TTC whilst breastfeeding. Tips, advice and support

[Porridgeaddiction]

Hi all,

There doesn't seem to be a thread for TTC whilst breastfeeding, so I thought that I'd start one. All welcome to jump aboard if that's your journey too, or offer tips and insights if you've managed to conceive whilst feeding a young one.

Good luck @Orangio and @Mc3209 keeping my fingers crossed for you!

I am hoping that at 15m after giving birth my cycles will settle quickly - trying to remind myself I've gone through lots of changes too though. Having a baby. Bfeeding. Coming off the pill...

Interesting!

I'm afraid opks don't mean much to me! Does that mean you're about to ovulate? If so, awesome!

@Orangio you want the test line (on the left) to be as dark or darker than the control line to have your 'peak'. If it's lighter than the control, which I think this is but only just, then it's a negative for ovulation.

I did have a very full bladder when I took this, so will test again in a little while and see if the test line comes out darker.

It's still not 100% certain that you have ovulated, as you can have a LH peak and not actually release an egg, but there is a good chance of obvulation with an LH peak.

I’m getting this too! Lots more EWCM and straight after my period up until I think(!) I’m ovulating. Has yours settled?

@Billyv how's it going, did you ovulate?
@Porridgeaddiction how are you doing?

We've decided to night wean and tonight is the night! DH has three days off work now so he can do all the shushing and patting in the night. I am pretty nervous DS is going to screeeaaam... but conversely also looking forward to it 😳

@Orangio hello! Thanks for asking. Yes, I hope so. I got a peak OPK yesterday late afternoon so fingers crossed I'm ovulating today. I do have a slight pain on and off on my left side, so could be!

We haven't actually dtd very much as DS has a crappy cold and is teething, didn't get round to it yesterday as he is very unsettled. We did do it 2 days ago. So hopefully we're in with a chance. But actually I'll be pleased if I have a reasonable luteal phase and then next month we can really go for it, if we did miss the boat (or rather egg) this time round.

Best of luck for weaning! I hope it goes well. Your poor DP haha (but then poor you putting in all the hard work at night for the last year). Let us know what happens!

Hello everyone,

Just wondering if anyone else's babies seem less interested in milk while you're ovulating. Or is this just a coincidence? He's barely had anything today.

Thanks! 🙂

Not much yesterday either...

@Orangio how was it?!

@Billyv mine was same boobie monster he usually is. I got a strongest positive OPK few days ago, so hoping I did lay an egg.

Sorry @Billyv I can't say I noticed a change over ovulation either.

Last night was quite interesting! His first wake up was about 10.30, and it took DH three hours to get him back to sleep 😆 He moaned quite a bit (baby, that is) but didn't get really really shouty or anything. I think he wouldve if it had been me comforting him though! After that he woke up again at 4am, and it took another couple of hours to settle him. So it could have been worse. At least we got some bits of sleep and fingers crossed tonight will be better.

Where in your cycle are you @Mc3209 ?

@Orangio that's a good start! Fingers crossed things will go smoothly.
I am 1-2 dpo. The dreaded tww begins. Determined not to test until Halloween.

Ah thanks for the replies everyone. He was back to drinking milk like normal this morning so maybe the teething was putting him off.

@Orangio glad it wasn't as bad as it could have been, hopefully he'll be tired tonight and sleep more.

I've been trying to encourage DS to fall asleep by himself without rocking... Awful last night, I ended up crying as much as he was. Once I picked him up it took 30 seconds to get him to sleep. We're trying it to see if self settling helps with the night wakings but I'm not sure I can continue with letting him cry - I stay in the room and talk to him but it's awful seeing him so unhappy. He stands up and puts his head on my shoulder 😢

Hey guys, wondering if anyone has had the same? I got a series of flashing smileys followed by a solid on clear blue digital, but never a positive on the IC sticks. Lines got slightly darker, but always a low ratio. Do you think this means I haven’t ovulated? 🤦🏼‍♀️

Hi @Golaz i think someone upthread said that opks are less reliable when BF? Might be wrong though! Sure someone else can help as I don't know much about opks, but I don't think they ever guarantee ovulation (even if not BF). You need to temp if you want certainty.

@Billyv was last night any better than the previous one?

Night 2 of night weaning was definitely an improvement. He only woke once, and took a couple of hours to settle, so DH got more sleep 😁

@Golaz I think BF can make ovulation testing less reliable - especially the clearblue kind which monitors estrogen too I think (?) as well as LH. I think your estrogen can fluctuate. Never used them, but I did think a static smile was for LH on those clearblue monitors? Not much help sorry.

@Orangio oh really glad you had a better night. I just rocked DS to sleep last night. Couldn't face any tears...he didn't sleep too badly though 🙂

@Orangio @Billyv thanks very much for replying with your thoughts. I’m guessing I maybe had a tiny LH surge , but not enough to ovulate. It’s frustrating because , I’ve had two bleeds so far- three months apart- both with a 5 day luteal phase 🤦🏼‍♀️. I guess my body’s trying , but baby is still feeding too much. I thought about tempting, but if you are up in the night feeding does it make it less accurate ?

Apologies for asking you to repeat , but do you mind saying how old your babies are and if your periods have returned?

@Golaz urgh that does sound really frustrating!

I'm new at TTC while breastfeeding. My LO is 15m. I just came off the pill about 3 wks ago. I had an LH peak on Wednesday, so am just waiting to see what my luteal phase is like. It's common I think for them to be short while bf? I'm not really expecting a BFP, I'm just hoping my period doesn't come too soon and that then I'll have regular cycles. I mean I'm not saying a BFP wouldn't be nice! Hehe just seems unrealistic.

I'm not bothering to temp this time round as I'm still up in the night, sadly often a few times a night, so I think it would make it pointless unfortunately.

My DS is just about to be 12m. I've had two periods now, and I've been temping. I've found that if I get a three hour stretch of sleep then I get a decent temp. Often DS does sleep from roughly 3.30 to 6.30 so mostly we got a good one. But if that didn't happen then I've just been ignoring the temp. I think there was maybe six or seven unreliable temps in the month? So overall I still got a good picture. I didn't mind about knowing exactly which day I ovulated, but I just want to be sure that there is a pattern of higher temps at the end of the cycle. The first cycle did have an obvious temp shift so I'm confident I did ovulate, but it was difficult to know the exact day because I had a couple of sleepless nights around ovulation! So it depends what you want to get from it I guess.

My son is eight months, almost nine, I've had three periods now. Haven't temped but have had long patches of ewcm, almost up until period day so I know things aren't balanced and my luteal phase is short. Im not actually TTC right this moment as my partner is working away so we've not really been together over my fertile period (whenever that is 🤣)

Will need to night wean though soonish! Glad it's going a bit better Orangio! My little one has had a fever last couple days and so been feeding a LOT - wondering how that'll affect things this month. Think I'm due on in ten days so will see if period comes or things get delayed

@Golaz my DS is 2 years old and I just got my period back.
Very difficult not to get obsessed. For once I'm thankful for busy week at work coming up, hopefully it will stop me testing too early.

Argh, baby was sleeping okay last week incl two whole nights... but this week has been a disaster. Won't unlatch, not for naps or at night - and woke up 3 times a night the last 3 nights! Why is there no consistency in baby sleep 😥And also where did this suddenly come from at 10 months? Seems like separation anxiety? But still happy to go to nursery though? Ugh very jealous of your periods right now @A1b2c3d4e5f6g7!

@AnonymousXXIX I know it lulls you into a false sense of security! Can't tell you how many times we've thought we've cracked it, only to have a massive relapse

Hi, can I join please? My dd is 14m and we're beginning to think about trying for our second. I'm in the process of moving job though so there's a bit of a delay anyway to make sure that I get paid maternity for the next one. My period is not back yet anyway, but I want to make sure that it is once we're ready to start trying. I've lost a lot of weight bf and still feed a fair amount during the night and days I'm not at work. I'm going to start having an extra small meal a day and have started taking the seven seas pre conception vitamins. Has anyone else tried these or got any other advice?

Hi ladies! I’ve just caught up with all of your progress. Delighted for those of you who’ve got your BFPs.
My period finally arrived yesterday- LG is now -15 months and we’re down to 1 feed a day, before bed- and today‘s stomach cramps have been painful. My periods used to be so light but this one is completely different. 😣
Hoping to TTC this month but we’ll see what happens.