Stopped pumping 8-(

[Ruth Shear]

G'day

Just thought you lot would be the ones to appreciate what I've just
done, or stopped doing. I decided to stop pumping this week. DS turned
20 months yesterday and so I think I've done enough. This coming Fall,
DS will be in full time daycare when I go back to full time teaching,
and I have just had enough of my pump.

Mind you, I don't have anything to complain about. When I think of
Michaela's mum, or Lara, or all those other exclusive EPers, I am in
awe. And while in Australia I had the opportunity to try out hand
pumping with my sister's isis and I've got to say I'm amazed you guys
can do it that way. Give me my trusty Lactina Select any day I say.

I haven't ever been back to work full time since DS was born, so I
haven't pumped lots, just enough for DH to feed occasionally at first,
and then enough to send with DS to part-time daycare. I had built up a
big freezer stash "just in case" (I don't know, if I got hit by a bus or
something) but discovered to my dismay that I have the lipase problem
and ended up throwing out lots of my stash coz it goes off very quickly.

I go to daycare at lunchtimes to BF, so I don't need to pump to keep up
my supply. I remember worrying when starting on this track and asking
here in mkb if my supply could cope with some days BF on demand (and
demand he does) and some days only BF morning, noon and night. People
told me a definitive "maybe". Sure enough my body seems to be able to
change supply at the drop of a hat. Whenever DS is sick or teething we
just switch back to what feels like 99.9% BF, and when he's happy and at
daycare, we drop back to "only" about 5-6 feeds a day on daycare days
and probably 6-10 feeds a day on days at home.

So about a month ago, we started offering DS "cow milk" and this week we
sent a bottle of cow milk instead of EBM. I have still been BFing him at
lunchtime. Things have gone fine. There is a small freezer stash at
daycare in case he insists on "mummy's milk", but they haven't had to
use it yet.

I'm sad. But not too sad. I'm keeping that for when he weans which
hopefully will be a while away yet. Unless my urge to ttc starts
overwhelming my urge to BF. Sigh.

DrRuth
Mum to Joshua Eamon (Nov 15th, 2001)
<http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~drruth/joshua/>

[A&G&K]

"Ruth Shear" > wrote in message
...
> G'day
>
> Just thought you lot would be the ones to appreciate what I've just
> done, or stopped doing. I decided to stop pumping this week. DS turned
> 20 months yesterday and so I think I've done enough. This coming Fall,
> DS will be in full time daycare when I go back to full time teaching,
> and I have just had enough of my pump.
>
> Mind you, I don't have anything to complain about. When I think of
> Michaela's mum, or Lara, or all those other exclusive EPers, I am in
> awe. And while in Australia I had the opportunity to try out hand
> pumping with my sister's isis and I've got to say I'm amazed you guys
> can do it that way. Give me my trusty Lactina Select any day I say.
>
> I haven't ever been back to work full time since DS was born, so I
> haven't pumped lots, just enough for DH to feed occasionally at first,
> and then enough to send with DS to part-time daycare. I had built up a
> big freezer stash "just in case" (I don't know, if I got hit by a bus or
> something) but discovered to my dismay that I have the lipase problem
> and ended up throwing out lots of my stash coz it goes off very quickly.
>
> I go to daycare at lunchtimes to BF, so I don't need to pump to keep up
> my supply. I remember worrying when starting on this track and asking
> here in mkb if my supply could cope with some days BF on demand (and
> demand he does) and some days only BF morning, noon and night. People
> told me a definitive "maybe". Sure enough my body seems to be able to
> change supply at the drop of a hat. Whenever DS is sick or teething we
> just switch back to what feels like 99.9% BF, and when he's happy and at
> daycare, we drop back to "only" about 5-6 feeds a day on daycare days
> and probably 6-10 feeds a day on days at home.
>
> So about a month ago, we started offering DS "cow milk" and this week we
> sent a bottle of cow milk instead of EBM. I have still been BFing him at
> lunchtime. Things have gone fine. There is a small freezer stash at
> daycare in case he insists on "mummy's milk", but they haven't had to
> use it yet.
>
> I'm sad. But not too sad. I'm keeping that for when he weans which
> hopefully will be a while away yet. Unless my urge to ttc starts
> overwhelming my urge to BF. Sigh.
>
> DrRuth
> Mum to Joshua Eamon (Nov 15th, 2001)
> <http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~drruth/joshua/>

Bittersweet ....
Hopefully it will be a while before he weans himself off Mummy's milk.
Amanda

[DGoree]

Ruth Shear wrote,

<<I'm sad. But not too sad. I'm keeping that for when he weans which
hopefully will be a while away yet. Unless my urge to ttc starts
overwhelming my urge to BF. Sigh.>>

Congratulations on a job well done. I always stopped pumping around thirteen
months, and from then on my children got whole milk at daycare and nursed at
home. It didn't slow any of them down. Both boys nursed till about 3.5 years
and my 22-month-old daughter still nurses avidly. My work schedule never
required them to be at daycare from morning till night, which was probably a
factor in nursing success even when I quit pumping.

BTW, my second son was conceived while my oldest was still nursing frequently,
and I joined the nursing-while-pregnant and then the tandem-nursing clubs.

Mary Ellen
William (8)
Matthew (6)
Margaret (1)

[Ruth Shear]

G'day

I wrote

> Unless my urge to ttc starts overwhelming my urge to BF. Sigh.

DGoree wrote:

> Congratulations on a job well done. I always stopped pumping around thirteen
> months, and from then on my children got whole milk at daycare and nursed at
> home. It didn't slow any of them down. Both boys nursed till about 3.5 years
> and my 22-month-old daughter still nurses avidly.

That's good to hear.

> BTW, my second son was conceived while my oldest was still nursing frequently,

Unlikely for me. No AF at 20 months. I've been on estrogen cream for
ages now due to severe vaginal atrophy (read pain!) from very low
estrogen levels. No eggs, no sex, no conception 8-(

I've gone through hormone testing to discount menopause (clock is
ticking, I just turned 40) or any bizarre hormone problems as a reason.
Bottom line according to my OB/Gyn is now I have to decide which is more
important, BF or ttc, since I will probalby have to wean to conceive. 8-(

DrRuth

[Ruth Shear]

G'day

Nancy McBride wrote:

> I'm letting the milk I froze, which
> is stored in my stand alone freezer, defrost in my fridge the night before I
> use it, but it smells funny and tastes off.

uh-huh. That sounds like it. How long can you keep fresh BM in the
fridge before it starts smelling funny and tasting off. Mine only keeps
24-36 hours. As long as I get mine to the freezer quickly, it will
freeze for about 6 weeks before going off. Once defrosted it will only
last about 6 hours.

What is the lipase problem? It's been discussed now and then here - you
could google for some more posts. Here are some of the posts I've
collected on the topic.

> > From: Tracy Cramer >
> > Subject: Re: milk tastes bad
> > Date: Wed, 19 Feb 2003 09:26:47 -0500
> > Newsgroups: misc.kids.breastfeeding
> > Message-ID: >
> >
> > On 18 Feb 2003 13:13:24 -0800, > wrote:
> >
> > >My daughter did not mind at all. Took any EBM without complaint. She was
> > >rarely ill and didn't seem to be affected by the "bad" milk at all.
> > >Since it had been like this for some time before we noticed, we decided
> > >there was no problem and just kept using the milk.
> >
> > The fact that your daughter drank the EBM leads me to believe that the milk
> > wasn't "bad" as in spoiled, but perhaps you have a lipase issue.
> >
> > You can read about it here:
> >
> > http://www.drjaygordon.com/bf/worknursetips.htm
> >
> > You have to scroll down about halfway to the "The Flavor of EBM" section.
> >
> > >I'm assuming that I will have the same bad taste/smell problem this
> > >time. Is there any risk in using this milk assuming kid #2 will drink
> > >it? I know maybe this kid may be pickier, in which case I guess we will
> > >just have to work with it, but is there any reason to think it might
> > >make her sick or be bad for her in any way?
> >
> > Really, I wouldn't worry about it until you have an issue. Maybe it will
> > happen, maybe it won't. If your daughter didn't seem to be bothered by
> > it, your new baby probably won't either. From my experience, babies are
> > very good at detecting spoiled EBM and will refuse it flat out.
> >
> > Tracy
> > ======================================
> > We child proofed our home 3 years ago? and they're still getting in!
>
> > From: Mary Wagner >
> > Subject: Re: milk tastes bad
> > Date: Wed, 19 Feb 2003 09:17:09 -0500
> > Newsgroups: misc.kids.breastfeeding
> > Message-ID: >
> >
> > Jan wrote:
> >
> > > > wrote:
> > > >
> > > >> I'm assuming that I will have the same bad taste/smell problem this
> > > >> time. Is there any risk in using this milk assuming kid #2 will drink
> > > >> it? I know maybe this kid may be pickier, in which case I guess we will
> > > >> just have to work with it, but is there any reason to think it might
> > > >> make her sick or be bad for her in any way?
> >
> > Jan,
> >
> > You might have more lipase in your milk than some women. This can
> > make expressed milk smell. See:
> >
> > http://www.breastfeeding.com/helpme/helpme_tips_pump6.html
> > and
> > http://www.breastfeeding.com/helpme/helpme_asklc_ans135.html
> >
> > You may be able to find more information from a nursing book
> > or by joining the pumpmoms email list (www.pumpingmoms.org).
> >
> > Good Luck
> >
> > Mary

> Is it still okay to give to my dd?

Some people say they have no problem - their nursling drinks it just
fine with no reaction. I have a problem giving my child anything that I
wouldn't eat/drink myself, so I don't.

> If so, would combining it with the fresh be all right or should I
> throw it away?

That's what I do with tears in my eyes. Specially the first time I
discovered my huge freezer stash was all off.

> If the milk is bad, how can I tell
> how long is too long to kept my milk frozen?

Once I found this problem, I always smelled, and then tasted a newly
defrosted batch. If it was bad, I just defrosted newer and newer bags
till I found a good one. Once I found several times that 2 months was
too old, I stopped building up such a big freezer stash so I wouldn't
have to throw it all away again.

Hope that helps

DrRuth

[DGoree]

Ruth Shear wrote,

<<I've gone through hormone testing to discount menopause (clock is
ticking, I just turned 40) or any bizarre hormone problems as a reason.
Bottom line according to my OB/Gyn is now I have to decide which is more
important, BF or ttc, since I will probalby have to wean to conceive. 8-(>>

OK, I get it now. That was actually one of the reasons I encouraged my second
son to wean--concerns about age and fertility (I was 39; my daughter was born
two months after my 40th birthday).

This is a really tough decision but maybe it would help to look at it as a
win-win deal: either your child continues to receive the benefits of extended
nursing