Breast Feeding and Conceiving

[cathpalmer]

Hi Everyone,

Need some help with a few things.

I have a six and a half month old baby girl. I started weaning her onto solids (and still breastfeeding) when she was 5 months old after the health visitor said that she was showing signs of being ready.
She now eats solids 3 times a day with breastfeeding on demand usually about 4 times a day and once in the night.

I have 2 queries.
1 - how do i drop that night feed? She won't sleep through no matter what I try and recently has become so dependant on contact with us that we've ended up co sharing a bed with her so that we can get some sleep. I want her to sleep in her own room but I'm nervous about cot death (my mother in law had a baby girl die from this at 7months and she keeps making comments about being careful - helpful hey?!) Any Ideas.

1. My husband and i would like to think about getting ready to try for another baby soon. he's 40 next year so we don't want to leave it too long. My daughter took a long time to conceive too. Is it possible to conceive when bf? I haven't had a period yet, how long will it take to return now that i'm weaning? Is there anything i can take or do to increase my chances of getting my period and conceiving?

Any help would be appreciated!

I think in respect of periods everyone is different. Some women get pregnant despite EBF a small baby and others don't ovulate until they stop breastfeeding altogether.

Not very helpful I know....

FWIW its worth my SIL got pregnant when her DS was 16 months old (still feeding just twice a day), (she got pregnant the first time easily), and the only contraceptive she was using was breastfeeding. She said she only had one period before she got pregnant.

I think one night feed at 6 months is great. As (I assume), you've only just introduced protein at 6 months, I would give it a couple of weeks yet before dropping the night feed. There is a growth spurt around 6 months too. Your DD should naturally drop her night feed once the solids intake increases - which is what my DS did.

It depends on the woman - some women ovulate quite soon after pregnancy when BF, some don't ovulate until they completely stop BF and others will ovulate if there is a sudden change in feeding patterns. So you could drop the night feed and your periods return. But they might not.

To drop the night feed, you can reduce it by a minute every other night until it's none (she'll likely sleep through it once you get down to a couple of mins) - that way your DD gets used to taking more calories in the day.

Can you move your DD to a cot in your room, to make the transition a bit smoother? You'll find it hard to stop the night feeds with co-sleeping.

For info - I conceived whilst still BF my DS when he was about 11 months. I didn't do anything - at 9 months he started to up his solid intake massively and drop milk feeds, which was probably why. However, I have a friend who was BF her DD who also dropped feeds but no fertility until 18 months.

You could aim to BF for a year and give up, transition your DD to cows milk - then you'll be able to try and conceive then. You'll find that your DD will drop feeds anyway, so you might well ovulate before then.