I returned to work when my daughter was almost four months old. Until that point, she'd been exclusively breastfed. I only get one chance to pump at work, so I've had to supplement with formula since I returned. Now, a month into it, she seems to nurse only for the comfort factor - except for the nighttime feedings (and early morning). During the day, once my milk lets down, she nurses for a minute or two, but then pulls away. I don't mind giving up the daytime feedings, since I'm not there anyway, and I'd gladly do away with the pump. However, as a co-sleeping mom (no lectures, please!), I don't want to give up the nighttime nursing, especially since she still seems to need it. She's never been a big fan of falling asleep, so I really don't want to take the time to make a bottle for fear she'll wake up more thoroughly. Right now, nighttime feedings don't really disturb anyone's rest and I'd like to keep it that way. I'm looking to keep it up more for the comfort/nurturing/bonding reasons rather than nourishment. At this point, I don't believe that she's taking in nearly as much breastmilk as she is formula and solids, and when I pump, each day I'm getting smaller and smaller amounts. My question is, can I stop the daytime feedings (and pumpings) and still maintain enough milk for the nighttime? My understanding is that my milk will adjust to her demand, and as long as she's still demanding at least some, I'll continue to produce it. Is that true?
I've heard people say that, but I didn't find it to be true for myself. When I gave up pumping and tried to nurse only at night, my milk supply went down to almost nothing and the baby lost interest after a couple of weeks. It was a pretty gentle way to wean, though, so I didn't mind.
Hi D. - I have three kids and I work full-time. I nursed all three. When I returned to work (after 12 weeks on maternity leave), I would pump twice a day until the baby was 6 months old. Usually, it was still not enough milk, so the babysitter supplemented. After 6 months, I would go to pumping once a day till the baby was about 9-10 months old. I had noticed that the milk supply would go up and down, but I still kept pumping. After the baby is 9-10 months, I would stop pumping at work at all.
In the evening, I would breasfeed right after work, then thoughout the evening on demand, and then throughout the night on demand (I co-sleeped also, and this is the only way I can get sleep). My body was still producing milk in the evening / night long after I stopped pumping. I breastfed my first baby till she was 15 months (she self-weaned), the second baby till about 22 months (I had to wean her as I was 7 months pregnant and didn't want to tandem-nurse in the future), and the third is 11 months now and still nursing. One thing I found is that my kids would nurse at night even when they got older (in other words, they won't sleep thru the night). I heard it somewhere that in the event when mom is away all day they learn to eat less during the day, and more at night, because they enjoy nursing much more then formula. I also had issues later on to teach the kids to sleep by themselves, but eventually they did.
If I were you I would still keep pumping, the fact that you don't get much milk might be temporary thing. I think the milk production depends on the person, so I would be afraid to stop pumping during the day so quickly for the fear of losing the milk supply. I know that pumping is a pain, but it doesn't last that long. But even if you decide to stop pumping now, it is possible that you still will be producing enough for evening/ nighttime feedings.
Good luck!
Katya.
I have a friend who nursed only night time for a year.
D.:
congratulations on all you are doing... yes, your supply will adjust...
P., RLC, IBCLC
Breastfeeding and Parenting Solutions
Hi D.,
I returned back to work when my son was 6 months. He too was exclusivly breastfed up until then. I pumped for 5 weeks once a day at work and then the same as you I began to get less and less out. I thought that was the beginning of the end of my stint with breastfeeding my son. After a call to my laction consultant, she informed me that I can stop pumping at work and only breastfeeding at night and before work.
My breasts were a little full the first day I didn't pump at work but they adjusted very fast. We've had this same schedule for a few months now and I'm still producing milk when I/he needs it. I'm so glad I mentioned this to my laction consultant because I would have stopped back then. My son is now 10 months old and we so enjoy our nursing sessions and plan to continue until it's best for us both to stop.
Good Luck!
Your body SHOULD feed on demand and keep producing. A few of my girlfriends are nursing their 2 year olds and only do it for nap/bedtime for only a minute or two and they still have milk. So ideally your body should only make what she needs. I do think, however, that you could continue to nurse during the day. Could it be that she is just a more efficient nurser now and doesn't need to be at the breast for a long time? My son is 14 weeks and is super fast at eating. I would say, if you really want to continue nursing, then only nurse when your around, weekends too, and don't offer the bottle. Allow her to get the bottle at daycare only. This will help you maintain a supply. Not sure if this helped but....
Also co-sleeping rocks!! No lectures here ;)
I think it is different for all women. I nurse my daughter once around noon so she falls asleep for her nap, and then we nurse at 9PM so she falls asleep for the night. Of course, she wakes up several times and needs to nurse to go back to sleep and we cosleep, too. I have skipped the noon nursing several times and it doesn't seem to affect anything. I think you'll be fine, but that's just my opinion! :-) Good luck!
