Teachers, Moms who BF older infants

[Jalapeñomel]

Do you plan on pumping in the fall?

I start at my school on the second of September, and I'm not sure if I will continue to pump or not. D will be almost 11 months old, and I'm not quite ready to wean yet, so regardless, I will BF before work and after I get home/MOTN. 

So what are you planning on doing?  


mekiakoo

[sjh722]

I had enough milk in the freezer to make it to a year (I think there are still a few bags hanging out at the bottom), so I quit pumping at work around 10.5 or 11 months.

[Jalapeñomel]

Jul 31, 2014 15:21:56 GMT -5 sjh722 said:

I had enough milk in the freezer to make it to a year (I think there are still a few bags hanging out at the bottom), so I quit pumping at work around 10.5 or 11 months.

I think my freezer stash is pretty significant, and I can pump some more while I am off for the next three weeks.  I may do this so I don't have to pump.  I'm so over pumping but not over breastfeeding. 

[Jalapeñomel]

Jul 31, 2014 15:35:15 GMT -5 @peggyolson said:

I quit pumping at work at 11 months but she didn't wean until 15 months. I loathe pumping, though.

So did you supplement with formula?

[Deleted]

I returned to work when DD was 10.5 months and only pumped for a week (and only at lunch). I've quit pumping, she's still nursing fine. I supplement with WCM.

[andthentherewere10]

Yes I will be pumping even though my teaching schedule is horrible (7:30 to 1:30) with no breaks. My baby is much younger than yours but BFinG is extremely important to me and I'll do anything to maintain it.

[chicago]

I'm planning to pump three times a day, but I don't know how long I'll make it. It's tough to fit into my schedule and, more worrisome, my output has been shitty lately. I'm going to try! Pumping sucks. I have so much respect for those who are able to ep.

[Deleted]

Jul 31, 2014 15:47:33 GMT -5 mekiakoo said:

I actually am sure that my freezer stash will last until he's 1. But I don't want to mess up my supply for weekends and days off by having to use the stash.

Nursing with the baby is very different than pumping. My experience, at least, is that the body is pretty good about making milk for a baby. I've had no problems going back and forth at 10 months onward.

So pump when you can, but not twice at lunch. I'd just pump at lunch if I was you, and then make up the rest from the stash. Or pump twice for a while and then cut back to once around 10 or 11 months, and then let it fade out around 12 months.

[chicago]

mekiakoo, I've seen you mention being worried about reverse cycling a few times. Can you explain why it worries you? If anything, I feel like it would be kind of a good thing.m you could freeze a lot more milk that you pump and bf when you and E are together. Is it less preferable because he may want to bf more motn? I'm honestly curious; I don't know much about reverse cycling.

[sjh722]

Also, I see that he's 9 months old. By the time DD was 11 months, she was only taking one bottle at the sitters, which meant my freezer stash went further.

[spk926]

I pumped until a year but I had lots of frozen BM that I pumped all summer.

I would only pump during my lunch break while at school.

I woke up extra early to pump first thing in the morning, then got showered and ready, woke DD up and nursed her and then didn't pump until lunch. My prep is 1 1/2 hours after lunch so it didn't make sense to pump again. Then I would just nurse her as soon as we were home from daycare. It worked as she's 19 months and still going strong. This summer I worked hard though and weaned her to only nursing after wake-up, before nap and before bed.

[downtoearth]

I stopped pumping at work at a year and the baby had whole milk during the day (or left over stash) and then still nursed before/after work and on weekends. It wasn't tough transition - we just didn't do bottles at home and the boys all had them at daycare during the day.

[Jalapeñomel]

Jul 31, 2014 15:42:04 GMT -5 @tokenhoser said:

I returned to work when DD was 10.5 months and only pumped for a week (and only at lunch). I've quit pumping, she's still nursing fine. I supplement with WCM.

Can you elaborate on this?  

[Jalapeñomel]

I just finished summer school where I pumped once at lunch and then once before I go to bed. I don't seem to have much problems keeping up with him, so if I do pump at school, I will probably only pump once while I am there. But frankly, I'm ready to be done pumping.

[Jalapeñomel]

Jul 31, 2014 15:58:26 GMT -5 downtoearth said:

I stopped pumping at work at a year and the baby had whole milk during the day (or left over stash) and then still nursed before/after work and on weekends. It wasn't tough transition - we just didn't do bottles at home and the boys all had them at daycare during the day.

So did your baby get all the nutrients they needed from the combo of WCM/BFing/solids?

D doesn't really eat all that much, and I know food before 1 is just for fun, but at some point in time I think that he should be picking up his solid food intake.  He has yet to be all that interested in actually eating food instead of using food as drum sticks. 

[Deleted]

Jul 31, 2014 16:02:38 GMT -5 Jalapeñomel said:

Jul 31, 2014 15:42:04 GMT -5 @tokenhoser said:

I returned to work when DD was 10.5 months and only pumped for a week (and only at lunch). I've quit pumping, she's still nursing fine. I supplement with WCM.

Can you elaborate on this?  

What do you want to know? With DS, I returned to work right around his birthday and didn't pump, and it all worked fine. This time, I got an offer for a new job that had me return earlier. I came to work. I pumped at lunch for the first week, but my daycare was giving her part whole cow milk and part breastmilk. DD liked the wcm fine, and I hated pumping (it's really awkward here as there isn't a great space, it's not normal at all because moms rarely return before 12 months of leave, and it was killing my attempts to be social in a new job). So now she drinks milk out of a straw cup and I don't pump. We nurse when together, including during the day on weekends or holidays. It takes her a bit to get a letdown, but she always does and seems content. She is a good eater (her brother was not) which I think is helping her not reverse cycle. He didn't eat food and had crappy sleep / a lot of night nursing until I nightweaned him at 18 months.

[downtoearth]

Jul 31, 2014 16:05:45 GMT -5 Jalapeñomel said:

Jul 31, 2014 15:58:26 GMT -5 downtoearth said:

I stopped pumping at work at a year and the baby had whole milk during the day (or left over stash) and then still nursed before/after work and on weekends. It wasn't tough transition - we just didn't do bottles at home and the boys all had them at daycare during the day.

So did your baby get all the nutrients they needed from the combo of WCM/BFing/solids?

D doesn't really eat all that much, and I know food before 1 is just for fun, but at some point in time I think that he should be picking up his solid food intake.  He has yet to be all that interested in actually eating food instead of using food as drum sticks. 

I think so b/c all 3 of my boys were still waking at around 3-4am at 1 year to nurse, so they would get at least 3-4 feedings from me per day: 3-4am, 7:30am, 5pm, and 8-9pm. 

[Jalapeñomel]

Jul 31, 2014 16:07:25 GMT -5 @tokenhoser said:

Jul 31, 2014 16:02:38 GMT -5 Jalapeñomel said:

Can you elaborate on this?  

What do you want to know? With DS, I returned to work right around his birthday and didn't pump, and it all worked fine. This time, I got an offer for a new job that had me return earlier. I came to work. I pumped at lunch for the first week, but my daycare was giving her part whole cow milk and part breastmilk. DD liked the wcm fine, and I hated pumping (it's really awkward here as there isn't a great space, it's not normal at all because moms rarely return before 12 months of leave, and it was killing my attempts to be social in a new job). So now she drinks milk out of a straw cup and I don't pump. We nurse when together, including during the day on weekends or holidays. It takes her a bit to get a letdown, but she always does and seems content. She is a good eater (her brother was not) which I think is helping her not reverse cycle. He didn't eat food and had crappy sleep / a lot of night nursing until I nightweaned him at 18 months.

This seems like a good option for me.  But DS doesn't really care about food at all, like your son.  But he is a good sleeper and a good nurser.  

What was your starting ratio of WCM to BM?  When you first introduced it, did you do it in a bottle? DS will be the same age as your daughter when I go back to work. 

[lilac05]

If you're ready to be done pumping and have a stash for baby, I would stop pumping. You've done a great job and can continue Breastfeeding baby whenever you're together, but ditch that pump! (I LOATHE pumping, though.)

Talk to your pediatrician about when you can start the transition to WCM. They draw a hard line at one year in all public info resources because they don't want people bending the rules more and more over time (so & so did it at 9 months and was fine...what's another 2 weeks?). Since WCMis cheaper than formula, many people would transition earlier if doctors were wish washy about it. On an individual basis, however, doctors are more lenient, especially when a baby has been EBF. The thought is that you can avoid transitioning baby to formula and then to WCM and just do WCM.

[water*drop]

I stopped pumping around 11 months (this coincided with the end of the school year, but she stayed in daycare FT until her birthday and then PT for the summer, so she was still gone all day a lot of the time). I sent milk from my stash until she turned one. She's two now and still nurses in the morning and at night. My pump has been packed away in the basement for over a year, and she definitely still gets milk from me, so if you haven't had supply issues in the past, your supply will probably be fine with just morning/night nursing.

[Jalapeñomel]

Jul 31, 2014 16:11:28 GMT -5 lilac05 said:

If you're ready to be done pumping and have a stash for baby, I would stop pumping. You've done a great job and can continue Breastfeeding baby whenever you're together, but ditch that pump! (I LOATHE pumping, though.)

Talk to your pediatrician about when you can start the transition to WCM. They draw a hard line at one year in all public info resources because they don't want people bending the rules more and more over time (so & so did it at 9 months and was fine...what's another 2 weeks?). Since WCMis cheaper than formula, many people would transition earlier if doctors were wish washy about it. On an individual basis, however, doctors are more lenient, especially when a baby has been EBF. The thought is that you can avoid transitioning baby to formula and then to WCM and just do WCM.

It does seem silly to go to formula now, and I would like to avoid it if possible, since WCM is on the horizon.  Although I do have some concern about milk, since DH has some serious stomach issues (and we have yet to find out if DS inherited his horrible stomach).  We have really toyed with the idea of doing almond milk instead of WCM, but we will be discussing that with the pedi next week. 

[Deleted]

Jul 31, 2014 16:11:25 GMT -5 Jalapeñomel said:

This seems like a good option for me.  But DS doesn't really care about food at all, like your son.  But he is a good sleeper and a good nurser.  

What was your starting ratio of WCM to BM?  When you first introduced it, did you do it in a bottle? DS will be the same age as your daughter when I go back to work. 

We never mixed it, just changed whole feeds over to WCM. It was not done very scientifically. Neither of my kids ever took a bottle, so we went straight to straw cups.

Nutritionally, they seem fine? I figure I'm still nursing 4-5x a day (I was doing a dream feed at 10 and at least one night feed until very recently) which is more than half of her milk intake. I'd add in a dream feed at your bedtime if there's a couple hours between your bedtime and his bedtime - it sneaks in an extra feed and is more pleasant than pumping.

[mrsGreeko]

I quit pumping the day before all of my kids turned 12
Months, but didn't wean them until 15 months, 22 months, and 22 months. I just nursed them when I was around and they got cups of milk and food when I wasn't there (and obviously also when I was there too). It wasn't even remotely a big deal. I was glad to be done pumping.

[Jalapeñomel]

Jul 31, 2014 16:14:44 GMT -5 @tokenhoser said:

Jul 31, 2014 16:11:25 GMT -5 Jalapeñomel said:

This seems like a good option for me.  But DS doesn't really care about food at all, like your son.  But he is a good sleeper and a good nurser.  

What was your starting ratio of WCM to BM?  When you first introduced it, did you do it in a bottle? DS will be the same age as your daughter when I go back to work. 

We never mixed it, just changed whole feeds over to WCM. It was not done very scientifically. Neither of my kids ever took a bottle, so we went straight to straw cups.

Nutritionally, they seem fine? I figure I'm still nursing 4-5x a day (I was doing a dream feed at 10 and at least one night feed until very recently) which is more than half of her milk intake. I'd add in a dream feed at your bedtime if there's a couple hours between your bedtime and his bedtime - it sneaks in an extra feed and is more pleasant than pumping.

Excellent idea.  I pump between his bedtime and mine since I only pump once a day, and I'd love to drop it all together. 

[sjh722]

Jul 31, 2014 15:55:24 GMT -5 mekiakoo said:

Jul 31, 2014 15:52:52 GMT -5 sjh722 said:

Also, I see that he's 9 months old. By the time DD was 11 months, she was only taking one bottle at the sitters, which meant my freezer stash went further.

Was this because she was eating more solids?

Yes. She still nursed morning/night on days I worked, and at least 4-5 times a day when we were home, but around 10-11 months she really started eating a decent amount of solids, enough to put a dent in her milk intake. 

[wildfloweragain]

September was about 9 months old for my kids, and I decided to stop pumping at work at that point. Formula at day care, breast milk when I was home, nursed all weekend.

...sent from my Jedi Mind.

[thejackpot]

In the same boat and the closer it gets to returning I am leaning towards pumping for a few months.

[Jalapeñomel]

Jul 31, 2014 17:32:36 GMT -5 thejackpot said:

In the same boat and the closer it gets to returning I am leaning towards pumping for a few months.

Did you pump in the spring?  How old is your baby?

[thejackpot]

Jul 31, 2014 17:42:02 GMT -5 Jalapeñomel said:

Jul 31, 2014 17:32:36 GMT -5 thejackpot said:

In the same boat and the closer it gets to returning I am leaning towards pumping for a few months.

Did you pump in the spring?  How old is your baby?

DD just turned 10 months. Yes, I pumped in the spring. I don't like pumping but I will power through at least until Oct when she will be 1.

[rugbywife]

I am a vice principal. I go back in a few weeks. DD will be 20 weeks. I plan on pumping 3 times a day at work. DH will be home with her and will give her bottles. I hope to nurse at night.