Breastfeeding, like all good things, must at some point come to an end. For some, your milk supply will just gradually run out and you'll just transition into the next phase of feeding. For others, you'll decide to quit breastfeeding while your supply is still being produced at full force.
For me, I had to quit way sooner than I wanted because of an incompatibility between my milk and by little one. After reading loads of articles about different methods of how to dry up supply, I finally decided to try a combination that I thought would be best for me.
Some articles tell you to just quit cold turkey, some give you a strict gradual reduction schedule for pumping, but all of them warn of the intense pain you'll likely experience and how uncomfortable you'll be.
I was really not game for pain, so I decided to combine the methods I had read about. It took me about 2 months to completely stop pumping, but I never had the throbbing, leaking, uncomfortable experience that so many women talk about. For those of you wondering, yes, I had a huge supply.. I was pumping 10-12oz every 3-4 hours.. So this isn't one of those "miracle stories" from someone who was only producing an ounce a day.
Here's what I did:
The first two weeks, I tried to reduce how often I was pumping. I had been pumping every 3-4 hours, so I limited my pumping to every 4-5 hours.
(This was the pump I used and loved it! Many hospitals will offer a "rental" service for breast pumps so you can try one different kinds and find the one that works best for you! )
The third week, I continued reducing pumping frequency and pumped only every 5-6 hours. The fourth week, I limited to every 6-8 hours. By the end of the first month, I had myself down to pumping only 3 times/day. At any point if I felt I could go longer between pumping, I would do so! On the flip side, If I started to experience pain or discomfort sooner than my "goal" pump time was here, I'd pump. The main idea, is that the first step is to reduce how often you're pumping.
In the second month, I reduced how long I was pumping for. It had been taking me anywhere from 10-15 minutes to pump. In week 5, I started timing my pump sessions and cut them off at 10 minutes. Starting week 6 I cut off my sessions at 8 minutes, and by the second half of the week I was ending all sessions at 6 minutes and I eliminated my third pump session each day. I found it easiest to eliminate the middle of the night session so I was only pumping in the morning and before bed. Again, throughout this whole time, if I felt I could quit pumping sooner, I did and if I needed to go longer, I did so.
In week 7, I reduced pump sessions to 5 minutes each and eliminated my evening pump session. The second half of week 7, I limited my sessions to 3 minutes (basically just enough to take the edge off).
In week 8, I pumped only every other day for 2-3 minutes. By week 9, I was done!
I did wear pads in my bra for about 2 weeks after I quit pumping. My supply was not completely eliminated, as there would still be production if there was pressure on my breasts. However, there was no longer any swelling my in breasts and I was not feeling any need to pump.
Every woman is going to be different, but I hope that this will help you to find a method that works for you!
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