12 months postpartum and not ovulating yet - anxious for second child

[closingtime101]

I have a 12 month old daughter and am still feeding her very infrequently, usually once but sometimes twice a day. I have been doing lots of reading and I know Lactation Amenorrhea prevents lots of women from getting their periods whilst breastfeeding due to prolactin inhibiting oestrogen production. I also know it can take up to 2 years for normal ovulation to resume. I have been trying to stop breastfeeding for a couple of months now, but I usually cave in the middle of the night when she is very distressed and rooting for the boob (she is still not a very good sleeper). The reason I am anxious to start ovulating and conceive again is that I need an operation to repair a rectal prolapse and remove part of my colon, but I have been advised that once I have the surgery, I should not have any more children. It appears that I’m one of those women who, as long as they are breastfeeding, will not get periods. Does anyone have any experience of this and of somehow raising their oestrogen levels enough to ovulate again? Any words of wisdom about how to stop the breastfeeding?! I’m feeling quite anxious about it all (as well as in discomfort from the health issues). Not quite sure what to do!
(doctors unhelpful by the way. They are all “shocked” I am still not menstruating. It feels like although all medical professionals promote breastfeeding, they don’t actually know much about what it does to a mother’s body)

Your periods may return soon. Mine returned at 14 months post partum. He stopped feeding in the night at 13 months and then they returned and he's now 20 months. He still breast feeds 2-3 times a day and my cycle has remained and I'm ovulating.
Some women don't get their periods back until stopping breast feeding completely but a lot get them back when you drop the feeds and they start eating more solids.
There's not much you can do unless you completely wean her or try and night wean and see if that makes a difference ?

We are also trying for baby number 2, first baby was IVF so aware it might not happen but I never actually used to have periods so this is a good start!

hi op, following this thread with interest as i'm in a similar situation as you. dd is almost 2 and my
period just returned this month! started trying for no 2 but i feel like i'm still not ovulating:( i'm also not ready to wean dd just yet but i really wish my cycles would go back to normal while breastfeeding😫

it’s so hard. Just given into feeding her as she was screaming for so long at bedtime and then I feel guilty for putting her through it when feeding works instantly. interested that yours took 2 years to return! It’s so different for everyone…

i feel the absolute same, it's so so hard! how do you wean when you actually don't really want to:/ i just ordered some ovulation tests on amazon and i'm going to start testing for some time.... maybe at some point i'm going to ovulate!

Hi @closingtime101 sorry to hear about the anxiety around all this - I can totally understand.

My period didn't come back whilst I was breastfeeding... Although I was very happy breastfeeding, I wanted my cycles back to try for no. 2 when he turned 1 (although like @Swirls346 our son is an IVF baby so we probably need treatment anyway), and I also needed to stop breastfeeding because I had to travel for work soon after. My period came back around 5w after I stopped completely.

For us, nightweaning was the hardest as he totally refused the bottle until that point, but we managed to slip some dreamfeeds in so we reduced breastfeeds to only bedtime and morning, then only morning, then nothing at all. To be honest, my son seems less bothered than I was 😅. Once he realised there was no boob, he took to a bottle. We had to get to a point that he was sleepy enough at bedtime to fall asleep with my partner, and if he didn't want the bottle in the morning then we'd wake up and have breakfast. Now he has his bottle at bedtime, if/when he wakes up at night, and in the morning, and I still get the bedtime and morning cuddles now that he's forgot about the boob.

I read that if you increase your calorie intake enough,it could help your cycles return even if you're still breastfeeding.

I really hope it works out for you soon!

Thanks so much for sharing your experience! We’re going to try dream feeds. Last night was awful 😞 so much crying and she woke up every time I put her down. Eventually had to sleep with her just to get her to lie down and sleep, after feeding obvs. My husband can’t settle her and when I’m not feeding her she really gets so upset. Gah.

She's still very young. If it's causing you both that much distress I would say just carry on with the breast feeding, your period may arrive soon regardless x

I think you’re right. Got to try to be patient xx