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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Original poster

Torn between wanting to continue BF and trying to conceive.

51 replies

bubble99 · 13/11/2005 20:49

And yes, I know that it is very possible to become pregnant while still BF, but my prolactin levels have a history of being off of the scale. It took nearly a year for me to stop producing milk after I stopped BF DS2 when he was one year old, and I know that high prolactin levels can inhibit ovulation.
I'm BF twice a day now, morning and last thing at night and I love the closeness this gives me with Elijah, but I really want to conceive again and I'm 39 in July.

OP posts:
Original poster
bubble99 · 13/11/2005 23:34

I am an old friend of Fertility Friend I spent many months before my last PG scouring every TTC site going and I got blinded by bloomin' tickers on most of them. Fortunately I stumbled across mnet during my travels and then came back to the multiples area when I did get PG, and there I met our lovely Mars.

Temp charting? Hmmmmm......I should give that a go. I've always relied on the old CM in the past and OPK's. I've also tried pineapple juice (to thin CM) and Vit B compounds. Oh, and a crystal or two as well. Load of old nonsense IMHO, but I was desperate and, oddly enough, that was the month I eventually got PG.

Sex would help as well, I s'pose. Not high on my 'favourite things to do' list at the moment, 4am wake-up calls and all that.

OP posts:
Laura032004 · 14/11/2005 09:14

Hia - just seen this thread, sorry to hear of your dilemma. Just wanted to add a bit of hope. My mum gave up bf me as she couldn't get pg, so I thought I would be the same. But as my periods had come back (hers hadn't) when ds was about 4m (he was sleeping through the night, which means something I think for periods?) we gave TTC a go. I got pg the first month. So, just to say, make sure you are trying to conceive whilst bf, because it can still happen. DS is now 19m, and also bf twice a day. We've also managed to continue the bf now I'm pg, although the first few weeks were a bit uncomfortable.

Good luck

morningpaper · 14/11/2005 09:21

Bubble I'm sure that breastfeeding is such a good contraceptive because most breastfeeding mothers are too knackered to have sex...

A quick 'straw poll' of my breastfeeding group (or "breast women group" as my mother refers to us as though we are a bunch of secret lesbians) - most hadn't resumed sex EVEN ONCE before about six months post-birth. I can't believe we're all that frigid in comparison to "most women" - I'm sure lack of sex has a big contraceptive effect! (or maybe we really ARE a bunch of repressed lesbians)

morningpaper · 14/11/2005 09:23

(The only friend I had who WAS trying to get pg while bf (i.e. actually having sex) got pg at about 4 months post-birth - she had a c-section though which she said helped her get back into the saddle quicker than the rest of us ... )

sweetkitty · 14/11/2005 09:36

Bubble I think I agree with most people on here 3 months isn't that long in the grand scheme of things.

I conceived this baby at 9 months despite breastfeeding so I was very lucky (took over 9 months with DD) my periods returned 4 weeks after my lochia finished (I was gutted in a way). I know how frustrating it is desperately wanting to be pregnant each month.

Maybe not actively try for the next 3 months but spend it enjoying Elijah and also pampering your body almost preparing it to conceive.

Good luck I always follow your story on mumsnet.

mojomummy · 14/11/2005 09:58

I BF DD for 2 years. Generally twice a day, with the odd feeds on flights.

I got pregnant in June this year. I had been having periods for a year, but ones with a 32-35 day cycle. As soon as I stopped bf I went to a 28 day cycle & got pregnant.

Unfortunately I had a miscarriage at 5 weeks & I feel my periods are struggling to correct myself. I alway consider myself to be healthy & strong so this was even more of a shock for me.

I have seen a reflexologist who mentioned something about my pituaty levels being low or similar.
I also had a GA in May, so maybe this affected everything as well.

My advice would be to stick with your BF, take great care of your health, with extra vitamins. perhaps have some reflexology to make sure you are ok. Plenty of people do bf & concieve & carry baby, just not me.

Good luck

mygirllolipop · 14/11/2005 11:04

Message withdrawn

Melpomene · 14/11/2005 14:57

Hi, I agree with the others about waiting til you've reached the one-year mark.

If you are 'just' bfing once or twice a day then it won't make as much difference to your fertility as it would if you were bfing more frequently.

Just to share my personal experience, I conceived dd2 while bfing dd1. DD1 was 15 months old when I conceived, and I'd only had one period since she was born. I was bfing dd1 5 or more times most days(including at night, she was a terrible sleeper).

I bfed through my pg and am still tandem feeding. A few other mums I know have also conceived while bfing.

Good luck.

lunachic · 14/11/2005 15:13

i concieved while bf- ds 1 was 9 months had had one af and was feeding about 3/4 times a day ! ds is now 3 years and dd is 1.5

lunachic · 14/11/2005 15:14

sorry should read i had had - the af not ds

hellywobs · 14/11/2005 17:46

I'm newish to this board so hi everyone.

I know that the medical advice is to wait one year between one pregnancy and the next - but I also thought that it was better for your body to wait a year between finishing bf and conceiving? I suppose a lot depends on how old you are, how much of a gap you want between the kids, how easy it was conceiving before, how long you bf etc etc

ja9 · 14/11/2005 17:50

gosh, i hadnt even thought of this.... i just assumed that if my periods had returned that i'd be able to get pregnant .... thanks for raising the issue - i've some thinking to do.

CarolinaMoon · 14/11/2005 17:57

yeah, me too ja9...

am getting a bit of grief from dp atm about this - he wants to crack on with no.2 but ds is still bfing and I haven't had a period yet (ds is 12m).

I really don't want to cut short the length of time I bf ds - it just doesn't seem fair to him to prioritise ttcing above his needs, particularly as it's probably only a few months to wait.

manzanilla · 14/11/2005 19:16

Can I just ask Hellywobs a quick Q? WHy do you need to wait a year between finishing BF and TTC? I can see why your body needs to get over the trauma of being pregnant and giving birth but wonder what the year for recovering from BF is for? How does your body need to recover (apart from stabilising itself hormonally)?

I am still BF my DD (7 months) and no AF yet. Was planning to try to get pregnant again in about 6 months time - realistically likely to be BF a bit until at least C'mas. Do I need to hold fire (as it were) or is it OK to start trying in April?

TIA x

hunkermunker · 14/11/2005 19:26

Hi Hellywobs, welcome to MN - not heard that before re bfeeding and delaying conception. Don't think there's any reason to do this - I got pg while still bfeeding DS as do quite a few women and some go on to tandem feed.

ja9 · 14/11/2005 20:27

hunkermunker - while you're there... i've been wondering about how tandem feeding works, because i heard that your milk changes as the baby gets older... so how does that fit in with feeding 2 children of different ages iyswim?

hunkermunker · 14/11/2005 20:29

Hey, ja9 - don't know really - it just does! I'm not still feeding DS - he self-weaned just before he was 17mo. Lots more on kellymom about tandem nursing

ja9 · 14/11/2005 20:33

sorry for thread hijack... but hunkermunker, can you tell me how he self weaned? im still feeding ds (15mth) and have no incination of stopping (or at least i didnt till the earlier chat about ttc)..

just interested...

Laura032004 · 14/11/2005 22:03

Welcome to the board hellywobs I've never heard of anything that says you should have a break of a year between bf and falling pg again. I'd be interested to hear of any information that you have on this.

PeachyPlumPudding · 14/11/2005 22:11

I haven't heard anything about that either. DS2 was conceived ooh, 3 weeks after I stopped bf DS1 completely (he ahd been complementary fed for three months). My second pg was much better and I didn't feel there was an issue at all- in terms of the pg itself, it was by far the best of my 3. Only anecdotal of course, but I cannot find any guidelines in my BFI handbook (keep this by the pc now LOL), and don't some mums tandem feed? I would have thought it was down to your preference.

Eulalia · 15/11/2005 12:31

Shouldn't need to wait ... if you read back to bubble's original post it said she had high prolactin levels which affected her fertility. Fertility varies hugely in women and there are no hard and fast rules about conceiving and breastfeeding. Generally speaking if your periods return then your body is telling you that you can sustain another pregnancy so just go for it.

hunkermunker · 15/11/2005 20:21

Thread here re DS's self-weaning and reason for, ja9

ja9 · 16/11/2005 18:09

thanks!

KristinaM · 16/11/2005 22:14

I also conceived when i was Bf a 9 month old baby. Tho obviously he was on solids by then so i was feeding less. My periods started again when he was 8 months old and i conceived almost straight away. And i am MUCH older than you Bubble .

But I can understand why you are anxious, Bubble, after what you have been through. And I suspect that age has less to do with it than how long it has taken you in the past. I am very fortunate to have conceived first or second cycle each time, and i woudl be more worried too if it had taken almost a year before

melissacole · 18/06/2017 23:32

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