Should You Continue to Pump at Work Past a Year?
So, you’ve reached a year of breastfeeding and you aren’t ready to be done (which is awesome – continued breastfeeding after a year is highly recommended by organizations such as The World Health Organization) – but perhaps you are anxious to hang up your work pump.
There are many different ways to approach this situation. In my experience as a mother and an IBCLC, there’s a lot more flexibility with pumping and nursing after a year. I find that most working moms are able to stop pumping after a year and continue to nurse their child when they are together. While you may experience a drop in supply, most babies are regularly eating solid food, so the drop in supply may not be as noticeable.
If you are in this situation, here’s what I typically recommend doing:
- Slowly drop one pump session at a time at work and see how your body adjusts
- Once it looks like your baby is doing well after that pump session is eliminated, you can work on dropping another one and repeating this process until you are no longer pumping at work.
I always say that with decreased stimulation, you always need to be prepared for a drop in supply. But this is typically a doable situation for most moms.
As always, if you need more personalized support, I highly recommend booking a 1:1 virtual consult.
Good luck!
Katie Clark, IBCLC
Do you have a question? You can submit your questions to “Ask an IBCLC” here!
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