Ovulation and breast feeding

[Yawner247]

I have a 9.5 month dd and haven't had a period yet will I be ovulating? I keep getting conflicting advice from HV and friends...HV has said I can't conceive whilst breast feeding dd and that I will ovulate before my first period! Friends have said that I can conceive and that I'm ovulating as normal!! So i am feeling pretty clueless!!! Would an ovulation kit be any good?! TIA

It's very personal I think.

I didn't ovulate or have a period until I stopped bf my 16mo altogether (was testing ovulation every few months as had previous problems with periods). I ovulated about four days after stopping bf.

My friend who was bf her DD day and night as a newborn ovulated at 8 weeks and immediately got pregnant.

So it completely ranges. If you are keen to have another child, maybe don't worry about contraception and see what happens. If you definitely don't want one right now, take precautions just in case....

Still breastfeeding my 12 month Ds and I got my periods back at 9 months. Cycle was 39 days initially but then 33 and 32 days so back to normal. I am down to two feeds a day but I am 5 weeks pregnant!

Thanks ladies! We are hoping to conceive and the HV advice was basically she's had 9 months of the good stuff maybe it's time to move on to formula!

You most certainly can get pg while bfing - I am pg with DC4 and tandem nursing and I was tandem nursing when I got pg with DD3 and though I was just nursing DD1 when I got pg with DD2 . I got my period back at 9w with DD1 (she was mainly bottle fed formula/ebm until 8w) and it was 11m with DD2 & DD3.

The Lactational Amennorreah Method (LAM) is a form of contraception that is 98% effective BUT there are certain criteria to be met - baby being under 6m is one of them so as your baby is 9m you aren't guaranteed to not get pg even if you haven't had a period yet.

It can take a while for fertility to be restored post-birth but that is a protective thing for the mother - if she is bfing and is nutritionally in a poor way (not saying you are not eating right BTW) getting pg is only going to make her life harder so delaying periods returning is the body's way of stopping mum becoming ill. Imagine having babies every 10 or 11 months for the rest of your life - that is not a good way to live as you would be exhausted!

The average return of periods is about 14m so you have a long way to go before you need to be worried but there is lots of info on Kellymom.com about bfing and fertility/pg if you wanted to have a look.

Hm, I am not sure you need to give up bf just to conceive, whatever your HV says. I did personally but I had period problems beforehand anyway. Most of my friends who wanted to conceive while bf managed to. Some of them had to cut down a bit but that tended to happen as their babies got older anyway.

Maybe give TTC a go for a few months without stopping bf if you don't want to give it up. Then you can always cut down feeds a bit as she gets older and eats more solids anyway and see if that makes any difference. Good luck.

I know at least 3 mums who have got pregnant while breastfeeding, one at 13mo, one at 18mo and one at 2.3yo.

Personally I can't seem to do it, so am reluctantly weaning ds at 2.3yo, as I feel that my desire for a second child is now greater than my desire to keep feeding him.

But every woman's body is different.

Thanks truth I think she's doing well she is on the 75th percentile and very alert/healthy so don't think she is starved!!! She has four meals a day and four breastfeeds a day too. That is as a minimum, she is generally sleeping through the night unless teething or unwell with a cold then obv she feeds more often! I agree that it would be very tiring and that your body needs time to recover before starting again!

Thanks ruby I'm not ready to stop wanted to get to her first birthday so we shall see how it goes over the next few months and reassess!

Wow cies what an achievement it is proving to be so individual I remember asking what age Los were when periods returned and the responses were so varied!! The body is an amazing thing!

Taking Charge of Your Fertility by Toni Weschler. Great book . Also, look on Kellymom, loads of info there.

I had to night wean to get a period back at 22 months. Got a period then pregnant next month. Still fed though through pregnancy, but had stopped demand feeding. Good luck