Want to ovulate while breastfeeding - any tips?

[Strugglebus]

16 months of breastfeeding and no period. Would like to ttc again now but little one shows no signs of slowing down with feeding. He will go the odd 6 hours without if I’m away from him but that’s rare. Is there anything I can do? Age is not on my side so feeling v stressed about it now but don’t think I could wean him without it being really awful for him which I can’t bear either 😔

How much solid food is he eating? With my two, milk was very much secondary to food by 16 months. We were still breastfeeding but mainly in the evening before bed. Can you make sure he always has food first so he more full up and also limit the amount of time on the boob?

Look up the progesterone only pill challenge. It’s taking progesterone for 10(?) days to bring on a bleed and try to kick start your period.

Are your periods back to normal? do you have ovulation discharge? have you done ovulation tests?

I'm still breastfeeding my 18 month old but got pregnant when she was around 15 months old. I'm 39 and the first pregnancy was after MANY years of trying and IVF, so complete surprise. Just saying this to say don't fret too much OP, it's possible.

He does eat solid food but he’s a very enthusiastic feeder and however much I try and distract him/ fill him up
on solids etc he wants to breastfeed loads. If I limit it in the daytime he just tries to make up for it all night! He won’t drink any other milk either. He is boob mad!!

No periods at all 😔

will look up the pill challenge, thanks

I’ve been doing opks and they are never positive.

sorry sorry sorry just read your post properly - what were the periods like pre pregnancy?

Really regular. Like clockwork - 26 day cycles every single time.

I’ve been having all sorts of twinges ans changes to cervical fluid etc so keep thinking something’s happening but it never turns into anything.

@Strugglebus I am in the EXACT same boat. Last period was late 2021, just before I got pregnant.

My baby has just turned 17 months and even though she's away from me 4 days a week while I'm working she still feeds a lot when we're together. As soon as I collect her she sits on my lap and gets into position, and on days we are together she still comes over a lot for a feed even though she's a really good eater. Once she's started asking for milk there is no way to distract her with other food.

I am at a loss too. I still feed her to sleep at night and can't imagine how I'd get her to sleep without it, but I did think the separation due to me going back to work would naturally result in her cutting down.

In other news, I am not sure about that progesterone challenge as I've been on the progesterone-only pill since she was born and never had a bleeding since my lochia stopped.

I don't know how true it is but I've read that it's the night feeds that are an issue for getting periods/ovulation to return. But god knows how I can stop that without causing some dreadful nights and tears.

Ps. Meant to say I stopped the pill at the start of fed so seeing what happens as the weeks go by. Same as you I've had changes in discharge but no bleeds yet.

The night feeds are the ones to try to drop if you possibly can.

This was me and ended up with a near 3.5 year age gap. Had to cut down feeds in the end it was the only way to ovulate.

Got pregnant first positive opk!

So my experience was I needed to drop down to 2 feed a day only.

Other thing to consider, I had intended to breastfeed in pregnancy until firstborn ready to quit. It did hurt a bit at times and had no supply issues.

It is super draining tho and I had to quit at 10 weeks pregnant anyway. Firstborn actually took it way better than I thought they would.

So what I'm saying is, you may need to cut down to ovulate. But consider if you're not wanting to / wanting to breastfeed while pregnant (depends how your pregnancy is too I guess!) might be worth consideration too.

@RedDuffle - possibly low estrogen then? https://www.reddit.com/r/Step2/comments/i6q1bn/can_someone_please_explain_to_me_the_progesterone/

It is rather confusing! But hormones out of whack. Unfortunately clomid is recommended to bring on ovulation but shouldn’t be used when breastfeeding.

My periods started coming back when night feeds started tapering off around 6/7 months, they weren’t regular but were on the way back in. I fell pregnant with youngest when my middle son was 8 months old and continued to breastfeed another 5 months.

I'd wait a couple more months then start the process of nightweaning, that might do it

Babies stop needing to be fed at night when they're around 4 months, depending on weight. Any feeding in the night at 16 months is using the boob to self soothe back to sleep, a bit like many do with a dummy. The best advice the sleep therapist we hired gave us was to not have any sleep props, babies and toddlers adapt so fast, there is nothing to worry about. They won't remember in the near future they even had dummy/boob/night feedings.

The night feeding is, at 16 months, for comfort and habit. I started offering water from a cup at night and surprisingly it worked.

I would add that stopping night feeds doesn't mean the end of breastfeeding. I breastfed my DD until she was about 2 and a half. We would still do a bedtime feed with lights on and me chatting so she wouldn't fall asleep and then put her down awake.

It is hard to night wean because you are making a change and taking away something they are used to but you can still be there for them, hug them, soothe them, sing to them etc. And they soon understand it's not available anymore.

I did sleep training because I was losing my mind with sleep deprivation but I know some people think that's akin to toture these days.

I had to night wean to get my periods back when ttc. For us (we have 4) it meant me becoming unavailable and Dad stepping in. So last feed at 8pm then put in own bed, upon first wakening Dad would be there to provide comfort but obviously no boobs. I slept elsewhere. First night was tough, second better by third night sleeping through it was if no boob no point in wakening up or a quick cuddle and back to sleep. It worked for us might not for everyone as everyone is different. Oh this was with 12 months+ toddlers not babies.

With dd1 she was feeding twice a day (lunch time and bedtime) when we started trying for dc2.
It didn't happen until the month I cut it down to once a day (just lunch time). That's obviously no proof, but it was the exact month she'd dropped the bedtime one right at the start of the month.

I would love to stop the night feeds, I just really can’t imagine how I would do it - he would be distraught I think.

You may not need to drop them, just lengthen the times between them. A few things you could try:

Getting your partner to try and settle him first. Offering water. Patting/shushing/rocking. Saying OK we can do milk but I'm just going to the loo, why don't you lay and cuddle teddy till I get back.
Decide how long you're going to try, or even string a few things in together, if it doesn't work go to plan B which is boobs. Doing it this way keeps the stress down and you will quickly work out which feeds it will work for and which it won't. Plus because it's plan a and plan B you never 'fail'

Making feeds shorter can help too. Either putting him down quicker if you usually leave him on till he's soundo or something like OK we can do milk whilst mummy sings twinkle twinkle, or reads this book or counts to 10 or whatever. Then it's time for sleep. You can do this alongside the above and its surprising how quickly they catch on.

Whilst a 16m old may not need to breastfeed at night he will still be getting a great deal of benifit from it. Both from a nutrition pov and from being close to you. So there's no reason to stop completely if you don't want too.

Was in a similar position and unfortunately the only thing that worked was stopping feeding. I ovulated a week after I stopped. I was down to 1 feed in 24hrs for a long time but even that wasn’t enough.
Day feeds were easy to drop, I just distracted him and within 2 days he no longer expected that feed. Dropped them slowly one by one. Nights took a lot longer but I wasn’t prepared to let him cry. I slowly shortened the length he fed for and it got to the point where he’d feed then fall asleep in my arms rather than while being fed. I also introduced bum patting whilst feeding him so there was another sleep association. Then one time I just didn’t feed him. I expected him to be distraught about it all but I managed it without any upset!

Tommy da was exactly the same as yours! And he still is now. I'm still breastfeeding go to sleep at 2y5m. I was really hoping to have a small age gap but wasn't to be obviously lol
He was an absolute milk monster. And if I had the supply he'd feed all day if I let him!
My period eventually came back on its own at 24m (I have just finished my fifth) but I was getting really worried. I was even doing pregnancy tests regularly just in case I fell pregnant before a period
Following so I know what to do if the next one does the same! (I'm not pregnant but ttc)