Baby 8-mos, dropping a pumping session at work?

[@llli*bluesea]

So baby LOVES food! My hubby still feeds her BM but she's taking in about 8 oz while I'm away vs. 10 oz before we introduced solids. I'm gone 11 hours (I know her intake doesn't follow the 1-1.5 oz rule but I'm sure there is some reverse cycling going on). My question is can I drop a pumping session from 3 to 2? I'm keep coming home with extra milk and now my small freezer is getting a bit cluttered. Will my supply drop? LO nurses twice before bed and does at least 2-3 night/earlry morning feeds... wondering if 1 pumping session will make a difference at this point?

[@llli*joshuas.mommy]

Honestly, I would NOT drop a pumping session at this point I know that's probably not what you want to hear. But I had oversupply while pumping at work (bringing home an extra 4-6 oz per day) until 10 months--and then I hit that 'nine-month slump' everybody talks about. I was able to work with it by increasing my pump sessions at work from 2 to 3 and we made it past a year pumping, no problem. But I would not take for granted that just because you have oversupply now, you will get to the one-year mark pumping without a problem. I thought that would be true for me, but it wasn't. Hope that helps.

[@llli*bluesea]

9-mos slump? Oh I didn't know about that. What happens at 9-mos? Milk production just slows? Would that be because babies eat more solids at this age? Thanks for the advice, I'll keep pumping..

[@llli*mommal]

The 9 month slump has a lot of causes. After 6-9 months of daily use, pumps start to wear down. In the last third of the first year, many babies are sleeping through and eating more solids, leading to an overall reduction in supply. And some moms just seem to become less responsive to pumping over time.

The slump doesn't hit everyone. Plenty of moms have no trouble getting to the 1 year mark with the pump. But enough moms have trouble that I think it makes sense to keep your pumping frequency higher than seems absolutely necessary- at least until you're a lot closer to 12 months. If you make it to 10 months and still have high output and plenty of milk in the freezer, then you can start dropping sessions.

[@llli*bluesea]

thanks for the explanation. now it makes sense why some people i know stopped BF by 8-mos! I'll keep pumping.. I also thought about the extra milk, I could always add it to her food (then it wouldn't be wasted )