*calling mears*- advice on TTC while BF

[vnmum]

hi mears, after seeing you on a breast feeding thread i was hoping you could give me some advice. DS is 8.5 months old and is still mostly BF. i am introducing solids using BLW so he isnt taking much. he feeds every 2 - 4 hours during the day and 4 to 5 times from 7pm to 7am. i currently have the mirena fitted (fitted at 6 weeks post birth) and DH and i want to start ttc when ds is about 1. when should i have my coil removed as i havent had a period other than a bleed when it was fitted? also im worried about my milk supply when i do conceice as im planning on feeding DS till he self weans, have you any advice?

Also what do i do about ttc if i still havent had periods, especially as im still doing lots of feeding?

Thanks for any advice you can give

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are you out there mears

I conceived DS2 when DS1 was 9 months old, after just one period. He was still BF a lot but not as frequently as you are during the night. I THINK that its the longer time they go throughout the night that makes your periods return ie you dont have to wean to get your periods back, just space out the feeds. But I'm not sure - have you checked out kellymom on this?

Anyway i went on feeding that baby until I was 6 montsh pregnant and he was 15 months, when he self weaned. i was glad by then as it was getting very sore. Hormonal apparently! i didnt notice any difference in my supply, but obviously he was taking a lot more food by 15 months. If he hadnt I woudl have considered tandem feeding

Good luck

vnmum - I've emailed my sister MEARS to say her advice is needed!

Hi vnmum. Unfortunately every woman is very different regarding breastfeeding and conceiving. My periods always returned pretty quickly despite exclusive breastfeeding. Fastest was 6 weeks, latest was 4 months. I personally fell pregnant with DS3 when DS2 was only 7 months old but he slept through the night.
I am afraid you will just have to wait and see what happens. If you find your periods do not return once the Mirena has been removed you might want to think about cutting back feeds. I would just stick to having it removed when your DS is 1 year old. If you get it removed earlier you might find that you get pregnanct straight away despite the feeding.
Remember you cannot ever plan when conception will take place breastfeeding or not. I wouldn't rush your baby just now - just go with the flow

thanks everyone, i'll just relax and let nature take its course once i have the mirena removed

Forgot to add that you can continue to breastfeed while pregnant. I stopped because I felt pretty bad with morning sickness that lasted 4 months. DS2 wasn't bothered. Would have liked to have fed him longer though. Some women getvery painful nipples when pregnant and some babies self wean because they don't like the change in their mothers milk.
I am sure though that you will be able to carry on feeding if that is what you want to do. HTH.

Im also TTC while breastfeeding my seven month old dd. My periods havnt returned though. I feed her once or twice during the day, before bed and through the night. She did start to stop waking for feeds and i stopped giving them her, but shes reverted back and ends up in our bed most of the night. I bought some OV tests as thought i wouldn't be OV due to no AF, but i got a +tive on the tset yesterday, so no im now so can get pg.