Breastfeeding is very important to me. My son and I had a very difficult time
initially. Contrary to all my hopes and dreams, for the first month of his life
we had to supplement with formula. It
was uphill all the way, but after about six weeks we attained exclusive
breastfeeding.
The fight that required turned us both into breastfeeding
fanatics. Yet, there were still days
when breastfeeding left me worn out, stressed out and frustrated. As my maternity leave came to an end, I
actually began to look forward to pumping as a way to get my son what he needed
without requiring me to breastfeed all day every day. Oh, the ignorance of the uninitiated!
I went back to work when Josias was 3 months old. I had the most optimal environment for
successful pumping imaginable: a supportive boss, a private office, a flexible
schedule and an appropriate place to store breastmilk. But before I had to rely on pumping, I hadn’t
accounted for the fact that Mother Nature never intended a machine to suck
breastmilk from my boobs. And, as with
almost everything under the sun, Mother Nature knows best. The blasted machine just couldn’t get milk
out the way my baby did. And, it hurt!
Each day was touch and go in terms of whether I would have
enough milk for Josias. Somehow, we
always squeaked by, but the whole process had me in a constant state of worry.
So, as Josias’ first birthday approached, I was overjoyed that I had almost
reached my goal of pumping for his first year and I would soon be retiring the
pump.
Yet, when the day arrived, I just didn’t feel like it was
time to stop. Each day when I was
washing up my pumping paraphernalia in the office kitchen, people would
comment, “You’re still pumping?” or, “You must be a glutton for punishment!”
or, simply, “Why?”
Why? I don’t know if I
can say exactly. Josias was a happy and
healthy one year old who ate a large quantity and variety of solids. We
breastfed frequently when we were home together as well as throughout the
night. And, in case I didn’t make my sentiments clear, I did not enjoy
pumping. So everything seemed to be in
line to stop.
The only reason I come up with for not stopping at a year,
is that I just wasn’t ready to take away all the benefits he received from hitting
the nutritional jackpot of breastfeeding throughout the day. And, Josias loved
his milky. I didn’t feel it was time to
stop, and I didn’t feel like Josias felt it was time to stop.
When Josias was seventeen months old my discomfort started
to outweigh what I saw as the benefits of pumping. So, that is when I stopped.
Each mama and nursling have to decide when this day I
arrives for them. No matter what anyone
else says, I think it is different for each nursing pair and you have to go
with what feels right.
If you made it to a few months of pumping? Hooray for
you! You gave your baby innumerable and
irreplaceable benefits. If you decide to
keep pumping up to or even past two years?
Hooray for you! You are doing
what you know is best for you and your baby!
When did you stop
pumping and why?
Josias is almost 2 and he continues to love his milky. Of late, he's taken to creating chants like: Milky! Milky! Yummy! Yummy! Or sometimes, it's simply a huge grin along with shouts of: Boobies! Boobies! 
