Why the fuck am I having periods

[PastaLaVistaBBY]

I was assured, I was PROMISED, by the internet that once my baby was born if I breastfed I would get a year or more of no periods. So why the fuck did mine return after TEN FUCKING WEEKS, and why do they have the sheer audacity to be so heavy and clotty and painful?

Thanks body, you irredeemable arsehole.

Ditto OP. It sucks! I was barely out of maternity pads. I was particularly pissed of as DM and DSis had both said they got over a year so I’d convinced myself I’d be the same. I was particularly pissed off that my body thought I’d want to be fertile whilst eye deep in dirty nappies and night feeds. Hormones and brain defo not on the same page.

I hear you op. Mine returned not long after yours did and I ebf my 3 year old. I went long when I formula fed! I felt so cheated dealing with pmt and a newborn :(

Nope periods came back 6 weeks after birth of baby 1. Baby 2 conceived not long after and due to morning sickness I switched to bottle feeding which tbh made my life a whole lot easier. Never went back to breast feeding for baby 2 and 3 All good.

TBF not even the combined pill controlled my bleeding

@Ostara212

Wait, what?

Doctors don't say this, do they...do they? They ought to be sued if so!

Yep, I’ve never heard this before, and I have three kids. My periods started up after about 6 months with all of them.

A year or more of no periods if you breastfeed your (newborn) baby?

Never heard of this in my life - ever.

And it never happened to me.

Like many others, my periods came back within 6 weeks.

Mine came back as soon as my ridiculously hungry babies got in to a more normal pattern rather than 24/7. Definitely no guarantee at all let alone a year sadly

Spectacularly missing the point here but I got mine after seven weeks of EBF. I am delighted though as I didn’t really have periods before DD and had fertility treatments. Hoping that somehow my hormones have got their act together 😂. DD is only 10 weeks old so I’ve not had another one yet but fingers crossed!

Mine came back like clockwork when I was not feeding or pumping between midnight and 6am. In both cases for me around the 9-10 month mark

Leodot, a friend has pcos and didnt have periods regularly before her first, required treatment to conceive etc. Number 2 was a surprise, fell pregnant naturally when her first was barely 1.

Bodies are so weird. DD is 10 months and mine isn't back yet. But my post birth bleeding carried on for five months, so I feel like I'm due a break! Have PCOS bad awful periods so am very fearful for when they do show up...

@SarahBellam

They talk a load of old shite about breastfeeding. It’s very disappointing when your periods start back after 6 weeks, you don’t lose that extra 14lbs, you don’t get a flat stomach, and worst of all, that your child doesn’t turn out to be a genius with the immune system of a vulture.

I’m glad I did it though - mostly because it was cheap and easy for me. But I think think that, generally, the benefits are wildly overstated.

Yep! I doggedly EBF with both of mine, even though I was back working full time by around 12 weeks post partum each time. Both have allergies and asthma, and shit immune systems judging by the amount of coughs and colds they pick up.

Although I have to admit I didn't get my period back until I had 100% stopped feeding, which was a year+ each time.

I didn’t have periods with dd1, but with dd2 they returned after about 4 months. I liked being period free.

You lucky thing. Mine came back after 28 days

A year or more?!? Not sure who you’ve been talking to but you’ve been told some big fat fibs DD1, periods restarted 3 months postpartum. DS1 periods restarted 4 months postpartum. DS2, periods restarted 2 weeks after postpartum bleeding finished. Breastfed all 3. Don’t believe anyone that claims their periods stopped for an entire year, big fat liars the lot of them

@PrimeraVez All 3 breastfed children catch every cough, cold and chest/ear infection going. DS2, who breastfed til he was 3, gets very ill very quickly when he comes down with anything. Got two children with iffy stomachs and one with glue ear. I think a lot of the factual information circling on breastfeeding is just old wives tales there to encourage the uptake of breastfeeding tbh, none of the promised benefits of breastfeeding have materialised in my DC.

Mine were worse once I had children. Mirena coil was a lifesaver

Yep. I felt cheated too. I went straight from post partum bleeding into periods at 6 weeks that were heavier longer and closer together than pre baby despite breastfeeding! GP was surprised but then said I was just unlucky.

Mine only stopped for pregnancy, and I had implantation bleed at the beginning so about 7 months then started again 3 weeks postnatally with 3 babies all EBF at that point

I didn't get that but I also didn't get the magical weight loss. The world is full of cruel lies for pregnant people/new Mums isn't it

Happened to me too this time. Have 5 DC and my periods didn’t return at all with my older three until I stopped BFing so I expected the same would happen with DC4 and 5. They returned at 6 months with DC4 and at bloody 2 months with DC5, gutted. Unsure whether it’s because I had c-sections with them 2 (bit of a stretch) or because I’m older now, I don’t know. Bloody annoying! I don’t lose weight when I BF either, quite the opposite actually.

Better than my situation, despite feeding around the clock, my daughter spent more time feeding than not, and my periods not returning I found myself pregnant when my baby was 4 months old. I don’t even remember Dtd!

@Thatisnotwhatisaid

Happened to me too this time. Have 5 DC and my periods didn’t return at all with my older three until I stopped BFing so I expected the same would happen with DC4 and 5. They returned at 6 months with DC4 and at bloody 2 months with DC5, gutted. Unsure whether it’s because I had c-sections with them 2 (bit of a stretch) or because I’m older now, I don’t know. Bloody annoying! I don’t lose weight when I BF either, quite the opposite actually.

I managed not to put too much weight on during pregnancy, but was looking forward to this mythical breastfeeding melting it all off that I was promised.

Well I put on three stone whilst EBF thanks to the incessant hunger, sugar cravings and lack of sleep. Gutted. 😩

I breastfed both my babies for a year.
Got my periods back after 2 months each time