Breast feeding and TTC?

[MayimBialik]

DH and I have decided to started TTC our second. DS has just turned a year old and no longer BFs during the day but still does once or twice in the night (this is a whole other thread in another topic because I'd really like to stop now and know he's only using me as a human dummy!).

My periods are very irregular and cycles are anywhere between 40 and 56 days so I have absolutely no idea at which point I am ovulating so we're list going to go for the DTD every other day school of TTC. However I've read several times now that people struggled to conceive until they stopped night feeding - the night feeding seems to be the key to stopping ovulation. Is this really the case? Did anyone here manage to conveive whilst bread feeding at the same time (not literally at the same time, that would be weird) and how many cycles did it take?

Hi, I've been ttc number 2 for ages. I'm still bf ds 2.5 at night. Periods returned at 14 months but like yours, were all over the place. I weaned across the day about 4 cycles ago and my cycle is now a regular 28 day with ovulation on day 14 like it was pre pregnancy. I'm pretty sure that the bf is the culprit in my case as I can see a direct correlation between how much I feed and what my cycle does. On the other hand loads if people do get pregnant bf and doing night feeds. I think it depends on individuals and how sensitive they are to all the hormones.
I'd advise you to get some opk's and start temping. Short luteal phase is usually a problem when bf and so you can rule this out and identify if you are ov'ing or not.

Pretty sure I read somewhere that recent research has shown that it's not dropping night feeds which helps fertility to return - it's having a long gap between feeds. The gap normally happens at night for obvious reasons, but it doesn't need to: if you go 12hrs without feeding during the day and then feed every 4hrs at night, for example, that would have the same impact.

I think [massively sleep deprived from a 9m-old boob monster and a crazy 3yr old]

Thanks for your replies, that's reassuring to hear as I go from probably 5am - 12am without feeding. I will definitely have to invest in some OPKs though as I have no idea about my cycle any more!

hello, I'm ttc 2 and have been for 8 cycles now. First baby came on first cycle and is 21 months. I have regular periods and they came back a year ago. Anyway, I went to the doctors after 6 months of trying, I am 35, and got some blood tests showing low progesterone at 21 days. The consultant I saw last week says I am ovulating but that the tests show that there is pituitary suppression caused by breastfeeding as there is low FSH on the day 3 test. I was only feeding once, every morning, for a few minutes by the end, so hardly at all, and had even had to miss one night, so really thought it would make no difference at all. I stopped earlier this month as the consultant has said when I do I should have a normal, good chance of conceiving without assistance. I think it is a very individual thing, though, so not sure whether this is helpful or not. It has been useful for me to find out though, obviously.

I conceived my second child just 2 weeks after my first stopped bf and she was only 5 months and I'd only had 2 irregular periods. Just have lots of sex and don't bother with the maths element of when your ovulating :-P

I do think bf affects most women's chances of conceiving even like the previous poster mentioned doing it once aday, I was keen on a small age gap and it had taken along time to conceive dd1 we didn't ever use contraception but I never got any periods or conceived. dd1 slept through 7-7 from 12wks so I never fed at night and for the last 2 months only once aday, I got pregnant again the month I stoped bf ( 7/8months) before af, I think it was definatly that that hindered it before as I sadly mc that pregnancy and the next but went on to have dd2, each time I got pregnant the following month straight away as soon as we tried!
That said my mum got pregnant while still bf so it's not impossible and I know others who got their periods a month or two later even though ebf
Good luck

That's really interesting zippy. I asked my gp to do bloods last week and he refused. Said it wOuld be a false reading! I did say to him that actually that's exactly what I wanted, but he still refused. Obviously If the bloods showed low progesterone, like you, I could have settled knowing it was the bf and just let nature take its course.
I think I'm going to have to night wean next and see if that helps.

It seems hard to see how it would be a "false" reading - surely it would give some useful information either way? For me, it was good news to hear that the bloods were unusual. Wouldnt the day 3 tests at least show FSH? Apparently low FSH is caused by too much exercise, being underweight or bfing. I am a normal weight, and don't exercise every day, so that is why the consultant is clear that the bfing is having an effect. I paid to see the consultant, because the GP didnt seem to know what to do with the irregular blood results. It cost £200 but was worth it to find out that it is the bfing.He is very experienced and runs an ivf unit but was clear that he thought there was unlikely to be any problem other than bfing.

The other thing I have done is bought a clearblue fertility monitor, which is pricey, but does seem to be quite accurate re ovulation, although it says on it that you should wait two cycles after bfing before using it. It has told me I am OVing very late in the cycle, day 24, which can be another effect of bfing. good luck.

Exactly! I wanted to know if bloods were off as this would prove it was bf! I have thought about paying for a private consultation and this probably confirms that it's worth doing. All I hear is that if periods are regular then it won't be the bf, but I've never been convinced, and you are obviously living proof!
Thanks for the info and good luck op!