Ok, realistically how reliable is bf as a contraceptive?

[inatrance]

Just wondering whether or not to bother with any contraceptives as I'm bf? Ds is having one formula bottle at 2am but otherwise still feeding lots. It took 6 months to get pregnant with ds and we are looking at trying again when he is 12-18 months anyway..

So it wouldn't be a total disaster if i got pg again but in an ideal world it wouldn't be just yet iykwim..

Its just that I'm crap at taking tablets and other than condoms we don't have many other options. Any thoughts?

No no no no no no no no. Don't do it. I found out the hard way myself.....

I'm personally hoping it's not that effective at all. Currently EBF 4 1/2 month old and desperate to get knocked up again ASAP.

Well from the sounds of it bagel, you don't have any worries there!

a hair under 11 months between DC2 and 3... was EBF. Never had a period.

You might not get preggers but if you did would you be happy? If answer is no, hop straight to your GP!

Why no dummies? I understand no formula, bf on demand, etc. but what does a baby sucking a dummy have to do with anything related to the mother's body and menstrual cycle? Is it just that the baby might want to feed slightly less with a dummy? Or am I missing something?

Good point barely! (I have no idea)

I do know that one of my friends got pg pretty quickly. Her baby NEVER had formular and drank every single milk feed straight from her mothers breast, and her mum still got pregnant.

Suckling for comfort at the breast maintains prolactin secretion and levels thereby suppressing ovulation. Replacing comfort suckling at the breast with a dummy negates this effect. HTH

I fulfilled all the criteria on the list except the baby being under 6 months one and got pregnant twice - so for us it wasn't effective.

But if baby was ofer 6 months and you didn't fall pregnant before then, then it was effective. LAM can never be a long-term contraceptive choice and because the criteria are so stringent, is not a viable choice for most.

(Waves back at The RealMBJ).

I have two friends who have recently had babies who were conceived when they were ebf-ing on demand. So it getting pregnant again would be bad for you, use contraception.

I have a friend who swears that BF is a great method of contraception, even though she had a little suprise when POAT when her little one was 3 months old so she now has 2 children under 18 months.
Not sure I would risk it unless I would genuinely be happy to have a small age gap.