when your periods returned after bfing, what were they like?

[HeadFairy]

Did they come back straight away or did they come and go? Did you return to the same pattern as you'd had before?

[ShowOfHands]

They came back while exclusively bfing. They were much heavier and irregular for months. Once they'd settled back into a 27 day pattern, I was still technically infertile as my luteal phase (time between ovulation and af) was very, very short for months. Took a good 6 or 7 months to settle down and am now back to normal.

I read a description of periods after bfing and it said to just imagine all of your hormones being thrown into the air willy nilly. It takes a long time for them to settle back down and to sort themselves out. I think it's normal to be up and down for a while.

[MrsTittleMouse]

I had a mini-bleed almost straight away after weaning DD off BM. After that I had 5 (or 6?) completely normal cycles (length and bleed) and then conceived. So mine were normal immediately. I did ovulation tests to check that the ovulation part was definitely back to normal too (before TTC).

[HeadFairy]

As I thought, everyone's so different (thank God eh?)

I'm wondering if I need to buy an epk. DS is 11 months, I'm still bfing twice a day. Not much really, just a snack, he has formula too. 2 months ago had a period, light but definately a period. 27 days later another one, a bit heavier and lasted a bit longer. I'm now on cd29 and no signs yet. Pre DS I never had a cycle longer than 28 days.

[HeadFairy]

sorry... definitely

[laluvsmatthew]

im not looking forward to getting mine back at all i havent had a period 4 16 months (inc pregnancy) so im dreading it, do u know roughly when they come back?
im still bf atleast 5-6 times a day and hoping to continue as regularly

[HeadFairy]

I'm not sure there's a set time when they come back. I went back to work when ds was 8 months old and had my first one when he was 9 months old so I'm sure there's a connection there. I was bfing him 4 times a day and it went down to twice a day when I started work, so my hormone levels must have dropped sufficiently to trigger the start of periods again.

[ShowOfHands]

There's no set time at all. I was feeding every 2 hours day and night when mine came back.

HeadFairy, my cycle was never longer than 28 days before dd but after my periods returned I had a couple of 31/32 day cycles.

[HeadFairy]

thanks for that showofhands. I'm going to wait until the weekend when I'll be up to about 32/33 days and maybe then I'll test.

[lynniep]

Heavy

Started I think after about 8 months ( I mix fed) , and they were light at first, although I carried on BFing until DS was a year old. I think my cycle is regular now, but shorter than it used to be, but then I dont keep track these days so its generally a surprise (DS now 17 months)

Definately different, um, experience from before I was pg - used to be quite light and last 4/5 days. Now I get a light 2 day stretch followed by an evil 3 day stretch then a light 1 day.

Now thats the first time I've written that down

[HeadFairy]

I wonder what it is that changes? Hormone levels? Or is it something else? Age? The weird thing is I've had mild crampy type pains since about 3dpo so I was convinced I was pg. I'm starting to doubt now...

[HeadFairy]

Maybe I'm going to get a flood (and a real shock) in a couple of days

[MrsTittleMouse]

Would you like to be PG HeadFairy? Fingers crossed for you if you would.

[HeadFairy]

I would like to be, dh would take a bit of convincing that it's a good thing. He's worried about money, which is fair enough.

[Tangle]

I think I read that the sooner they come back after the baby is born, the longer they will take to return to normal (regular and fertile). Most women will have returned to a normal cycle by about 16-18 months, although it can take longer.

DD is 16 months, still BF, and I've just had my 2nd (bummer after 2 years without). The 1st was really light, this one was mean - they seem to have gone straight back to a 28 day cycle. Think I might have to get pg again to avoid them .

Fingers crossed for you HeadFairy

[VictorianSqualor]

I had a sort of period when I started taking the mini-pill and a small bleed when I realised it made me mad and came off it.
DS2 is 17weeks, exclusively breastfed, still feeding at least once, sometimes twice or more a night and I'm just having my first proper period. It's really fucking heavy.

[whomovedmychocolate]

HeadFairy I haven't had a period since late 2005 - I conceived DD and had her in October 2006 - but miscarried before that so was essentially pregnant for quite a while. Then I conceived and miscarried last year and then the next month conceived DS (4 weeks old today) - all without periods. Each time I thought I was having a period it was either a miscarriage or an implantation bleed so you do need to keep an eye out for other symptoms, lest you end up six months pregnant before you even notice.

NB I knew I was pregnant immediately each time because breastfeeding started to hurt a lot. (it passes, I'm tandem feeding).

[paolosgirl]

Mine are weird. I used to get a week's worth of warning signs, followed by some staining (tmi? ), but since I stopped b/feeding about 9 months ago they just come on with no warning, can vary from about every 4-7 weeks and are much heavier - hence there have been a couple of occasions where I've been caught out. Very embarrassing.

[HeadFairy]

What a mixture of responses, thanks everybody. Well I guess I'm not up the duff as my period started last night. So that was a 29 day cycle, the one before was 27 days... not bad I guess.

After 9 months of pregancy and 9 months of bfing they must be settling down pretty quickly Tangle. It's not a gusher, but pretty painful, I've been having cramps since 3dpo which was why I thought I was pg, but I guess they were just period cramps. Ho hum!

Thanks for input everyone, I'll just have to see what happens next month. Just realised I'll be on holiday when I ov again....ooh I am a naughty girl

[MrsTittleMouse]

Sorry that it wasn't the answer that you wanted. Can you have a sit down with your DH and work through the finances thing? Number can be crunched to work out (usually), it's a much lesser thing than trying to alter feelings, which are a complete pain.

[Celery]

They came back after 6 weeks, despite exclusively breastfeeding ( and breastfeeding for 18 months in total ), but the cycle was longer, 35 days instead of my usual 28. After stopping feeding, they gradually went back down to 28 days. No difference in length or amount of bleed though.

[HeadFairy]

That's ok MrsTittleMouse, it would have been a big surprise if I had be pg. I won't start tearing my hair out just yet. However, you're right, it's not just money with dh, he says it was so stressful last time with ds he doesn't want to go through that again. I'm keeping schtum for now, but we had an absolute dream baby, sleeping through from 10 weeks, always feeds and sleeps well, is an absolute joy and a comedian. I can't work out why he thought it was so stressful, but I'm going to wait a bit longer until that is hopefully a distant memory! We want to move next summer so perhaps once that's out the way.... in the meantime I'm not taking any contraception and not really monitoring my cycle so if something happens sooner then all the better

[mamachat]

DD is 13months and bf alot. I am now day weaning finally.

I have had about 3 very light short periods but think they will get worse now as not feeding during the day...

Got my first period when dd was about 8months...