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Conception

When's the best time to get pregnant? Use our interactive ovulation calculator to work out when you're most fertile and most likely to conceive.

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Original poster

breastfeeding & periods??

16 replies

sarahlou123 · 19/08/2005 22:39

hi
my baby is 4 months old and i'm still currently exclusively breastfeeding. i havent had any periods since before i fell pregnant with ds1. last af was 13th july 2004. when ds1 is 6 months we are hoping ttc2 but as i'm still breastfeeding and have no periods yet i wondered whether i am ovulating? how can i tell? also when should i expect my periods to return and can you ovulate but have no periods?
also can any1 recommend anything to help try for a girl? i know at the end of the day we dont get to choose but just wondered?
any help would be great. thanks
luv sarahlou xx

OP posts:

Socci · 19/08/2005 22:43

Message withdrawn

spod · 19/08/2005 22:45

Message deleted

mummyoffour · 22/08/2005 00:37

hi sarahlou123 when you are breastfeeding your periods may not return for up to six months after the birth but you can still be fertile and ovulate. When breastfeeding even if you dont have periods you can still be fertile.

fresco · 01/02/2006 04:13

hi there

had both dds by c-section.2nd dd was conceived when dd1 waa 13 months but only because of b/feeding.i wanted her when dd1 was 6 months.midwife said evev after c-section 2 months later you can fall pregnant.i am now thonking about baby no3.but still b/feeding dd of 7 weeks although have introduced bottle at night as she doesnt get colic that way.but when we want ttc and still b/feeding, how/why do we need to space out the feeds?especially at night or even stop b/feeding at night? dont understand why.How does it work?

fresco · 01/02/2006 07:25

Hi mummyoffour

i take it you have four bairns. Thats what i am aiming for myself, i am dreaming of a large family.However, if you b/feeding and dont have your periods, what are the signs that tells you you are fertile? can you still spot EWCM and what else? thanks

bobblehead · 01/02/2006 15:41

Fresco, I am also bf and ttc. No periods yet but I think I have had EWCM, paricularly a couple of weeks ago. Really haven't noticed any "secretions" up until this point, so hoping its ovulation returning but really no idea! We still do alot of night feeds but daytime feeds have reduced alot over the last month or so.

munz · 01/02/2006 15:42

fresco - u're TTC again!!!! lol. how r u girl, must email u!

sorry for hijack.

fresco · 01/02/2006 22:40

bobblehead-how many kids u have and how old is ur baby? are you trying with basal temp as well? thats how i conceived dd2 while b/f dd1

hi munz!! so happy to hear from u.hehe i must be mad.dd1 kyla is nearly 2 and dd2 Rebecca is only 7 weeks but here we go....i am again brooding ..guess i miss being pregnant.I actually long for a large family 3/4 bairns

bobblehead · 02/02/2006 01:08

Hi fresco, I have one dd aged 8 months. Haven't tried basal temp- did mean to but would always get up before remembering! Do you always need to do it before getting out of bed in the morning? If so not sure it would work as I'm up & down feeding so much through the night.

How old was your baby when you conceived again? Are you still feeding at night just now?

LeahE · 02/02/2006 08:56

Periods can vary. Mine came back when DS night weaned himself at 9 months, but I know other women who've not had a period until after their DC stopped bf altogether and still others whose cycles returned to normal within a couple of months after the birth even though they were exclusively bf and nursing every couple of hours.

Once you start ovulating you will have periods but you can ovulate (and hence get pg) before you have your first post-partum period. TCOYF says (obviously this is just my summary so not to be relied on without reading the book) that if you're bf with no periods yet the thing to watch out for is a change in CM - you should have a "regular" type of CM (or its absence) that your body has settled down into in this bf stage and it's when you see that changing to patches of more fertile CM that your body is probably gearing up to ovulate. If no EWCM or watery CM then you are probably not ovulating (it's more than a bit iffy to rely on that to avoid pregnancy unless you meet a set of pretty stringent criteria about how often you are bf, but if you're ttc it's a reasonable guide).

bobblehead - yes, basal temp you need to do before getting out of bed (or, really, doing anything - it's a wake up, immediately grab thermometer kind of deal).

bobblehead · 02/02/2006 14:41

Thanks Keah that is really helpful. I've definately noticed some CM, which I haven't had up until now, so that gives me hope maybe things are returning to normal.

Do you need a special thermometer for measuring temp or will a regular digital one do?

bobblehead · 02/02/2006 14:42

Sorry, that should say Leah!

LeahE · 02/02/2006 16:50

The books say you need a special one supposedly because regular digital thermometers are more geared to accuracy in showing whether a temperature is elevated or not while BBT thermometers are more geared towards accurately reflecting small fluctuations in "normal" temperature. But I have no idea if that's right or not. I did use a special one from Boots. Ear thermometers are no good apparently just not accurate enough under most circumstances.

Personally I don't think I could temp any more now I have DS -- sleep is just too disrupted and when I wake up it's generally with the need to get up right away and do something for him - but I've got the plus that since my periods returned I do seem to be ovulating regularly on the same CD as I was pre-DS, so I can feel comfortable relying on that plus CM for tracking fertility. We haven't entirely decided whether we're TTC or TTA at the moment, though, which does complicate things a bit (DH wants to TTC but is happy to wait until I'm sure, while I change my mind on an almost daily basis...)

bobblehead · 02/02/2006 17:50

How old is your ds?

I have been hoping to conceive for around 2 months now (since dd was 6 months)
but to be honest its only now that I think I really do want to. Before I was like you changing my mind daily (especially after a bad night!) and was (still am I suppose) leaving up to fate to decide for me!

LeahE · 02/02/2006 20:00

He's 12 months now. We did actually have one sort-of-trying cycle (well, we knowingly had sex right around ovulation time) when he was 10 months but I've rather chickened out since then. Part of me would like to have them fairly close togather, and a lot of my friends have spaced their children this far apart - but part of me would rather have DS a bit older and out of nappies before we have #2, which would probably mean waiting a year. And then there's the fact it took us a year to conceive DS. I suspect I'll just avoid making a decision altogether, have some "risky" months and some "less risky" months and see what happens.

fresco · 02/02/2006 21:44

thanks leah.That was really helpful

Bobblehead - i conceived dd2 when kyla was 14 months but was charting my dasal temp cos my cycles had been so erratic for about a year.
now. kyla is off the breast and i put dd2 on the bottle at night cos she settles in better that way. if i b/f her through the night, she gets a great deal of wind.But they say that if you dont b/f at night, your body gets a chance to get back into normal cycles.Dont know if its true? anyone,would you know?

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