Weaning questions

[sandandsea]

Tl; dr version. I'm ready to wean but don't know best time to do so.

Ds2 is 10.5 months and I've bf exclusively since birth. I also pump at work so he gets bm bottles while at daycare. I'm ready to be done pumping. I have had a great supply and have enough milk in the freezer to get him to a year though he doesn't prefer frozen milk. He also loves solids significantly more than bottles and is a big guy and is growing great.

I wouldn't mind continuing to bf until 1 in the morning and before bed but don't know if that's possible if I don't pump during the day or if I'd be super uncomfortable. And I would probably prefer to just be done. But I'm willing to stick if out if it's really that much better for him.

Also we are traveling 2 weeks before his first bday and I wouldn't have the frozen bm with me then and I don't want to introduce formula for one week but idk if wcm is a good option at that point. Ds1 had iron deficiency anemia and was limited to 6oz of wcm a day as a toddler and had to take iron supplements so I definitely don't want to go through that again if possible.

So what would you do in this case?

[vvvvvfee]

i think how quickly you can get down to just morning/evening depends on how many times per day you're pumping at work. if you're pumping more than 1x a day, first you'd need to get down to 1x per day. then you can gradually decrease the length of that 1 session until you're no longer pumping at work. you may be uncomfortable for a few days (you might need to pump for a minute or two if you get really engorged), but then you should be fine.

most women quit pumping at work at 1 year. i think since you have a decent supply and are very close to 1 year, you shouldn't have a problem not pumping at work and just nursing morning/evening.

WCM should be fine at 11 1/2 months! and if LO is well established on solids by then, he doesn't need to drink a ton of milk while you're gone. once kids are really eating solids, they just need a balanced diet. we are kind of cow's milk obsessed in the u.s.-- plus if you're formula feeding it makes for an easy (and cheaper) transition at 1 year. but LO does NOT need a ton of WCM if he has a balanced diet. WCM is just a convenient source of fat and calories.

if you are still nursing morning/evening when you go on your trip, just be aware that you will need to pump while away. maybe you can get away with once in the middle of the day, but you would be uncomfortable and risk blocked ducts/mastitis if you don't pump.

[sandandsea]

Thank you! Lo will be with us on the trip so that should help. I pump twice at work now and was planning on dropping to once this coming week. When I did it with ds1 I was able to go from twice to once to none in about a week. I'll probably still get 8-10 ounces in that one pump so it should carryover for a while.