How do you stop breastfeeding?

I plan to stop pumping at/around 12-18 months- whenever I run out of new breast pump parts for my two pumps (should be around then). I am 5 months in now and am okay with the schedule, though it is becoming harder as my LO is becoming more active.

It has become apart of my identity i feel like- and whenever I accidentally sleep too long, my breast hurt SO BAD, and i’ve had clogs in my ducts before that were terrible and so painful.

I produce around or more 40 ounces a day- I think why I hurt so much ( the most I made one day was 62 ounces!!!).

My question is- how do you stop when you’ve been doing it for what seems like forever? No one I know directly chose to stop breastfeeding. Everyone ether did formula, or “dried out” less than 3 months in.

I feel lucky that I produce what I do, but I am very overwhelmed in the thought or idea of even stopping. I’m convinced I’m going to do this forever just based on the fear of stopping.

How do you ease the pain? how do you ignore feeing full and squirting milk everywhere? (and oh my goodness! My boobs are like a pressurized hose when full).

*i also donate the majority of my milk as I am a mass producer, and I make all my baby’s food with my milk. I feed 2 babies completely and donate some to others on occasion, so it’s not just sitting in a freezer.

I also want to know how to scale back once we start on BLW at 7.5 months (her 6 months adjusted and when her dr said we could start) and when the other baby I feed turns a year old and will start on cows milk.

is scaling back possible? I pump every 2-4 hours when I’m awake and sleep 6-7 hours a night still, pumping for an hour when I first wake up to fell empty.

How would I go about scaling back? As much as I would like to continue to donate, I would like to produce only enough for my baby so I don’t feel full all of the time.