Period returned while breastfeeding?

[Bellamuerte]

I was told I'd have lochia for several weeks post partum but probably no periods for 6-12 months as I'm breastfeeding. I had 6 weeks of lochia followed by only 4-5 days of not bleeding, followed by what seems like an extremely heavy period.

Can it come back this quickly while breastfeeding? Is it even a period? Or do I need to see my doctor because it shouldn't have started yet?

It's quite common for periods to return this early. It's a very individual thing and return of cycles is triggered at a different threshold for everyone. It's influenced by how long your baby goes between feeds, and night feeds suppress fertility more than daytime feeds, so if your baby sleeps for a long time at night then fertility is likely to return quicker. In my breastfeeding group we did a poll of when periods returned - we were all feeding on - demand. It varied from 6 weeks to 2 years!

The advice is that once you've had a bleed after 42 days postpartum, you should assume your fertility has returned.

KellyMom on Breastfeeding and Fertility is a good source of information.

My periods returned when dc were 4 weeks old.
Every time.
And ebf.

I'm not a HCP, so cannot give you any advice, but I had similar with both mine, and in both cases it was down to an infection. My GP had assumed it was my period returning, but it wasn't. Do you feel well in yourself?