periods after baby: how long?

[morethanithot]

had ds 2 months ago, few probs after, uterine infection for abt 3 weeks, 4 courses of antibiotics. gp requested ultrasound, which is yet to come through. anyways, 2 days after stopping antibiotics, started bleeding. thot, great period returns( this is 6 weeks after birth). then bled for 16 days, compared to 4 days before pregnant. started minipill when i started bleeding as i'm not breast feeding, and another pregnancy so soon would be a mega disaster for me. now worried, as hav started to bleed again, from 20th day of mini pill. don't know if this is normal or what?
am so tired of going back and forth to the doctors

not sure if this is helpful ,but good friend started periods again on dot of 4 wks after birth of her son. i am other end of spectrum - over one year. Both of us bfing - so not directly comparable. Sounds like a lot of bleeding tho. Any pain?
Could NHS direct advise?

I had all sorts of funny bleeding after dd and ds3. Ds3 is now 20 months old and my periods were just settling down into regular 5 day bleeds every 28 days when I suddenly had periods after 23-26 days. See a doctor if you are worried but not if you are breast feeding as they always say that bleeding doesn't settle until you have stopped b/f. For myself, I give up ever expecting them to ever go by the book!

no pain with periods, and if anything, lighter than before. i'm just worried about the change in lenght. think i'll see how long this new one lasts, and if longer than 10 days, will see dr again.
thanks both!!

I didn't have a period until dd was about 8 months old (was bfing) and they were longer and heavier than before

the minipill is probably the culprit! progestogen only contraception (including minipill, depo injection and mirena) can all be quite liable to make your cycle irregular and cause irregular bleeding.

my first period after childbirth (5.5 weeks after) was pretty heavy and a bit odd - about a week bleeding, few days break, then another week bleeding).

i hadn't thought of that. very interesting.
dint think i had a choice you see, as i couldn't face the thot of another baby, so contraception was my priority. what do i do now: had been on the mini pill before, no probs, suited me just fine, barrier methods too fiddly. is it likely that perods will settle down if i continue with the pill?

I haven't been on the pill since having dd over a year ago now, and my last few periods have been all over the shop, started again at 6mths, and was fine and normal 5 days for the few, then got a 3 week one....(gorey details tampon a day job) then a normal 5 day one, then a 3 week n 3 day one, quack thinks it just body settling down......waiting to see what happens with the next one!!!

There are lot of old threads on this you could look at and all they show is that absolutley anything is possible and that it varies wildly from individual to individual.

I didn't get mine back till DS was 10mths, and I breastfed till 16mths, but I spoke to a woman down the park who was still breastfeeding her 14mo and she got hers back when he was 3mo.

the chances are if you continue taking the mini pill then the bleeding will tail off and settle down over the next few days / possibly weeks (worst case scenario). Bleeding can be irregular for the first few months of taking progestogen only contraception, you kind of have to just keep with it and hope it will settle down - or return to your GP / clinic and switch to another brand or change to another form of contraception. But dont worry. The fact that there is no pain and the bleeding is light means this is probably nothing to worry about.

may be premature in my celebrations, but think uterus has settled. period in 7day pill free zone stopped after 5 days. for the first time since ds' birth, feeling hopeful and positive about my innards.

I started the mini pill after having ds and didn't have a period for just over a year. I asked the doctor about it after 9 months and he said to make the most of it and not complain Apparently, the mini pill can have all sorts of weird effects on your cycle...

moreitthanhot - are you sure you are on the mini pill? hello mama is the expert here - family planning nurse, but iirc you are meant to take the mini pill every day.