I’d love to have baby #2 but 16 months pp and no period

[Kalinaa]

Hi everyone, so sorry if this is the wrong place to post! I have a beautiful 16 month old and we feel so ready to try for another. My periods have not returned which I think is still within the realm of normal? I am still breast feeding. Would just love to know what peoples personal experiences are with this and when your periods returned, or if you had to stop bf in order to kick start them? Thank you 😊

I fell pregnant at 17m pp while ebf DS before periods had returned.

DS was also am IVF baby after 3.5 years if trying ( male infertility )

I was bf when I got pregnant (in fact still am). My periods came back at around 9 months when I wasn't feeding as much. How many times a day are you feeding? Are you with your baby all day or do they go to nursery/childcare?

Had to stop breastfeeding DC1 at 19 months in order to TTC. Got my period back a few weeks after last feed.
Period came back at while still breastfeeding DC2 at 22 months, coinciding with a couple of weeks of him sleeping in his own room and not feeding through the night every 2 hours like he had been until then! Fell pregnant with DC3 right away!

Hi Op,
My periods came back at 16 months post partum, but they were all over the place for a few months. I don't think I was ovulating either for a couple of months.
I was not comfortable with giving up bf just to conceive , dd was no where near ready, so I made the decision to carry on bf and hope my periods would return to normal. I'm glad I waited.
I am still bf and dd is nearly 2. My cycles are longer now {approx 37 days} but I am ovulating, thankfully. We started ttc about 2.5 months ago , fingers crossed we will make another little one soon.

Thank you everyone 💕 it’s so interesting how it can be so random and different for everyone! @peppapigfangirl I work full time but am home all day with baby, I feed twice a day (but multiple times at night 😴) @ItsSunnyOutside this is sort of how I feel too, baby is so dependent on the boob still that I don’t feel she’s ready to wean, however I do feel quite done! But battling with the guilt of stopping when I know she would be happy carrying on. That’s lovely to hear you are happy you waited though, makes me feel better too 😊 good luck with baby number 2!

@Kalinaa

Thank you everyone 💕 it’s so interesting how it can be so random and different for everyone! *@peppapigfangirl I work full time but am home all day with baby, I feed twice a day (but multiple times at night 😴) @ItsSunnyOutside* this is sort of how I feel too, baby is so dependent on the boob still that I don’t feel she’s ready to wean, however I do feel quite done! But battling with the guilt of stopping when I know she would be happy carrying on. That’s lovely to hear you are happy you waited though, makes me feel better too 😊 good luck with baby number 2!

The reason I ask is because ovulation/period coming back is linked to the hormone that you release when you bf dropping enough for your period to come back. I understand this can also be affected by being physically close to baby so for example some mums might get their period back sooner if their baby is in nursery rather than at home with them.

I'm in awe that you're still feeding multiple times at night as well as twice a day. Are you finding that ok or is it too much for you? I'm still feeding my daughter at 18 months but only really once a day and she doesn't feed overnight anymore. She dropped her last feed overnight at 9 months. I have to say I had to be the one to drive her dropping that feed as she was still waking up for it at around 2am. Instead of me going in to feed her at that time I sent my husband in who would then just rock her or pat her back to sleep. It took about 2 or 3 days of him being in with her for a long time but after that she slept through. I did still feed her overnight if she woke up and it was the only thing that worked eg if DH comforting her wasn't enough and I still feed her on demand which can be a lot more if she "needs" it eg if she is poorly. I wonder whether you could try to reduce the number of times you feed her overnight- I suspect that would be enough for your periods to come back and you wouldn't need to change anything in the day. I was still feeding my DD a couple of times a day when I got pregnant with my current littlest. You will probably also need the sleep if you do get pregnant! You can try reducing the feeds very gradually and gently. Husband going in instead like ive mentioned would be a good place to start or perhaps reducing the length of the feeds so you could remove the latch before she naturally drops off or falls asleep and put her back into the cot and let her fall asleep the last part on her own or with you comforting her.

@Kalinaa
I know it's easier said then done, but you shouldn't feel guilty if you do decide to wean/stop. You have got this far, which is incredible!
You could always try day weaning first and keep the night feeds?
My dd doesn't feed as much in the day now, its more comfort suckling. I still bf for her nap and bed time and usually a couple of times at night although its usually for just a couple of mins.

@peppapigfangirl thank you so much for your kind and informative reply ❤️ I am finding it very hard with the feeding through the night- and am desperate for a bit more sleep but find it really hard to make a change as my husband works nights (although not every single shift) so it is usually just me getting up with baby - even though I’m then working in the day as well 😂 I really think I need to be firm to make the change but it is so hard as she has only ever fed or rocked to sleep and she is so heavy now!

@ItsSunnyOutside thank you so much ❤️ Yes mine is the same mainly comfort suckling!! I could definitely give this a try, as she is relatively easy to distract during the day!