I HAVE DECIDED IT IS TIME TO STOP PUMPING. I HAVE BEEN EXCLUSIVELY PUMPING. MY GOAL WAS 6 MONTHS AND I'VE MADE IT TO 9 MONTHS, SO I AM TRYING TO TELL MYSELF THAT ITS OKAY TO QUIT NOW. I'M SO TIRED OF PUMPING AND NOT TO MENTION THAT DS HAS DISCOVERED HOW INTERESTING THE PUMP ACCESSORIES ARE, SO I SPEND THE ENTIRE TIME FIGHTING HIM OFF OF THEM. LOL. ITS CUTE, FUNNY, AND EXHAUSTING ALL AT THE SAME TIME.

I FEEL GOOD THAT I HAVE MADE IT 3 MONTHS LONGER THAN MY ORIGINAL GOAL, BUT I'M STILL HAVING A HARD TIME QUITTING. FOR SOME REASON I FEEL THIS WEIRD EMOTIONAL GUILT OR SOMETHING. ITS HARD TO EXPLAIN, BUT I FEEL ALMOST SAD ABOUT IT FOR SOME REASON. I BOUGHT MY FIRST CAN OF FORMULA YESTERDAY AND INTRODUCED HIM TO IT LAST NIGHT. RIGHT NOW I AM SLOWLY GETTING HIM USED TO IT AND MAKING SURE HE WILL TAKE IT. SO I AM ROTATING EVERY OTHER BOTTLE BREAST MILK AND FORMULA LIKE HIS DR TOLD ME TO DO.

DID ANYONE ELSE FEEL THIS WAY WHEN YOU FINISHED FEEDING BREAST MILK?

Yes! I had a lot of mommy guilt with stopping breastfeeding. Good job feeding breast milk for so long!

well I didn't stop bf until dh was 27 months so I had no guilt at all lol. I would say you did well getting to 9 months since your exclusively pumping because I know that is much harder then exclusively nursing. some babies will not take formula after 9 months of breast milk because breast milk it is sweet and Formula is more bland. But if he dont take to formula and you have to keep pumping you only have about 3 months before he is 1 and babies can take whole milk at 12 months which is closer to the taste of breast milk.
good luck and congrats on getting this far.

I hear ya! I had VERY mixed emotions when I stopped pumping. We have enough frozen to get Hope to a year (I stopped at 9 months too), but even if we hadn't I think I would have been done anyway. It is SOOOOO much work- and your whole life revolves around scheduling it in, instead of your whole life revolving around your baby! It was TOUGH- and you should be SO INCREDIBELY proud of yourself for getting this far! You know, I know FIRST hand how hard this is- you have done a great job and should NOT feel guilty for stopping! Once you start to wean from the pump it will get easier- especially when you see how much more TIME you have.


 


This website was REALLY helful for me because I had engorgement issues if I dropped pumps too quickly. Once I was down to 2 or 3 pumps a day I started dropping two minutes from each pump every other day. It really worked for me.

I would try mixing breastmilk and formula to try to get him used to the taste- then slowly increase the amount of formula so that eventually there is no breastmilk left- just a thought. Good luck- and you know I am here if you need more support!!!

Heidi I started rotating every other bottle from breastmilk to formula to make sure he would take it and that it wouldn't hurt his stomach. He was very sensative to dairy in the beginning and has since grown out of it slowly. It all seems to be working out so far.

I am still pumping, but I'm hoping to be finished within the next week or so. I am SO tired of pumping, and like you said Heidi, it takes so much time and I would rather be spending that with him instead of always pumping. Can't wait! Just a little bittersweet for some reason.