Breastfeeding & TTC?

[hmr11913]

Hello! 

I'm not sure if I need to do a new introduction since this is a category that I've never posted in or not.... so I'll just be brief. We had a m/mc in April 2014 and then in October 2014 took Clomid for low progesterone/weak ovulation. We were blessed and got pregnant the first month taking it and we just welcomed our rainbow baby June 1st, 5 weeks & 1 day early. (Due to unknown reasons I went into labor and VERY quickly delivered.) Thankfully, she was perfectly healthy and breastfeeding is going well and she will be 3 months tomorrow! 

I have yet to get good ole' aunt flow and know that it's quite common not to get it while breastfeeding, however I was wondering... we are hoping to start trying again sometime in the near future (doctor cleared me at 6 weeks and said that a pregnancy anytime after that would be OK) but I don't want to give up breastfeeding her just so that we can try for another baby.

Anyway to get your cycle back without giving up breastfeeding?? 

[jennlin]

the only way to jump start your flow would be to decrease breastfeeding, but you don't need to stop completely. it also may come back on it's own without any decrease....some women get their cycles back at 6 weeks, some at 18+ months. it just depends on your body. with my first, i didn't get it back for 6 months, and didn't get it for 11 months with my second. but you also don't *need* your period back to get pregnant, as you can "catch the first egg" as it's called....so just have fun and keep practicing making babies

[valie]

Here's a link to KellyMom:
Breastfeeding and Fertility

From what I remember, you may become fertile in the first 6mos if you've gone 6h without breastfeeding. No guarantees, but if I were you I'd start by encouraging LO to sleep at least 6 hours at night and nurse as usual during the day. Hopefully that is a nice balance for your priorities.

[melody330]

Congrats on your rainbow ♥️

As far as getting your period back, it varies so much for so many different women. I got mine back around 10 months PP and have been a regular 30 ish day cycle since. I'm still nursing DS at 19 months and we are just starting to talk about TTC soon.
Good luck!

[emmyg65]

I got mine back at 6 months pp, no real decrease in nursing. Were I you, I'd wait a few more months before doing anything about it, but I'm OAD so what do I know.

[hurricanerek]

I agree with pp. Mine came back at 9 weeks postpartum and I was still nursing every 2-3 hours. It just happens when it happens. I would ntnp for now and then come to a decision about when you'd feel comfortable weaning a feed or two. In my opinion, I would try to set a goal of 6 months ebf.

[fish8412]

Mine didn't come back till 12/13 months postpartum, which is when I quit pumping and nursed on demand. I agree with PP...try to EBF for 6 months. Once you introduce solids, your period might come back.

[vvvvvfee]

as PPs have said, it really varies from woman to woman. I didn't get my period back until 1 year with DS1. I do think longer stretches at night are key in hastening a return to fertility. definitely check out the kellymom link above.

if BFing is important to you, though, I would wait at least 6 months-1 year before trying to get pregnant (outcomes for mom and baby are best if you wait 18-24 months between pregnancies, but I know not everyone has that option). your milk supply will likely dry up during 2nd trimester, so if your LO is younger than 1 year at that time, you would probably need to supplement with formula.

[hmr11913]

Thank you ladies for all of the advice! I will check out the kellymom article, but yes.... EBF is really important to me and I don't really want to supplement so we'll just do ntnp for now and see what happens.

[audrey1787]

You've gotten plenty of good advice. I had to really cut back before ovulating again. I had to not pump at work and wait for my LO to stop nursing allll night long and only nurse a couple of times at night. I was very lucky and got pregnant during my first PP cycle but that was after my LO's first birthday. I stopped nursing around 17 months because no milk and tender boobs.

My new baby sleeps longer at night and I had a cycle at like 14 weeks PP this time but haven't had one since.

[microworm]

I just had my first PP period 2 weeks ago and my son is 15 months. He also started STTN for 10-12 hrs at 12 weeks so it just goes to show it really depends on each woman. I still pump at work but went from 3x to 2x. Who knows if my cycle is back or if this was a one time thing and I won't get another period for awhile. We want to TTC too so this is frustrating since I don't want to stop BFing just to get pregnant.

[jtizzay]

Just more data points. I ebf d and stopped overnight feeds at 15 weeks. It took until 7 months to get af. (Ie I went from 10-6 every night/am without pumping and still didn't get my period for 4 months). My period came back totally normal and we were able to conceive 3 months post it coming back (tried for two)

[madalynw]

Another data point. With m first AF came back a month after I stopped BFing her at 7m.
With this baby, I EPed towards the end. I was on just 2 pumps per day as of 9m pp. I still haven't had AF at almost 10m pp. I guess i will see if it comes back within a month again. I am NOT TTC and I know I'm not pregnant.
For some people you have to be really DONE AND DONE to get your cycles back...