Reducing pumping but also still nursing on-demand? / Switch to floor bed?

[titus]

My baby recently turned 1 and is doing well on solids.

M-F she takes maybe 8-16oz of pumped milk. I still nurse her in the morning, usually when I get back from work, then at bedtime, plus a few times overnight (bedsharing).

I’m looking to reduce pumping because it’s taking such a toll on me, however, I would like to read anyone’s experience who still nurses on-demand at times (like when I’m not at work on the weekends).

I want to make sure she’s eating well enough during the day and not overly nursing at night (beyond what’s normal for her or outside of a growth spurt) so doing my best planning out meals (she eats mostly what we eat).

She’s recovering from her first cold so she was extra clingy and wanted to nurse a lot during the weekends (poor bebe).

I’ve read some babies will wean themselves but mentally, I think I’m okay with still nursing at night for another 6 mos or so…If she weans herself, great! If not, I will look into some gentle weaning (Jay Gordon method).

We have a platform bed but I’m still not comfortable with her starting the night there and ninja rolling away. I’ve gone to bed with her since she was about 3.5 mos once her bassinet and mini crib became unbearable for her which I know is common….

I would love to even have a few hours to not be in bed with her and help my husband pick up or even watch an episode of a tv show. He’s with her all day so I happily do bedtime with her so he can also catch up on work or unwind. She usually will start the night without a wake and has a decent stretch of 2-4 hours (sometimes longer since I never look at the time anymore ).

Our second bedroom is his editing bay so I’m considering taking apart our platform bed and putting the mattress on slats.

All our shelves and drawers are anchored and I know we’d have to childproof the room thoroughly to really feel comfortable leaving her to start the night in there (with a monitor of course).

My husband wears her for naps and that works okay, too, so I want to focus on the bedtime sleep and eventually have her be able to nap on the floor bed, too.

Would love to read some people’s experiences. Thank you!

 

[%E2%A0%80%E2%A0%80%E2%97%87]

@titus I nursed on demand and pumped for my son while at work. He received exclusively breastmilk for the first 6 months. He then received breastmilk and complementary foods for the second 6 months. I typically had a slight oversupply. At the one year mark, he was eating well so I stopped pumping at work and continued to nurse on demand, which dwindled to morning and night most days. He had previously night weaned around 10 months or so and slept in his own room. Eventually, he dropped the night feed. The morning feed was the last to go. We were both a little sad when my supply dried up. He was two years and around two months old at the time.
My experience with my daughter was completely different. She was small and early. We overcame a lot and she was exclusively breastfed or received my pumped milk for 6 months. She started to also get scoops of formula in the breastmilk bottles at the ped’s recommendation, which crushed me. She needed the calories and my entire life was different and it ended up being the best thing for her. I continued to nurse and pump along with giving her complementary foods until she was 8 months, and then I stopped pumping at work for my own mental health. I have a small business. I continued to nurse on demand, which quickly became just morning and night until 11 months, because she wasn’t really asking to nurse and would only try when I offered. She got formula and foods otherwise. She really preferred the bottle and stopped asked to nurse/was mad that I was offering. She weaned 3 weeks or so before her first birthday, and didn’t mind a bit. This affected me greatly, because I love nursing. My son asked to nurse a few times after the baby came (he was 3 at the time), and I chose to tell him no. It really goes to show how different children can be from each other, even siblings. It really takes two people in a nursing pair to both want it to keep going. Good luck to you, and I hope your weaning journey goes smoothly, no matter how long it lasts. And congratulations on your accomplishment of how long you have nursed and pumped! That is hard work.

 

[hedowns]

@titus My baby is also about to turn one, but I also have a nearly-4yo.

We always combo fed, but nursed on demand. I stopped pumping around 9 months—covid closed daycare so I didn’t need to anymore, and I just didn’t start again when it reopened later. By the time she was one, she nursed on demand at wake-up and bed time, nap times on weekends, and occasionally overnight. She had a few cups of milk during the day, with unlimited water when she was thirsty. She has always been a fan of solids, so I never worried about her getting enough calories. We tapered nursing very slowly to bedtimes only, and I eventually fully weaned her a few months after her sister was born. She was on a floor bed starting at 6mo, with the exception of a few weeks around 18months when she was a terror and earned herself a stint in bedtime baby jail.

With this kid, we’re keeping her in the PnP (guava lotus, so side entry and on the floor) to keep her safe from the toddler because they share a room. It’s super cute when big sister wants to snuggle her at night, but that doesn’t fly unsupervised. I mostly sleep on her floor bed next to the PnP for now, and when she eventually night weans that’s where she’ll sleep.

You’re being very thoughtful about the decisions you’re making, and it sounds like you’re flexible on exactly how things will end up going. It’s ok to experiment! Drop a feed, add a feed back, stop pumping for a while, add it back if you need to, try different sleeping arrangements. It’s all valid and useful as data in your experiment. N = 1 is perfectly fine when the whole population of who matters also =1

 

[krae991]

@titus Hi! I think I had some similar experiences that I can share. Kiddo is currently 14 months.

I work 4 days a week. After he turned a year, I reduced the to pumping one time a day at work. And then dropped to 0 pumping because I hated it (I wrote out a whole plan to gradually drop pumps and then ended up doing down to 1 and then eventually 0 pretty much cold turkey). Every once in a while, I'm a bit uncomfortable, but it's not too bad. At home, I still nurse morning, after daycare, bedtime and overnight. I try to stick to that, but I will also nurse him down for a nap or if he's sick. I would love to drop the morning pump because it makes my mornings very stressful, but I'm nervous to do so.

Kiddo was not a good sleeper (only sleeps well on his tummy, but would refuse to roll himself) so we'd start him in his crib and then usually gave in and coslept. But I didn't sleep well doing that. So at a year, we popped his mattress on the floor and baby proofed our room. I nurse him to sleep while he lays on his mattress and then I ninja roll away. He usually needs to be settled again once before we go to bed (husband does that) and still wakes up 1-3 times on an average night

 

[marke2]

@titus With all my kids (six of them), I stopped pumping at a year but breastfed on demand whenever we were together until they wanted to stop on their own. I also usually have a bit of a freezer stash by the time they were 1, so I send it all to the daycare to keep in their freezer and they give the baby one bag of my milk every day until it was gone.