To think it’s impossible to get pregnant whilst I’m still breastfeeding?

[Latinorapida]

Still breastfeeding 13mo and haven’t had a period. I’ve read that for breastfeeding women it can take about 6 months for periods to return.

My ds is still breastfeeding a fair amount. A few times in the day and quite a bit at night. I’d love to start thinking about another one so they could ideally have a 2 year age gap. All my siblings were way older than me and that wasn’t much fun.

Do I have to stop breastfeeding?

Am I right to think that if my periods haven’t return I definitely am not fertile?

Any experience with this?

Not quite ready to give up breastfeeding as it’s the only way I get ds to sleep!

THanks x

total myth, you can absolutely get pregnant while breastfeeding.you don't need to stop breastfeeding to ttc.

Have you tested recently? 😬😬
For some women breastfeeding holds off ovulation longer than others, but how will you know the day you start ovulatinf again? It could happen anytime and you could get pregnant without having a period. I found mine always returned when I reduced the frequency of feeds like night weaning but e everyone is different :)

You can get pregnant whilst breastfeeding. All depends how fertile you are really. I got pregnant with my second when my first was 18 months. I hadn't had a period. I breastfed DC1 for a further 6 months.

You can get pregnant without your first period returning if you are lucky as ovulation comes first but yes, no periods means you aren't ovulating yet. It's usually triggered by reducing feeds - mine came back at about eight months as we dropped down to one or two night feeds and not as much during day as before.

You don't need to give up breastfeeding entirely - a reduction in frequency will probably do it. I'd work on reducing night feeds I think at that age if I wanted my period to return.

I got pregnant pretty much straight away whilst ebf 😐 I have 2 born almost a year apart exactly, but then my periods returned straight away despite ebf 🤷‍♀️

I know 4 women personally who got pregnant while BF and did not get their periods back in between. One has an 11 month gap! She was EBF her son too.

Sorry to ask a stupid question but have you actually started trying? I think I'd try for a few cycles and then maybe cut back on feeds if it's not working for you. Best of luck x

Night weaning would help.

YABU. Despite EBF, she ended up with 4 under 2.

Oh and make sure you know the signs you are ovulating! That way you might be able to catch your first ovulation before your period returns.

DS1 I nursed till he was 2 years old. There are 22 months between him and DS2

If you don't want to get pregnant you have to get contraception sorted, breastfeeding does very little (if anything!) to prevent it, in my experience!!

It's not impossible but lots of feeding at night can stop ovulation. Can you night wean?

The 14 month gap between two of my children suggests that it's absolutely possible to get pregnant whilst exclusively breastfeeding.

Sorry I don’t think I made it clear - I still have not had a period!

I did find that reducing feeding at night and moving the baby out of our room meant I had more energy...

My periods never came back in between the kids, I had DS2 and then I got a mirena so many lovely period free years!

Ovulation comes before a period, though. If you haven't had periods it means you haven't been ovulating up till now, but technically you could ovulate at any point/any day (and then your period will come ~2 weeks later if you don't conceive).

I got pregnant with DC#2 while breastfeeding DC#1. It’s why my milk dried up and I had to wean DC#1 at 13months (I was 4mos pregnant by then)

I also had had no period.

I conceived DS2 when still breastfeeding DS1. My periods came back at four months postpartum despite ebf. I got pregnant three months later at the first time of trying. It was planned but I was slightly surprised it happened so fast as it took ages to conceive the first time.

As you can see from the few posts on this thread so far all women are different. Some get their periods back very quickly, others don't until they stop breastfeeding altogether.

As others have said, it's often triggered by reducing night feeds.

I know someone who was breastfeeding her first DD, hadn’t had any periods and one day felt a feeling like a baby kicking. She did a pregnancy test which was positive then had a scan and she was 20 weeks pregnant

@shouldistop

He still wakes lots during the night. We cosleep and I just give him the boob whenever he wakes. I know I probably should try alternative methods to get him to fall back asleep but I’m just so tired, he also doesn’t take my milk during the day so I feel like he makes up for it at night. Don’t want to deprive him ! I don’t even know how I would night wean in a way that wouldn’t be horrendous for all involved 😫

I had my first period at 6 weeks pp with my first despite ebf and had regular cycles thereafter so wasn’t for me!

Sorry that should say *much milk not ‘my milk’ he feeds very sporadically and briefly during the day

My period didn't return until 19 months PP and even now 3 months later my ovulation is late every month. This means my luteal phase is short. Apparently this is common. So even though we're TTC, no joy yet. My DS still BFs at least 5 times in a 24 hour period. We night weaned last month but that hasn't seemed to change anything (and he still wakes up loads!).

However, it seems everyone reacts differently. I'd advise waiting until your first period and then tracking your ovulation.

I didn’t have a period before getting pregnant the 2nd time and was (am) EBF. There’ll be 18 months between my 2

I was pregnant by the time ds1 was 9 months old and feeding constantly. Dtd once. Its nit impossible!!