Can you get pregnant while BFing?

[inneedofaholidaybigtime]

Can you get pregnant while breastfeeding exclusively - no bottles / formula etc? I know that technically you can always get pregnant whether standing up, knickers on, sun shining, last day of the cycle etc etc, but it's very unlikely, right? Only token amounts of other food as DC only just started weaning. Context is I would rather not get pregnant again just yet but we do want another DC and don't want a massive age gap so it wouldn't be a disaster if it happened. Just wondered if anyone has any personal experience of getting pregnant while breastfeeding? Fast forward a few months and I'll likely be trying to get pregnant anyway. No periods yet at 6 months pp. Can't really be bothered to worry about contraception and not DTD that much anyway for obvious reasons!

Haha yes you absolutely can get pregnant while bf and no periods.

Yes definitely possible. You will ovulate before your periods return so you may be fertile even if you haven’t had a period yet.
If you want to get pregnant and your periods haven’t returned you may want to think about slowly dropping a couple of feeds as your LO weans onto solid food. I night weaned at 11 mos and period came back 6 weeks later. TTC now and CD33 but no period yet (and no positive on a pregnancy test either) so I’m waiting to see what happens.

Yes. I did. I had 2 periods 6 weeks apart between babies. Big gap of 22 mths. Return to work made my ovulation/ periods come back as I was feeding less 3 days a week.

Yep. My youngest was conceived while I was ebf and also on the mini pill. He then survived chorioamotesis (or however you spell it) and sepsis at birth.

michonessBBF I, like you, got my periods back within six weeks giving birth to both of my ebf children. I was very annoyed, as everyone told me bf stops periods. I didn't decide it was abnormal to not have periods whilst bf.

MicheonnesBBF it is absolutely normal for some women not to get periods while breastfeeding. 6 months is not too long to go without having a period. Your information is not accurate.

OP My DS is now 13 months and no sign of period. After 6 months it does become much more likely you'll get pregnant if not using protection. Obviously it can happen before that too!

@MichonnesBBF after both my children my periods didn't return for about 12 months. Which is very normal when breastfeeding. However I was using contraception during that time because (as others have said) you can still get pregnant when breastfeeding.

It absolutely definitely can happen.
I fell pg whilst exclusively breastfeed ds1 (every 3 hours ish) when he was 4 months old. My periods came back really early though (8 weeks I think).

I was a happy accident. Mum didn't realize she was pregnant for ages as she wasn't having periods due to breastfeeding my older sister. Sister would have been 4 months when I was convinced and she was exclusively breastfed for longer than recommend as she had health issues, eventually diagnosed allergies but initially her body rejected everything other than breastmilk.

Yes. I conceived dd2 while bfing dd1. That egg would have been my first period. :)

@SayNoToCarrots: Not at any point have I said it's abnormal.

@Waitingonasmiley42: My PP experience is very accurate thank you.

@AssassinatedBeauty: I know you can get pregnant while breastfeeding as I mentioned in my op.

I quite clearly spoke from my own experience as has every other poster, not once have I said it is unusual/ unheard of/ abnormal/ odd or strange.(as I have already pointed out I am not qualified to do so)

After 6 month I really don't see any harm in mentioning lack of periods to a visiting health profession, what harm would that do?

There's no need to mention it because it isn't a problem or unusual. It doesn't need investigating or treating.

Your experience is your own experience. However, it is not correct to say that 6 months without a period when breastfeeding is "too long".

Sorry, I thought when you said 6 month is to long not to have began periods again. you meant it was abnormal not to have begun periods again by this point. My mistake.

Yes, and I did.

@SayNoToCarrots: Thanks, from that sentence alone it sounds that way but I did clearly state "I can only go from my own experience and non qualification", directly before this.

MichonnesBBF The way you worded it implied you thought no periods for 6 months was something concerning/to be mentioned to a medical professional. I accept you may not have meant it like that, but there were several of us who interpreted what you said the same way.

@Waitingonasmiley42: That's fair enough, when more than one person say's the same thing I've got to listen.
I can see why that one sentence has been misinterpreted so apologies.

That also goes too @AssassinatedBeauty and @SayNoToCarrots.

Thanks for all the replies!

So the consensus seems to be it's normal to not have periods when BFing and you CAN get pregnant while BFing... I still think it's probably less likely though?!

Once you reach 6 months I suppose feedings start to reduce as you introduce solids and that can mean you ovulate again. That's why the LAM method is only recommended until then.

It is fairly normal not to have periods while bfing. I didn’t have periods for 11 months. BUT you won’t know when you ovulate, and you’ll ovulate two weeks before your first post baby period, so it isn’t a suitable form of contraception unless you’re okay with falling pregnant.
From personal experience many many women seem to fall pregnant from that first ovulation and don’t realise they’re pregnant since they assume periods just haven’t returned. Don’t know if the talk of being super fertile when periods first return is scientific or just an old wives’ tale.

You are clearly okay with the idea of getting pregnant again... why not just say that rather than trying to hope that it probably won’t happen?

@Ninkaninus I have said exactly that. However, I think now is really a bit soon after my first pregnancy and would prefer an 18m-2yr age gap in an ideal world. I know all too well you don't get to choose!

Yes you can

It's not "less likely" as you're not in any way less fertile.

I mean that you’re clearly not that bothered about whether it happens in two years, next month or tonight.

You can’t base a ‘sort of not trying’ approach on anything other than actual contraception, otherwise you’re actually trying.