Periods returning after stopping BFing - When???

[stillhopefulforanother]

I reluctantly stopped breastfeeding my DS at 7 months in a bid to get my cycle to return so I could ttc 2.

Ive stopped completely now for almost three weeks and I am getting impatient, still no sign of AF. Also no sign of ovulation either (I'm trying to catch the first egg).

It took 7 IVF cycles to conceive DS so as you can imagine I am keen to get started again!!

When did your cycles restart after giving up breastfeeding. I'm so so impatient!!!

I didn't get periods until 4 months after I'd stopped bfing DS. They weren't regular for another 3 months after that. Everyone's different though :)

I started mine again while I was still breastfeeding (self weaned toddler) but it took about 6 months for them to settle into a routine cycle and I had to stop totally before I conceived again. The first cycle back can often be anovulatory, you might also have a 'warning' bleed to say you are going to start up again. OPKs might help?

Kelly mom website also talk about this in a really helpful way (don't know if am allowed to say that!).

good luck and congrats on your DS! :)

I think kellymom is one of the most linked websites on here. Rightly so.

My periods came back while bfing (13 weeks and 5 weeks grr) but it took months on end to actually be fertile again. But I was still exclusively bfing.

Bloody love Kellymom

I waited 28 months to get mine back, so no chance of another close together. But I was still bfing and continued to till he was four.

I think it depends, it's different for everyone. Really good luck though

I stopped bf at 5 months and period returned when DD was 6.5 months. I thought I might get a little longer! But no! Hopefully you will be as (un)fortunate as me. Good luck!

Stopped bf one month as was pregnant the next without a period in between !

Thanks everyone,

So on the whole it does seem that you have to totally stop breastfeeding for your periods to come back. I have done this so its just a waiting game now. I think I will start using OPK's to keep an eye on things.

Thanks again everyone.

Hello stillhopeful, My DS is 11mths old and I stopped BFing a few weeks ago, I've been wondering the same as you. Are you temping? I've been thinking about it but don't want to get ttc obsessed again! Also wondered if there was anything herbal I could take to kickstart the hormones, like Evening Primrose oil...

I had dropped down to 2 feeds a day at 9 months when my periods returned, so I was still BF. They've been really irregular since then though (and that was September 2010) so I'm using acupuncture to try to regulate my cycles to try for number 2. I'm not aware of anything 'natural' to take to bring on a period, but acupuncture may be able to help. Good luck.

I stopped bf'ing DD in the July and my periods came back in the September but were regular once they came back.

Good luck [busmiley]

[busmile] even!

Anyone still waiting? I stopped breastfeeding DD near the end of February when she was nearly 13 months and still haven't had my period back.

Stillhopeful, I agree that for some of us, it does seem to require stopping breastfeeding in order to kickstart our bodies. How annoying as I would have loved to have carried on BF but like you, we'd love to TTC and weren't having any signs that it would be possible while I was still BF. I'm not temping because I don't want DH to get stressy about it but I'll admit it's slightly depressing to wait for AF. Never thought I'd say that!

Newyearsday, any luck with the evening primrose oil?

I stopped bf dd (nearly 15 months) about 5 weeks ago. Just got a positive opk yesterday.

Best of luck. I feel for you it is so frustrating waiting for your body to go back to normal.