BF as contraception: does one night off affect this?

[bicyclebuiltforfour]

DS is 7wks and EBF.

Last night I went to bed and DH gave him some expressed milk. He then slept until 5am, meaning I got 6hrs without BF - first time since he was born...:)

Is this one-off enough to trigger a return of fertility (the rules include feeding at least every 6hrs at night)? Or does it need to be a regular thing (pleaser, let it become one!!)? Not relying on BF as contraception (prefer the 'I just pushed out 9lbs of human flesh so get away from me' method ;)) but am interested...

Well, it's not a great idea to rely on EBF as contraception anyway because it doesn't always work!

And I think it depends - DS slept for 8 hours per night between 7 and 14 weeks but my periods didn't come back until he was 18 months old! Conversely some friends have experienced that having a night away when their DCs were older triggered their periods to start again.

Remember you can be fertile before the first period because the period only comes after ovulation - be safe

Yes, it can do - all depends on you personal hormone levels and one night's variation can be sufficient.

If PG would be disastrous, relying on BF might not be the best choice, and isn't reliable enough beyond 6 months anyhow. Maybe this could be the spur to sorting out your choice for the longer-term method you might need soon?

Pregnancy is definitely not in the plan at the moment (if ever again): have a 2yr old also to content with... So I agree that we need to have the contraception chat, particularly since DS will now be sleeping in this manner until he leaves home

Thanks

Be careful! Four of my six have been planned and conceived despite 2 hourly feeds day and night.

Yes, 6 hours is enough to trigger ovulation.

Breastfeeding can be a fairly reliable form of contraceptive but only if certain criteria are met. If a baby goes more than a few hours without a feed, has a dummy, isn't close by at all times, has formula, expressed milk or solids, is older than 6 months or if your period has returned then you have a higher chance of getting pregnant. Otherwise it is about as reliable as some other forms of contraception (none of which are 100% anyway). There's some brilliant information about it here.

Thank you! [runs off in the direction of the doctor's...]

I'm still exclusively breastfeeding, and my periods still haven't returned from having dts, and I'm pregnant so be careful. It doesn't always work.

Yeah I exclusively breastfed too - DS is nearly five now. DD is six. Do the maths :)