Ideally, weaning off pumping must mimic the natural weaning off of mother’s milk. It helps to control and reduce milk production in the mammary gland. Trying to stop production is harmful to the body and is a painful experience for many breastfeeding mothers. Mothers can consult a doctor before initiating the process to avoid any severe medical complications in the future.
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6 Easy Steps to Wean from Pump
Breastfeeding is a personal choice, and everyone has different experiences with it. Here are six easy steps to wean from the pump.
Reduce Your Session To Two Per Day
There are many ways to reduce the number of sessions. Facilitating the session takes a lot of time, and one should not hurry. Mothers can reduce the sessions as per their comfort level. They must give space between two pumping sessions and schedule the remaining sessions accordingly.
Keep at least a 5 hours gap between two consecutive sessions. Once you drop sessions, take your time to lower them further. Wait for some time and let the body adjust to the changes.
- Drop The Volume And Duration Of Pumping Sessions
After reducing the number of sessions and dropping the duration and volume of pumping sessions, one can choose to reduce the time of one session and the volume to manage in another session.
For example, they must pump at 7 am, drop the morning session, and continue in another session.
- Come To A Single Session Per Day
Once you are down to a few minutes of pumping or a few ounces every session, reduce it to one session. Keep the session long and pump whenever you feel like relieving the pressure. However, one must decide whether to keep the session long or short.
- Stay With The Session
It may not be easy to keep up with the current session. Hang on, wait and continue the process for a few days. It may not suit mothers initially, but they will adjust with time.
- Reduce The Remaining Session
As of now, you have followed the session rigorously and are only left with a few sessions. For the remaining ones, you can leave and shorten the time and pumping of the sessions that are the best for you. Mums can continue pumping until they produce 1 to 2 ounces with each breast.
They must decide to continue the weaning off-pumping, keeping the health of their body and infant in mind. The significant side effect of the abrupt decision to wean off pumping is Mastitis.
An inflammation in the breast tissue can develop into an infection. You can ease your process by using the CaboCreme, which makes weaning a smoother experience for mothers.
- Completely Stop
As soon as you produce a few ounces per breast, it’s time to stop pumping. You may feel uncomfortable for some days or a few weeks. You can resume pumping in between if you want to or feel like doing it. It has nothing to do with the milk supply spike, so that you can relax here.
Conclusion
The weaning process is part of motherhood. It’s a personal choice and decision to wean off pumping. As a breastfeeding mother, you can always choose whether to stop nursing your infant through breast milk.
However, don’t hurry into the process; take time and evaluate your infant’s nutritional requirements. Also, understand how the weaning-off process will impact your body.