Winding Down Breastfeeding

I went back to work when Sammy was roughly 4 months old.  I've been pumping twice a day during the work week now for 7 months.  SEVEN months!  Oof.  I'm tired.  It's been harder this time around than with Ian because I had a shorter maternity leave with Sammy (and so had to pump for 2 more months) and I had much less of a milk supply (although I'm not necessarily complaining about that - it was too much with Ian).

At the end of last week, I noticed that I would pump 7 ounces in the morning and only 2 ounces in the afternoon.  And given that Sammy was nearing 11 months of age, I decided to test out what would happen if I dropped one of my pumps.  So instead of pumping at 10 am and 3 pm, I decided to just do one pump at 12 pm.  And guess what, I produced 9 ounces!  So there was no reason to keep going with the 2 pumps.  So hooray.  It was AMAZING this week to only have to pump once a day.  Sammy is still drinking 15 ounces during the day and so I've been supplementing with the milk that I have in the freezer.  My goal is to make it 2 more weeks, using up my freezer supply as I go.  And then, when Sammy is 11.5 months old, I will start mixing her bottles so that she gets used to cow's milk.  Ian had no issues with this transition and so I'm hoping neither will Sammy.

I plan to continue nursing Sammy in the morning and at night until it seems natural to give it up.  I didn't get that chance with Ian.  I stopped nursing abruptly around 11 months so that I could get my period and try to have baby #2.  There is no forced stopping this time around.  And I certainly wouldn't mind holding off my menstrual cycles for as long as possible!