Fertility when breastfeeding

[Nightwithhertrainofstars]

Hello wise ones,
I wonder if anyone can advise me. My DD1 is coming up to 2 years old and I'm still breastfeeding, quite frequently: around 4 times a day and sometimes at night if she wakes and her dad can't settle her. I still haven't got my period back and ideally would like to get pregnant next Spring. I'm wondering if I can somehow find out if I am ovulating (would I be able to use ovulation tests for this?) Is it possible to be ovulating without a period or do people sometimes just get pregnant before their period has returned because they happened to conceive on the first cycle they had post-birth? I'd quite like to keep breastfeeding, definitely for the next few months but I'm unsure about how long it might take to start ovulating again. Any advice? I'm aware that the answer might be: everyone is different!

Oh, forgot to mention, I'm on Cerazet at the moment.

I'm definitely no expert but think you'll have to come off the pill before you know what's your body's up to. May be the pill stopping things rather than breastfeeding. Then use OPKs to see when your ovulating, use other methods of birth control during this time if your not currently wanting to get pregnant. Hope that helps
Xx

Thank you for your kind reply! Some very good points to think about.

It is definitely possible to get pregnant when breastfeeding. The NHS website confirms the countless stories on here. It'll be the cerazette stopping you. My GP told me periods are a good indication you're likely to be ovulating but yes you could do home tests very easily.

My understanding of Cerazette, although I may be wrong, is that is stops ovulation from occurring in most circumstances? So you'll need to stop the pill in order to ovulate.

Highly unlikely to be ovulating without periods, they go hand in hand, although you could absolutely get pregnant on your first cycle before a period arrives.

My first was 21 months and breastfeeding when I got pregnant with my second. We stopped breastfeeding at night and fed twice a day during the week as I was at work. Periods returned when he was 17 months but I wasn't on any contraceptive.

Bring on the cerazette is being on the pill so you need to stop the cerazette if you want to get pregnant.

I breastfed my eldest for years and got pregnant with my second the first time I had unprotected sex! I wasn't on the pill though, and my periods had come back within a few months of the birth - god knows how, as DD was a proper milk monster.

I was on cerazette prior to having DC1 and it stopped my periods completely, so that could easily be why you aren’t ovulating/having a period. I didn’t have periods at first with DC1 until I started weaning them, then they returned as normal but I guess if I’d gone back on cerazette I would have never have known, so as other PP’s have said you’ll have to come off cerazette and see if ovulation/your period returns. I do know some mums who had to stop breastfeeding completely to start ovulating again though.

I bf for 2 years and got pregnant while doing it. I mean everyone is different. But at that age they arnt really taking much milk. Think if your still on the pill that's what's stopping your periods rather than the bf.

My periods returned when I cut out night feeding and reduced milk in the day to twice a day. Been pretty stable since then.

I follow an obstetrician on Instagram who did a post about this recently - screenshot below but her handle is @theobgynmum if you want to see the full post with her comments

Thank you so much everyone for your thoughts! I suppose I hadn't really considered it being down to the pill as I've never been on a pill which stopped my periods before. Perhaps this is more common with progesterone-only pills? My Ob-gyn didn't mention anything when she prescribed it to me either. I would of course come off the pill when I'm ready to start trying to get pregnant. DD is about to start at nursery and that will probably reduce breastfeeding so I'll see how that affects things. And I'll certainly come off the pill a few months before I want to get pregnant next year, if there's no sign of my period returning before then. Thanks again!

I took cerazette and never had a period for years on it. Literally years. It is a very common side effect of that pill.

My periods didn't return until my little boy was doing full days at nursery, and I'd night weaned him, so there were at least 2 8 hour gaps between feeds every day. He was 20 months. I think that's unusual, most of my friends who breastfed had their periods back much sooner.

However, this could well be totally unrelated to breastfeeding. You're on the pill, its intended to suppress ovulation... you need to stop taking the cerazette and see if your periods have returned. Ovulation tests won't be reliable before you stop taking the cerazette.

"Cerazette is different from most POPs in having a dose that in most cases prevents the egg cell from ripening. As a result, Cerazette is a highly effective contraceptive." www.medicines.org.uk/emc/product/1698/pil#gref

For what it's worth I got my periods back around a year when my daughter was still feeding a lot because she ate barely any solids.

Thanks for the great advice and information! You've all helped me get much closer to working out what's going on.