When my daughter was born, we tried breastfeeding, but due to poor latching and frustrations for both of us, we stopped at 3 weeks. Since then, I've been pumping my milk and feeding her, along with formula supplements. As the weeks have gone by, and since I've gone back to work, my supply has steadily decreased, and at 5 months, she typically gets one (4oz) bottle a day of mommy's milk, and the other bottles are formula. Within the past week, my pumping has decrease to less than 1 oz from both breasts (total) each time I pump (3 times per day), so her mommy milk bottle is only every other day. It seems a bit futile now with such a low supply, and I would like to stop pumping (even though I love the times when she does get her 'special' milk). Since my supply is so low, can I just stop 'cold turkey', or should I ease out of it? I doubt that with my low production that I would ever get engorged, but also don't want to risk it. Part of the reason for stopping breastfeeding at the beginning was due to engorgement and painful mastitis, and I don't want to go through that again. Any suggestions from mom's who have done this before? Thanks!
With how little you are getting - you might be ok to stop, but if you are worried about engorgement - cut out one pump time every 3-5 days. That way you wean your body off the milk production.
When I stopped breastfeeding it happened really quickly going from huge feedings to just about NOTHING - my daughter just all of a sudden STOPPED so I didn't have the gradual decrease that a lot of moms get the advantage of and oh dear god was it painful and hard. But coming from a mom that was desperate for tips on how to help make it easier, just stop pumping and hand express until your comfortable once you start feeling yourself begin getting engorged. Not enough to really collect but just to relieve the pressure. It really went by fast and you'll be so happy to have your boobs back to yourself :o)
I think everyone is different. I didn't have any problems weaning my son and I think I was producing a little more than you at the time. You can always try to stop and at the first sign of fullness just hand express or just pump until you are comfortable. Good luck.
I pumped for a year; I just increased the time between pumpings to when I felt like I needed to for comfort, but give yourself several weeks so that it is not painful for you.
With my daughter I was making what you're making now from the get go. And it was incredibly painful to stop cold turkey. I felt like somebody had put cement in my breasts. I would start by cutting out one session, then two, and so on. If you're interested in trying to produce more I've heard of a few old wives tales to produce milk. One friend told me, with her kid she ate one head of lettuce and drank a can of beer, and voila she could have fed and army. There is a tea that another friend of mine used and her child is still receiving breast milk at a year old. I never tried them, as I only heard about them after I had been done for quite a while. Good luck.
I was pumping and nursing. I went away for a few days when my daughter was 10 months old and my daughter got bottles of breast milk while I was gone. When I returned she didn't want the breast anymore. She was beginning to go that way when I left anyway, too nosy to stay on the breast and concentrate on eating.
The 4 days I was gone I pumped regularly and probably only got about 12-16 oz of milk total during that time. I tried to nurse for about 1 week, after returning, with terrible results. I just stopped nursing and was completely fine. No engorgement, no discomfort or anything. I would venture to guess that you could probably go cold turkey but like the others said, if you're uncomfortable pump only until you feel comfortable, not till you're dry, and you should be all set! Good luck!
