young, so I would be hesitant to drop to one session until closer to the 1 year mark.

Are any of your shifts over night? If baby is sleeping all night, I would go ahead and stop pumpin if I worked the night shift. That would give you some relief.

[sweetawreet]

Baby is 8 months -- that's just a particularly cute pic I like to use! The place I work at is open 9 - 9, so the closest I get to a pumping schedule is generally at these times:

10 and 2
12 and 4
2 and 6

[Stephanie]

I would hold out another month or 2 before dropping to one. Pumping seems to become a real drag because the 1 year mark is getting so close. I would just hold out a little longer, but I had supply issues with my first, so with my second I was very careful about keeping up my supply.

[ashtonsmom]

When I reduced my pumping session from 3 to 2 at around 10 months, my supply really suffered. Thank goodness I had a small freezer stash or we wouldn't have made it to a year. And at 11 months I was mixing whole milk and the small amount of BM i got out of 2 sessions. Then at 11 months I dropped to once and at 12 and half months I QUIT !!!!

[sweetawreet]

Thanks for all of your help. I realized the other day that I should probably keep doing 2 sessions for now. We just moved into our first house (yay!), and I'm pretty sure the stress has affected my supply, because I am no longer freezing surplus. Also, this last week, baby has suddenly started eating all of his bottles at daycare, including the extra. The first time he did it, he not only ate his extra, but also needed the emergency backup formula, which has never happened before. Not sure what's up with him. He's ~8.5 months, so maybe he's going through his 9 month growth spurt?