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Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

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Original poster

Breastfeeding but want to get pregnant

17 replies

MissBooBoo · 14/05/2014 17:51

So I have been 100% Breastfeeding my son for 10 months, I have never used contraception in this time and I havent got pregnant. Yesterday I have started only feeding him at night time and he is taking Aptimal in the day time via a bottle. Will this be enough to get my hormones going or do I have to go cold turkey and stop completely?
Thanks ladies :)

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Nunyabiz · 14/05/2014 17:52

Has your period come back?

LittleRedDinosaur · 14/05/2014 17:54

I think it varies massively. I didn't have a period until is completely stopped feeding DD at about 14 months. Had one funny cycle, one normal one and then got pregnant but it really does vary

Original poster

MissBooBoo · 14/05/2014 18:15

Nope...period at all!
oh i wish things were text book :)

OP posts:

Nunyabiz · 14/05/2014 18:25

It might come back soon. My sis co slept and bf for almost 3 years and then decided to conceive #2. She found that as soon as she reduced feeds her cycle returned within months and she conceived DS2 shortly after.

Original poster

MissBooBoo · 14/05/2014 18:40

Ok thankyou! fingers crossed x

OP posts:

Artandco · 14/05/2014 18:45

I breast fed daily for 2 years. Fell pregnant when ds1 was 5 months. However I stopped feeding at night from 12 weeks ie 11pm-8am.

Would that not be easier? Breastfeed in day and don't feed at all 11pm-7am? A 10 month old should be able to sleep through that time with no milk if fed all day

HamAndPlaques · 14/05/2014 20:42

I believe that dropping the night feeds is the key fit many women.

Ihateparties · 14/05/2014 20:47

I was definitely still feeding at night when I got pregnant with dd2, can't remember how much though. Probably not every night. I too would do the flip of what you're doing though in this scenario, feed in the day and not at night. No clue if it makes any difference though.

ikeaismylocal · 14/05/2014 20:48

Yep night feeds I think are the key to getting your periods to return.

Mine returned the month ds started eating other foods at 6 months, he didn't eat much but it seemed to do the trick.

I did night feed still one or two times a night and got pregnant when ds was 13 months, both me and dp have dodgy fertility so it was very unlikely anyway but breastfeeding didn't seem to be a problem for my fertility (possibly even made it better)

NiceCupOfTeaAndASitDown · 15/05/2014 07:42

I'm sure I've read somewhere that you need a 5-6 hour gap of not feeding in order to conceive, not sure how true that is. you could fall pregnant at your first ovulation, before your first period iyswim, but there's also the matter of luteal phase (time between ovulation and period) which often remains short while breastfeeding (too short for pregnant to 'stick') due to the hormones. that said, I've got pregnant twice while still breastfeeding day and night, although my period had returned several months before both times. if you do a search I'm sure there's a thread for TTC while breastfeeding with lots of helpful tips/experiences

BertieBotts · 15/05/2014 07:45

You could try going away for a weekend, that's what helped most of my friends.

eagle2010 · 16/05/2014 08:21

I just got my period back and DS is 7.5mo. He's still feeding a lot at night and we don't use formula at all.

It seems to vary hugely from woman to woman! Good luck ttc - maybe you'll find more info over on the ttc threads.

Artandco · 16/05/2014 09:15

I think not night feeding is key. As mentioned neither fed 11pm-7am from 12 ish weeks. It also meant they slept through from young as learnt to settle without milk. 7am-11pm they were fed on demand so had plenty of daytime feeds to allow them to not need in night.

This also meant us as parents weren't as tired as slept well as ds1 rarely woke.. Think that's how ds2 was conceived!

Obliviated · 16/05/2014 09:19

Ds4 is 15 months and I haven't had a period yet.

Ds3 was 12 months old ish when I conceived ds4, my periods hadn't come back so I was pretty surprised.

DeWee · 16/05/2014 10:19

I got pregnant with dd2 when bfing dd1. But I had to cut down from 2 feeds a day to just 1. We ttc for 3 months with bfing 2x a day, but got pg on the first after I'd cut down to one feed a day.

Mybellyisaneasteregg · 18/05/2014 10:55

I got my periods back at 18 months, I was still doing night feeds but I was working so I had a break of around 9 hours during the day.

Jakeyblueblue · 18/05/2014 23:17

I'm 22 weeks pregnant with ds2 and was still bf ds1 2.5 when I caught. Definitely didn't help with ttc in my case.
Started trying when periods returned at 11 months but had luteal phase issues and short cycles for months. Cycle only regulated back to how it was prior to first pregnancy when ds had turned two and I had limited feeds down to bedtime and morning only.
Some people do fall pregnant easily when bf but not for everyone. Ds is three in July and has now self weaned.
If I had any advice it would be to learn how to chart once your periods return. If you are having normal length cycles with a normal luteal phase and a definate temp shift, it's likely you will be ok.
Good luck

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