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View Full Version : Pumping/bfeeding at 8 months


bedeilly
06-30-2008, 03:01 PM
Hello - I am the mother of an 8 month old boy, and am wondering if I'm "on track" with how much I'm still pumping and breastfeeding. I also work full-time, and am getting a little tired of pumping at work, but am confused about whether or not I'll be able to keep up my supply if I leave the pump at home.

So here's the deal. . . DS usually wakes up between 5:15 and 6:00 am. I nurse him immediately in the bed, and am usually quite engorged (particularly on the left side, which produces 75% of my milk.) I'm guessing he gets 4 or 5 ounces out of me. Then I feed him cereal at 7:00 and pump one more time before leaving for work (4-5 oz). I then pump late morning and late afternoon (8 oz total) at work, and then feed DS regular food at home at around 6:00. I tend to bfeed him one or two more times before he goes to sleep at 9:00. I have a feeling these are more for comfort than nourishment. . . I tend to produce more milk in the am, and less as the day goes on. But if he doesn't nurse for long before falling asleep, I might pump one more time before I go to bed so I'm not too engorged in the middle of the night.

The total amount the I pump is between 14 - 16 oz. I send DS to daycare with this in bottles, as well as one jar of food and some yogurt.

I guess I'm just wondering what routines other mothers of similar-age children have. I love the idea of continuing to breastfeed, but would be happy to stop all the pumping. Again, my fear is that as soon as I do, my supply will dwindle, and I had to work really hard to re-establish this after pretty much weaning after 3 months (too long and boring a story to go into here :)

KerryS
06-30-2008, 03:13 PM
Since it would seem that he's only *nursing* maybe 2-3 times total in a 24-hour period, then I would guess if you stopped pumping at work, you would probably notice a significant decrease in production.

Stephanie
06-30-2008, 03:26 PM
I was pumping 3 times at work when dd was that age. She didn't take much at daycare, and caught up at home.

I wouldn't pump wean at this point. I would hold out until your ds is closer to 12 months. You just don't know what it is going to do to your supply and it is a lot harder to build it back up than to drop sessions.

I completely understand how annoying pumping at work is. I pumped at work for dd until she was 22 months old. She didn't care for solids, and I wanted to keep my supply up for her. Get yourself a new book to read only while you are pumping to give you something to look forward to.

bedeilly
06-30-2008, 03:30 PM
Thanks so much, very helpful. Do you remember how much you were pumping/producing per day when your child was 8 months? I have no frame of reference, and am not sure if I'm offering too much solid food/not enough breastmilk, or vice versa. I know it depends on the baby and that everyone is different. And I suppose if he was dying for more food - of either variety - he would let me know. And he's about 20 lbs, so no problems with weight gain or anything. Probably just my desire for information and to be able to track and measure things!

whitnessforhim
06-30-2008, 03:42 PM
We all need the reasurance so don't mind about asking these questions.
I agree with pp's that it probably isn't a good idea at this point to give up the pumping unfortunately.

I just wanted to say that I pump 3x a day at work for my 71/2mo. old. Typically I pump between 11-13oz total for the day. My DD only drinks around 8-10oz while im away...usually 8oz.

RedheadbyChoice
06-30-2008, 03:55 PM
Nope, with you being away from babe at a paying job, I wouldn't hang up those horns until babe is at least a year old.

Pumping breastmilk for your babe is hard work........good job, momma! *\o/*

paigesmomma
07-01-2008, 09:27 AM
At 8 months I was pumping 3x/day and getting 15-20oz. DS usually drank 15oz while I was away. He didn't really start eating any solids until after 10mo.
I have a huge freezer stash and am able to nurse ds during my lunch hour, so I slowly started pump weaning when ds was 10mo. Now at 11 mo I nurse ds around 8:30 before work, noon, 4:30, and then usually a couple of times before bed. Then he generally gets up 1-2x/night. He eats yougert in the morning and then fruit & veggie in the afternoon & evening.
I do still pump if I have to miss a feeding for some reason.