Did your periods return whilst BF?

[mamma1mia]

Hi all, just a quick question as I want to know how quickly your period returns if you bf. I have been ebf my LO (26 weeks old) until last week and now bf first and last feeds with formula in the day whilst I am at work. Just wondering if my period will return soon. Thanks

It all depends on you and how sensitive you are to the hormone that regulates BFing and your menstrual cycle. I EBF up until 6mths when I introduced solids and my periods returned around the 9mth mark, albeit a bit irregular for the 1st few cycles. It's impossoble to tell really but remember that you can be fertile before your epriods start up again so don't use it solely as a methid of birth control!

Hi, I bf ds1 until he was 8mo but he really dropped feeds towards ens so that I was only feeding morning and night and I started my period about 1-2 months later. Currently still bf my 8.5mo and still no sign of periods but she is still feeding quite frequently. Hope this helps.

yes - breastfed until 12 months, period started at 3months :(

was looking forward to another year of bleeding-free months but was not to be.

breastfeeding with pmt was a bugger too, too many hormones

I breastfed exclusively on demand and periods returned when baby was about 12 weeks old and very regular ever since. If it makes any difference you could almost set your watch by my periods since I was a teenager.

DS is 15mo, and ilately down to just one feed a day, but I've still not had a period. Mind you, I have PCOS and had irregular/long cycles beforehand. It's been so long I've almost forgotten what it's like.

Blimey I am lucky they haven't returned already. I guess everyone is different , is nice not to have the hastle of it so hopefully it will be absent a little while longer!! Thanks for sharing all your experiences.

I guess it depends on the individual. Mine didn't return for over a year after giving birth; I BF for 10 months (but the last couple of months was only bedtime feeds).

DD was 13 weeks and feeding every 2hrs at least day and night. No dummies, no formula etc, periods came back and with alarming regularity.

Mine did after about 4 months.

Got pregnant (1st and only time) at 15 months when still feeding on demand.

Mine came back after a year with both daughters,still breastfeeding regularly when they returned but I think that simply one less feed as they were then getting a lot of solids too,made my periods return.

Yep at 4 months. Breastfed on demand till 12 months.

Breastfed ds1 until 15 months but he slept through from 14 weeks, 4 weeks after he stopped feeding at night periods returned. Ds2 is 12 weeks Monday, still no sign of period.

Mine came back between 6months to 1 year each time, I was gutted!

Yes, two weeks after I nightweaned (not doing that again!) at 11 months. He still feeds mornings and evenings

with one DS I had no periods for over a year, BF for 13 months, periods probably came back 2 months after! with second DS I BF for same length of time but periods came back when he was about 9 months!

20 months in to bf and still awaiting first af (pretty happy about that :-)) but then I have fed on demand day and night since she was born and no periods for that long is normal when practising 'ecological bf'..

Gonna be a nasty shock when it turns up!

First time they came back when I finished brreastfeeding at 16 months, second time i got pregnant when baby was 9 months old despite feeding on demand. Third time They came back at around a year. This time ds4 is 7.5 months and no sign yet.

Mine did at 9 months once DS started dropping feeds.

I thought I'd forget what to do but sadly it all came flooding back :o

Yes, after 5 bloddy weeks. I was raging!

That was with feeding on demand, every 3 hours at most. I must just be unlucky.

It really depends on you and your hormones! I ExBF DD1 till 8 weeks then mix fed and had my periods back at 5/6 weeks after birth (so still ExBF), I mixed fed DD2 till 2 months, and had them back 2/3 months after completely stopping BF.
I had a scan second time as a normal check up (not in the UK), my ovaries were still in lactation phase 4 months after birth (no BF anymore), I guess with DD1 the ovaries never entered the lactation phase...

Mine returned after about 12 weeks, and have been regular ever since. DS is still BF (now 10 months), including night feeds. Not fair, is it?

As this thread shows everyone is different. I ebf each of my 3 until approx 6 months then moved to formula when they started solids. They were all sleeping 12hrs a night ish by 12 weeks so no night feeds. No periods until about 4 months after I stopped bf completely

I didn't have a period for 23 months and they only returned because I cut down demand feeding to one a day as I wanted to TTC.

Ebf for 7 months DS now 10 months and we do morning and evening only. Still no sign of a period. I plan to starting worrying if nothing happens when he turns one.