Did you have to stop BFing to conceive?

[8DaysAWeek]

DS is 19 months old and I've still not had a period since he was born.

I've reduced feeds dramatically to 1-2 a day, and still nothing.

I know I can get pregnant while BFing, and I've been trying to "catch the first egg" for 6 months now, but did anyone eventually just decide to stop BFing in order to start properly ttc? If so, how did you do it and how soon did you period come back?

Yea! Cutting down to 1-2 a day didn’t seem to work so I stopped entirely and within a month I had a period. I think for some women even once a day is enough to keep AF away. I am still sad I had to end bf earlier than I wanted to, but fell pregnant on month 3 and now 6m pregnant so in my case very pleased I decided to stop. Good luck OP x

Thanks for that!! I'm on numerous ttc while BFing groups and weaning chat is either not allowed or not really supported - all very taboo as though I am being a terrible mother for stopping something for my current child for a child that doesn't exist.

I wouldn't be weaning solely for that though. I do enjoy it sometimes, but he's a very demanding feeder and it's hard work keeping him on minimal feeds (lots of distraction needed!).

What age was your LO when you stopped and was it difficult?

Oh and congrats on the pregnancy

weaning chat is either not allowed or not really supported

This is awful. So much for making your own choices and being supportive of other parents. I would suggest you leave those groups and make your own mind up about what is right for you and your family.

I had to stop feeding DC1/2 to be able to conceive DC2/3. I was only doing a bedtime feed each time, but my body obviously shuts down totally in that department whilst I'm feeding, as both times I was pregnant within a month of stopping that one feed! I did feel bad stopping earlier than I'd have liked, but I'd rather my DC were closer in age than more spaced out but had an extra 6 months bf. They had 18 months which was good enough I felt

Yes, same for me. I was down to a bedtime feed with DD, but still no period. Stopped when she was 20 months and DS is exactly 30 months younger.

Bobbiepin I know :( it's not nice at all, and I do have strong feelings of guilt about it which I am sure are stemmed from these groups. When I take a step back I think I've done a good job giving him 19 months of breast milk.

19 months is amazing! You should have no guilt about weaning when the time is right for you. I'm starting a very slow wean and my DD is only 4 months. I hate the amount of guilt that is put on to mothers for weaning or not bf. If it were a choice between formula or starvation then you wouldn't feel bad about feeding your baby. By 19 months they'll be fine with cows milk/water and food surely? You wouldn't even really need formula.

He's never taken a bottle so no I wouldn't need/try formula. He's a great eater and I've realised recently that he nurses more for hunger these days (was often for comfort/habit before) so when I offer water or something to eat he happily takes it instead, no fuss.

Thank you so so much for the support, honestly. I've been worrying myself stupid over this recently.

I fell pregnant whilst breastfeeding. Dd was about 11 months so had cut down

Yes, stopped at 14mo ( was one just two feeds a day by then) and period returned about 4 mo later. Then took a year and some help to conceive so maybe don't wait too long.

Excellent point villain. It may take months before I fall pregnant so don't want to delay it much longer.

Like I said, I can't stand women (or other, midwives I'm looking at you...) who make judgements on how and how long we feed our babies. I was beating myself up massively for introducing a bottle to DD but after feeding every 2 hours for the last 2 weeks, my supply wasn't increasing and I was in pain. I gave her the bottle and she demolished the whole thing, obviously hungry. Why should I feel bad for feeding my child?

Yes, no periods whilst breastfeeding. I hated breastfeeding and was pretty desperate to stop from the get go, but DS loved it. I did everything I could, night weaned, increased calories, had big gaps between feeds, but nothing worked. I've stopped now, and my period returned 4 weeks later. DS is 2 though, so I was very very pleased to stop!

Yep definitely. I had no periods for the 15 months I BF my daughter on demand. At around 13 months I cut out the night feeding and just gave her a comfort feed each morning. I got pregnant the next month.

Definitely was a factor for me, I would have loved to continue feeding but me and my DH wanted to have our kids without a big gap. Due in 14 weeks now and plan on BF DD2 for as long as wanted

My periods have returned pretty much around the child’s second birthday whilst I continued to breastfeed. I think that natural baby spacing for around a 3 year age gap makes sense, and although I was broody I do recall being glad at my sons second birthday that i didn’t have another baby yet as he was still quite needy himself. He was a big brother by his third birthday though, and stopped Bfing while I was pregnant.

You’re in the wrong BFing groups. Ours helps with weanin, mix feeding, stopping with a newborn if you so wish etc.

Anyway, I’m guessing the number of people feeding at 19months is probably somewhere around 0.1 per cent. So you’ve literally done longer than 99.9 per cent of breastfeeding mothers. Nothing to feel bad about.

Could you go away for a night or something and see if that break Spurs your body into action? You can probably come back and feed as normal. By 19months your supply won’t dry up overnight.

On another thread a poster said that night feeds affected her periods. It’s the same with me. If DD doesn’t feed as much during the night my periods starts up and then stops when she feeds more during the night. The day feeds doesn’t affect my periods as much.

My period came back at about 19 months while I was still breastfeeding about twice a day/night, and I got pregnant about 2-3 months later. but as soon as I got pregnant my milk dried up anyway, so actually it wouldn't have made much difference if I had stopped first.

I'm a bit gutted now. We're TTC number 3 but I'm still feeding my 21month old and if it were up to her she'd feed 24/7 but I've managed to get her down to 1/2 feeds a day.
I only had the implant removed a few weeks ago so still plenty of time to see what happens but I don't know how to stop BF without my daughter losing her shit.

I had 3 whole days of not feeding on several occasions and my period still didn't return. Some people just need to stop completely I think.

I went away for 4 days on a hen weekend a few months back and was sure it would kick start things but nope!

It's nice to hear from others who've done the same as me. Don't feel like such a monster now!!

Def good point about weaning in pregnancy. If I'm not going to commit to feeding past nursing aversions when pregnant then it's not much different to weaning now.

Yeah sorry I had to stop completely to get periods Back. Even being down to 1 feed a day didn’t do it!

I'm still breastfeeding my 8month old & just last week had my first period. So it definitely happens. I wasn't expecting it at all to be honest (had thought It wouldn't return till I'd stopped breastfeeding) DD is still feeding 5-6 times a day too... planning to stop BF at 13 months. Think you've done amazing to BF as long as you have, all the goodness & protection you've passed on! I feel guilty at the thought of weaning DD too but then I just slap myself & say omg shut up woman! We're too hard on ourselves

Definitely too hard on ourselves. I was talking to a colleague in work about it today and said something like "I mean, 19 months is an ok amount of time to be BFing for isn't it? It's not too soon to stop now?" And she just looked at me like yes 19 months is plenty (you mad woman!)