Breastfeeding and Fertility

[coconutfeet]

Not sure whether this should be in Conception or here so I'm putting it in both. Sorry for the repetition.

I've heard in other places that BFing can make it harder to get pregnant, even if your periods have returned. I'm wondering what truth there is in this.

I'm BFing my 19 month old ds and trying to get pregnant. I know I'm ovulating, as I've been taking my temperature, and my cycle is very regular.

Is there any research to suggest that BFing could have any effect? My ds is happy with a feed in the morning and one at night while I'm at work (3 days a week) but asks for milk quite a few times during the day when I'm with him. Is there a relationship between number of feeds a day and fertility once your periods are regular again?

Of course it may have nothing to do with it, and I wouldn't want to stop BFing for no reason, but I'm wondering whether I'm making things harder for myself by carrying on. Unfortunately I'm getting on a bit so waiting isn't really an option.

Oops. First line should read Not sure if this should be in Breast and Bottle feeding or here.

A friend of mine got pregnant as soon as started trying and was BFing her toddler of a similar age. I have heard it.s harder i think but don't know how significantly. like you i didn't want to give up BFing unnecessarily. In the end i waited til dd was 2.5 then went cold turkey as decided by then wanted to stop for my sake anyway! And still struggling to conceive nearly a year on so I guess i'm glad i didn't stop BFing before it felt right for us.

Hi,

I believe that breastfeeding can reduce your chance of concieving particularly if it reduces your luteal phase to 10 days or less. I am sure you can work out yours if you are checking your temperatures and your cycles are regular though. I have heard of and know quite a few mums who concieved when bf'g too, so not imposible

I managed to get pregnant when my DS was 12 months old and I was still bf'g a few times a day.

This may be of help messageboards.ivillage.com/n/mb/message.asp?webtag=iv-ppttcbf&msg=18468.1&ctx=0

AAll the best for TTC. I'm a lurker hoping to TTC a #3 if eventually DH agrees and its not too late!

Hi, I fell pregnant on 2nd cycle whilst EBF ds1 (he was just 6 months at the time). And again I've fallen pregnant on 2nd cyle whilst bf ds2 (he was 9 months). I'm sure if you're ovulating etc it shouldn't take too long Finger's crossed for you! Good luck!

Thanks for the replies.

So it seems to affect women in different ways. My luteal phase is OK - 14 days, but I have noticed that my temperature rises more slowly after ovulation than it did before. But I got pregnant very quickly last time so don't have many charts to compare with.

I think I'll keep trying for a while and see what happens...

I concived ds while bf dd at 7 months

I had one period a month straight after having dd then nothing.

Hi coconutfeet, I am very interested in this same question, as I still BF a 3.5 yr old DD and have been TTC for 10 months with no success. But am getting very conflicting information - most of what's 'out there' on the web suggests that if your cycle returns to normal BF is unlikely to affect your fertility, BUT (there is always a but!) some women will experience problems like short luteal phases for a time, and some find it difficult to get pregnant until they wean completely. Most of the literature seems to assume that you will only BF a baby so there is almost nothing that I've found on the effects of extended/natural term BF. However, www.kellymom.com is quite informative.

BUT I have seen a fertility specialist recently who said that 95% of gynaecologists agree that BF does negatively affect fertility even when cycles return to 'normal' because the prolactin levels necessary to keep producing milk prevent the lining of the womb from thickening enough for implantation of the embryo. When I said 'but lots of people do get pregnant whilst bf' he said 'lots of people who smoke don't get lung cancer'! I do have pre-menstrual spotting of about 4-5 days though, which he said probably is part of my problem and related to the BF. TBH I am not sure that what he said is all that 'evidence based' as I guess so few people BF for so long in western cultures that there is little biomedical evidence about its effects. But I may be wrong...

Sorry, a bit of a ramble, but I guess from this all I conclude, as you do above, that it varies enormously from woman to woman. I am trying to really cut back on BF DD and hoping that this will help, but weaning for TTC is very difficult isn't it?

BTW we have a thread on BF whilst TTC on this board that you are welcome to join!

Hi Lilysma, I agree, it's a tricky one isn't it. I've been BFing completely on demand during the day up till now (and he sometimes demands a lot) but like you I've decided to cut down on some of the feeds and see whether it has any effect, but it makes me sad.

I've started temping again this month, and I've noticed that although there is a clear ovulation pattern the range of temperatures is much smaller. By that I mean my pre-ovulation temps were lower and my post-ovulation temps higher while temping TTC ds. I don't know how much relevence that has and of course (depressingly!) it could be because of my more advanced age and have nothing to do with the BFing. I think I'm going to just monitor it and see.

Is the fertility specialist offering you any help or do they want you to wean before they'll do that?

Thanks for the info on the group - someone else pointed me in the right direction yesterday so I popped in to say hello and now need to find some time to read the whole thing and catch up with who's who!

Great, see you on the other thread coconutfeet. The specialist (NHS gynae outpatients) advised me to stop bf and said he would 'leave us alone' for six months. But all they can really offer is IVF (my tubes are 'bad' , but eggs and sperm 'good') and this would be on a private basis as we have one child, so its not his choice really I guess. From my perspective I think I would have to stop bf if we go for that to give us the best possible chance. So I'm sort of trying to wind down the BF in the hope that this will be enough to conceive, but towards stopping altogether in the next few months. It will be an interesting journey...

Interesting what you say about your charts - I didn't chart when TTC DD so don't have a comparison point. I'm also getting long in the tooth (37) so time is not on my side either...

BTW I didn't mean to imply that you are an ancient crone and that time is not on your side - all such situations apply to me though, unfortunately!

Ha! Don't worry. Unfortunately I am an old crone in the context of TTC. Young at heart in every other way though!

Good luck with winding down the BFing. It's good to know at least that your eggs are good. Well I BF ds this morning and managed to distract him throughout the day with no real problems and will give him a good feed tonight and try and keep it up, eventually dropping the morning feed, I suppose. I'll keep the night feed though, and see whether my charts are any different.

See you on the other thread!