When to stop pumping?

Hi lovely people,

My baby is 11 weeks old and I have been giving him my milk since birth (I sometimes top up with formula in case I am out). I initially breastfed and then decided to switch to pumping so that my husband could help with feeding at night.

Pumping is quite exhausting and I am starting to think about stopping and giving him formula - loads of mum’s guilt ofc 🥺🥺

Has anyone had the same situation? How did you manage it? Did you stop cold turkey or did you gradually decrease?

thanks to whoever will share their experiences 💙

[Shopper85]

Pumping is hard work but it is also reassuring baby is getting your milk. I Too did combination feeding then eventually did formula feeding too. Lasted 9 months but I was in lockdown know where to go so I could focus now it is harder as u have to be out and about. It's fine to stop any time how about Conacting your health visitor and discussing it with her?

[Hidden in reply to Shopper85]

Thank you for sharing your experience with me 💙

[Millbanks]

Hi lovely,

I was in completely the same situation - in fact I stopped breastfeeding at 12 weeks because it all got a bit much and he never seemed full. I was topping him up with formula and it felt a bit relentless. I also felt huge mum guilt about stopping BF so I kind of did it slowly, going down to fewer feeds per day and upping the bottles. So when I finally stopped my boobs didn't even notice. I felt a bit sad that day but also felt a lot of relief - and the silver lining was that as soon as we switched exclusively to formula, my little angel started sleeping through the night!

Don't feel bad about it - you do whatever works for you and your family xx

[Hidden in reply to Millbanks]

💙 thank you - you made me feel a better mom

[Seb9]

Well done for getting to 11 weeks, that's amazing. Breastfeeding support is not great and only 2% of people are still breastfeeding at 12 months! So don't feel guilty, you're in a huge majority of mums who either switch to formula or combination feeding, so whatever you choose and however long you choose to pump or breastfeed for is no reflection on how well you're doing as a mother and you feeling guilty is only a sign of how much you love your baby. Good luck with what you decide to do, if you choose to switch to formula my only advice would be to cut out/down on your pumping gradually so that you don't end up with Mastitis and as you reduce it, be aware of the symptoms so you can get medication ASAP if you do get it. 😁

[Hidden in reply to Seb9]

Thank you for your kind words 💙 I will totally follow your suggestion and gradually decrease

[Fruitandflowers]

No guilt, please. You have done amazingly. Don't second guess yourself, you have your baby's best interests at heart and ultimately that means looking after yourself as happy mama = happy baby. My first baby couldn't breastfeed and I pumped exclusively at first and it was sooooo hard. I kept trying to breastfeed but I got mastitis twice and my nipples were so sore and bleeding from the attempts and constant pumping. I hated pumping as I felt like a machine and it was relentless, and like I was being separated from my baby all the time and had no life. I started formula top-ups to give me a break and extend the time between pumping, then very quickly it became combination feeding. My daughter did finally breastfeed at around 8 weeks but by then I had seen the benefits for me from bottle and formula and tried a breastfeeding/pumping/formula mix. When that was still too relentless I spoke to my GP as I felt I was failing and risking health issues if I continued and he said the most important period for breastfeeding is the first few days/couple of weeks after birth, and everything else is a bonus and even giving breastmilk once a day would pass on benefits and immunity. That helped get rid of the guilt and after that I just found a balance which meant I was mentally and physically able to manage - mainly formula and gradually reduced breastfeeding and pumping until it came to a natural stop around 4mnths. The result was a baby that slept peacefully through the night, was content and super chilled, OK with anyone looking after her and a guilt free happy mama 😀.

[Hidden in reply to Fruitandflowers]

Thank you so much for making me feel better and for sharing your experience. It means so much 💙

[Annh17]

hey

So I was exclusively pumping for 8 weeks, was giving formula for last feed at night as it filled her up for the night 🤣 but milk started to dry up at 6 weeks, she was on 5 7oz bottles a day and I was barely getting 3 bottles pumped.

I was putting so much stress on myself, I decided at 8 weeks that was my pumping journey done. And I can honestly say the stress went straight away.

Did I have mum guilt?? Maybe a little, but I always say a fed baby is a happy baby, whether that is formula or breast.

Would I of changed it? NO

I gave my baby all the nutrients she needed for 8 weeks, she was healthy and happy. And mummy was happy and no stress afterwards

[Hidden in reply to Annh17]

Thank you so much for sharing this with me - all these comments are making me feel better 💙

[Hidden]

Or you can combine breast feeding during day and bottle feeding at night (pumped or organic formula) so you can get your 4 hours of uninterrupted sleep. 4 hours is apparently the magic number of preventing insanity... 🤣