Irregular periods since having a baby / breastfeeding - sign of reduced fertility?

[TransatlanticCityGirl]

Since having a baby my periods have been irregular and much longer than the extremely regular 28 day cycles I once had. Didn't worry about it the first 6 months, as I figured my body was re-adjusting following pregnancy and breastfeeding. In fact, I was still breastfeeding the first 2 months, and a clear month after stopping they seemed to return back to normal. but that was short lived...

We are about to start TTC this month and I'm suddenly very worried that the increased length could be a sign of decreased fertility as I read it's common for periods to become irregular before menopause. (we had no trouble falling pregnant first time around, with only 2 months of trying)

I'm 36 yrs old.

I had my DD in July 2011 and my periods returned in Aug 2012 as follows:
30 d (breastfeeding)
30 d (breastfeeding)
33 d
28 d
28 d
29 d
32 d
31 d
and I'm now on day 33 (and I know I'm not pregnant this month as haven't TTC)

Had anyone experienced this or know anything about it? Should I be seeing my GP?

thx :)

After ds1 my cycle length averaged 23 days with the shortest being 21 days and the longest 35. Very irregular. It had taken 14 months to conceive ds1 yet with my irregular cycle we dtd just twice one month and made twins. I don't think your cycle is irregular enough to be menopause. With a longer cycle you can be almost certain you ovulated which isn't always the case with a shorter cycle.
I would relax, dtd regularly and chances are you'll have no problems.

That looks completely normal to me. Are you saying your cycles used to be exactly 28 days each and every month before? That actually sounds more unusual... A few days difference isn't anything to be worried about. If you want to make sure you're ovulating you could try temperature charting for a few months?

Good luck! :)

Thanks both for the replies and reassurance.

cakeandcava, yes! I was always exactly 28 days, barring a couple of months when I might have been a day or two late. I could predict my period almost to a 6 hr window! So when I fell pregnant with my DD I knew I was pregnant on day 30.

we used the clearblue monitor last time so I've dug it out, reset it, and will have another go. I suspect I'll need it this time, as I have no idea when i ovulate anymore.

Yep, that looks normal (and kinda regular) to me.
Periods and how they behave change throughout a lifetime. FWIW, I was a 28 day cycle/could set your clock by it girl, conceives easily, then miscarried. Now, 3 years after DS3s birth, my cycle is more like 25-27 days .

Have sex every other night for the middle 10 days of your cycle - roughly. There's evidence that that gives you the best chance to conceive.

I don't know about temp and OPK - I see their point for couples who've had trouble conceiving, but it would drive me bananas to focus on this so much from the start tbh. Obviously, do what feels right to you.

V best of luck.