Weaning from the Pump
Ultimately, supply is managed through the process of supply and demand. An empty breast produces milk faster than a full breast. When a breast is full, the protein FIL (feedback inhibitor of lactation) is present in higher concentrations and signals production to slow. As well, as the breast fills, the walls of the aveoli stretch and do not allow prolactin to enter. These two things combine to slow production. The other aspect that is important to understand when trying to lower supply or wean is that your body will usually continue to produce as much milk as is being removed; that is lactation works on the basis of supply and demand. The other factor that comes into play is storage capacity. Some women are “blessed” with a large storage capacity which is great in that they can often pump less often but maintain supply, however, it also often makes it more challenging to reduce their supply and wean. The strategy I recommend when weaning (or trying to reduce supply) is a two-pronged approach: reducing the length of individual pumping sessions and lengthen the time between pumping sessions. I suggest starting the process by reducing the length of time you are pumping each session. So if for example you are pumping 20 minutes per session, drop that to 18 minutes. You want to take it slowly and only reduce the time by a couple minutes each time you reduce it. Always be aware of any areas in the breasts that may seem hard or sore and work at them with gentle massage and compressions as you pump. You may also want to start using warm compresses prior to pumping to help remove milk and avoid blockages. Go slowly. When you find that you can easily manage with the 18 minutes/session, you can drop another minute or two. This technique alone may or may not be enough to start lowering your supply. The other part of the strategy then is to lengthen the time between sessions, but I would suggest you not necessarily schedule the time. Rather than going from every 4 hours to every 6, judge the time on how your body is reacting. Push the limit a little and pump only when you are feeling full, but not painfully full. Perhaps at first it might only be a half hour off your current schedule and perhaps it might only be 2 of your pumping sessions that you are able to extend. Again, go slowly. How quickly you can proceed through the weaning process is largely determined by how large your supply is at the time you begin to wean and your storage capacity. I would start with the first strategy on its own for a while. See how your body responds and then begin the second strategy. As you continue through the process, you will get to the point where you are only pumping 2-3 times a day. At this point, you can really begin stretching out the time between sessions and will eventually drop to twice a day, once a day, and then every 36-48 hours. Many women ask at this point, “Do I just stop pumping?” Yes and no! You may be able to simply stop and never have to look at your pump again, but many women will find that after two or three days of not pumping they start to feel a little full and perhaps a little bit of discomfort. By all means if this happens, pump. There is no downside to pumping. Just remember that in order to reduce supply, it is important to leave milk in the breasts. So just pump enough to relieve the feeling of fullness, but not to empty. As with any attempts to increase or decrease your supply, keep records of your output so you can see any trends that are happening. There truly should be no discomfort or pain when weaning. If you are experiencing pain, you may be trying to take it too quickly. If you are someone that is prone to blocked ducts or mastitis, you will need to take it very slowly. You may consider taking lecithin to help prevent blocks from forming. Here’s a link with information on lecithin. Information about other herbs that may help to reduce milk supply can be found here.Other measures that can help when weaning include using ibuprofen or acetaminophen, using cabbage leaves, sage, warm compresses prior to pumping and cold compresses in between sessions. I think it is also important when weaning to take some time to reflect on the whole experience of pumping. There are often many emotions that come with the process and taking the time to remember the past few months, your reasons for pumping, the joys and the pains,…it is all important in the experience and being able to move forward to the next phase in the relationship with your child.
January 24th, 2010 at 3:00 pm
thank-you for this very helpful article! I have done 11 months of exclusively pumping and needed the wisdom to know how to wean,,,you have given me the strength and knowledge to be able to!
May 9th, 2010 at 8:54 pm
Thank you. I am down to one pumping a day. It is psychologically so difficult to wean. Once I start pumping, I want to completely empty my breasts. But, this won’t work… Thanks again!
July 12th, 2010 at 10:29 am
Marni, I agree that it is very difficult to stop pumping when there is still milk. I’ve been meaning to stop pumping for weeks, but I can’t seem to stop if my breasts aren’t completely empty. Nice to know I’m not the only one!
July 13th, 2010 at 9:10 am
Great tips. I am also down to one pumping a day and am already enjoying the additional time I have to get things done and, more importantly, play with my baby!
Another tip for making weaning easier: cabbage leaves in the bra. Not only do they cool (if you keep them in the fridge), but a chemical released from them helps prevent blockages and infection in the breast. Crush the larger veins with a rolling pin and tear to fit well. Leave them in for 20 minutes every 4-6 hours as needed and watch the magic work!
August 1st, 2010 at 12:19 am
I am have been EPing w/ my 2nd child 4 months now. Did 8 months w/ my first. Marni & Kacie: Glad to know I am not the only one…it’s hard to pump just a little…I always want to empty my breasts every time. But, I must say once I weaned w/ my first, it was a great freedom & gave me more time to do other things w/ my child. This is a great article. Wish I’d had it when pumping the first time around…I had to figure it out on my own.
August 29th, 2010 at 12:41 pm
Thank you! After reading this, I feel better that I know I’m on the right track. I exclusively pumped for 8 months and I had a BIG milk supply (60oz a day!), I have milk for 3-4 months in the freezer, so I am weaning myself from the pump. I am down to one pumping every 36 hrs and keep stretching it. I’ve been weaning myself very very slowly, since the beginning of August, by cutting down in the sessions and the time. I had no problems so far and I am so glad I have more time to spend with my baby.
That’s the way to go.
September 13th, 2010 at 8:35 am
I am interested in weaning my pumping frequency but don’t want to lower my supply- I have been EPing for my twin girls since they were 6 weeks old because one could not nurse- it was a very difficult decision to stop nursing the other but the process of nursing, pumping, and bottle feeding was leaving me very little time to do anything else, including enjoying my babies. With the help of my LC, I tried 4 different pumps and what seemed like an endless variety of breast shields but although it is not painful to pump any more it still takes me 30 minutes- 1hr each time I pump, which is becoming more and more difficult as my girls become more mobile- they are now 6 months old. Currently, I pump 5 times a day- at the 6 AM and 10 pm pumpings I usually get 12-16 oz, but the mid-day pumpings (10, 2, 6) I only get 4-6 oz, even though I usually pump 10 minutes or so longer than it takes to empty my breasts. I am wondering if I could cut down to 1 or 2 pumpings during the day and manage to get more out per pumping somehow? I definitely want to keep giving them as much breastmilk as I can, especially since winter is coming up, but as a mom of 4 now and with them becoming more active i don’t know how much longer I can keep up this schedule- any advice?
November 26th, 2010 at 7:25 pm
Michelle,
I am currently weaning from EPing my boy/girl twins. They just turned one and I’m down to pumping twice daily. I was in the same boat as you with only one baby unable to latch/suckle correctly as they were born at 36 weeks. After 4 weeks of the nursing/pumping/bottle feeding cycle we made the decision to EP. I’ve been blessed without having to supplement at all the entire year. I did this though by pumping every 3-4 hours during the day AND by pumping once during the night (the longest I went was 6 hours without pumping overnight until the past 6 weeks or so when I started to wean from the pump). I had a friend in a same position with twins and she could not go any longer than 5 hours without pumping or she would lose volume overall. With pumping for 2 babies, though, it’s just what we had to do.
I know it’s hard with having additional children (we have an older daughter as well) and I was so tired from waking at night to pump but it’s the only way I could keep up my supply and stay ahead. Of course, with 3 kids we rarely get a full night’s sleep anyway (and we even have what I would call great sleepers!) so I would pump whenever someone woke up or I’d set an alarm. I know you commented in Sept. and you might not see this but if you do I hope you’re still able to EP and make it through the winter just fine! Best wishes!
March 22nd, 2011 at 3:12 pm
Hi, my name is Jo and I have been expressing for 4 months tomorrow! I too thought I would be able to breasfeed, with maybe the usual latching on problems. However when my daughter Summer was born I had an awful labour and in the end had an emergency c section. I had been awake with no food for 32 hours and I was in quite a bad way, lost a lot of blood and was sick for ten hours after my section.
Everytime I tried to feed Summer I was sick EVERYWHERE and for the first 12 hours I hand expressed and my milk was given to Summer with a syringe. I was so desperate to go home that when I was still not successfully feeding after 24 hours of expressing I thought ‘why can’t expressing be an option?’ I asked them for a bottle as I knew they were not going to let me go home until Summer was eating. She took all the milk I offered and that’s where my journey began!
I assured the midwives that I would keep trying to offer the breast when I got home, yet I only did it twice.Expressing just worked for us. That may sound stupid but my main concern was that Summer would get the milk in anyway I could give it her and expressing seemed to be a good option (little did I know!)
The first 2 months were hell, I was constantly expressing! Me and my husband argued over exressing as I often had to stop what I was doing with Summer and leave him with her crying while I expressed. It was awful and I wanted to give up several times. I didn’t though, I carried on and as the quantity of milk Summer took increased I found it easier funnily enough.
For me expressing has been the best way to feed my baby. As Summer was taking larger amounts than she maybe would directly from the breast, she wanted to feed less often and that meant we got quite a good nights sleep (3 hour blocks at the start and 5 now) I am also a final year university student and working on my dissertation, the fact that Summer sleeps from 6.30pm until 1am means I have every evening to work. If she was feeding from the breast on demand, this might of been a different story.
I was going to stop expressing at 6 months as it does take over your whole life! Days out etc are controlled by having to get home to express. I may carry on though as I have now dropped quite a few exressing session and express before bed, then when Summer wakes (3am ish) 8am, 1pm, 6pm so it is not too bad now and I have found your website really useful.
Jo x
May 5th, 2011 at 8:21 pm
i wanna say thank you i had no one to turn to for information on this because my friends kids latched and my son would not i have been trying to wean and though i was doing great then got an infection and now im at square one once again and my doctors info didnt seem right cause she said start pumping every 5 hours and pump til empty but then my body will just fill it wall so now i will just pump til im not so heavy and hard.
July 6th, 2011 at 4:30 pm
Thank you for the useful information! I just recently had a baby back in May and just like Jo I ended up having a c-section and it was much easier to pump then put him on the breast. I plan on pumping for another 4 months w/ a 6 month supply stashed up to feed him for the rest of the year. Breastfeeding/pumping is high maintenance! Now I know what to do when the time draws near.
Thanks again!
Vanessa
September 2nd, 2011 at 11:32 am
Thank you so much for having this article easily available for exclusive pumpers. My daughter is turning 5 months old in a few days, and it has been such a journey with exclusive pumping. My husband and I cannot be happier about purely feeding our baby breastmilk, although it took (and still takes) a lot of commitment, persistence, and will power.
Exclusive pumpers, you can do it! Never give up, especially when it feels like you’ve done enough/can’t do any more/or start thinking that other mothers are giving their babies formula anyway and their babies are just fine. The benefits of breastmilk are incomparable. It gets easier over time, and in the end, it is ALL WORTH IT. (This is not to say, of course, that mothers who formula-feed their babies are doing less; we all make the most out of what we are ABLE to do).
That said, thank you again for the article and for the website!
September 17th, 2011 at 12:46 pm
Thank you for your free wisdom from which I gleaned many pearls over these past few months. I had a vulvar hematoma right after my beautiful Natalie was born seven months ago. The hematoma was the size of a softball and I was miserable for a month after she was born. Sitting up to nurse was impossible and Natalie got spoiled to bottle feeding right away. But I could stand and pump! I Eped for 6 months and I am proud of it! Thank you for being a web presence for scared new mothers. We ask you what we are afraid to ask our doctors and friends. Thank you for advocating for option 3 in a world that only offers moms a and b!
September 18th, 2011 at 3:12 pm
I am so happy I found this site, I thought I was the only one out there! I have been epumping for 11 months now and have been terrified to begin the weaning process (both physically and emotionally). Thanks to this site and all of the wonderful comments I now feel like I am gaining the needed courage. Thanks moms!
November 17th, 2011 at 2:52 pm
Thankyou. I was an (almost) exclusive pumper for preemie twins that couldn’t nurse well, and then just prefered to be bottle fed when they got older. I was afraid that I wasn going to miss out on the emotional aspects of breastfeeding by pumping. But as I prepare to completly quit pumping, I’m shocked at how emotional I feel about it.
November 26th, 2011 at 1:54 pm
Hello,
Thank you for this information, it’s very helpful. I have been exclusively pumping for almost 3 months & it’s exhausting!! My daughter had to have surgery at 4 days old and spent the first 2 weeks in the hospital so, she didn’t have the chance to learn how to nurse. I thought about going straight to formula but, I wanted her to have the benefits of my milk. Now that she’s drinking more than I can produce & my time is so limited with the pumping, I have decided to switch over to formula. The first few days have been tougher on me than I ever thought. Not from the pain & discomfort from my engorged breasts (which hurt constantly) from the guilt of my decision to take away the milk. My husband has continued to remind me that lots of babies don’t get any milk at all, I was one of them & that without having to pump 6 times a day, I will have a lot more time to take care of our daughter, the house & myself. These reminders have helped a little but, I know it will take time for me to see the positive result of my decision. Ultimately, I think there are benefits on both sides & if I had been able to nurse the way I had intended, then I would continue to produce milk for many more months. Exclusively pumping is a major sacrifice of time, energy & discomfort simply for the health of our babies & we should all be commended for doing it for our little ones!
November 27th, 2011 at 9:01 pm
thank you for this article! I was unable to breastfeed so pumping saved my life no I feel like a slave to the pump. i have been trying to quit for 2 days and am in so much pain! I am also prone to clogged milk ducts so i was not sure how to go about this correctly. I plan on going much slower now because i already have a duct that is hurting me. I cannot wait to be free of the pump.
Melanie
December 26th, 2011 at 9:56 am
Wow! This really helps!! My little one just had surgery for a g-tube and they told me she will not be able to breast feed or take any liquids by mouth. I am sad because I breastfed my two sons. Ive been pumping and have so much supply that I am 4 months ahead with now no room in our freezer for our family’s food! I don’t know why(guess its the hormones), but weaning is such an emotional thing! I just can’t bring myself to not fully empty. I am still pumping 3x a day, but my little one is coming home from the NICU soon and with my other 2 boys I just don’t see how I can keep pumping. Love this site!!