if you are breastfeeding but not using contraception, what are chances of preg?

[Gemmitygem]

Have 6 month old DS, breastfeeding him fully, no periods yet (but feel achey as if my body wants to have a period). Neither me nor DH would mind if I got preg again: how likely is this, any experiences?

for me, high chance. I got pregnant while bf.

You have to be bf more or less round the clock, every couple of hours, for it to be really effective. and even then, if you're, um, well-nourished you could still be fertile.

It's not a very effective contraception especially if you're not undernourished.

aha... Belgian doctor (I gave birth in Belgium) said there was a 2% chance of preg.

I'm very well nourished, to say the least!

ha ha ha, very high i would say (see my profile) All planned of course

oh, no profile . Suffice to say there are no huge gaps between my DC

i got pregnant whilst bf!

Belgian doctor is talking crap. My periods came back while breastfeeding.

I did have long nights without feeding due to good sleeper, the frequency of feeds makes a difference.

many doctors know virtually nothing about bf, really.

When ds was 6 months I was bf him around every 2-3 hours during the day and 4-6 times every night and...

...my periods came back.

Using it as contraception is definitely a Bad Idea, but if you're amenable to the thought of another pg then go for it.

they have quite low population growth in Belgium, so prob. tell that to women and then get some kind of bonus from the government! [grin}

might add that he sleeps 11-7, so I'm not feeding for quite long periods...

I got pg whilst bfing, an before the return of my periods.

I fell pg when I was exclusively bf ds1. He was feeding every 2 - 3 hours round the clock (he was about 3 months old).

So it doesn't work as a contraception!

Got pg when just bf twice a day. Periods back when lo was 8 mths old and bf all day but slept through at night. We started trying when she was 15 mths and got pg straight away. Just stopping bf now as it hurts too much (am 15 wks pg), wnated to carry on longer but i am no longer enjoying it.

amazed (and delighted!) to find myself preggo after second proper PP cycle - still breastfeeding DD (15months now & I'm 9wks)morning & night. Oh and I'm 40 too, so much for age being a problem

A good friend fell pregnant unexpectedly just 6 weeks after DD2 was born while she was fully breastfeeding and before any return of periods- so it certainly can happen! She had some problems with a conflict between her breastfeeding hormones & pregnancy hormones so had to stop breastfeeding soon after- but that was mainly because she was fully breastfeeding.

I was told that as soon as you start weaning your baby or not doing all the feeds each day/night then your body will have resources 'spare' again to allow you to conceive, but like others have said if you are well nourished this can happen before!! Personally I needed a good gap between my DC due to complications so went on the mini-pill (progesterone only) soon after DS's birth while breastfeeding. Mind you when I came off the pill it only took us a month to conceive!!

i was fully breastfeeding and feeding frequently and periods started again at 7 weeks ith one of mine!

Gemmity, for the contraceptive effect of BF to work, you need to be feeding a fully breastfed baby (no solids) on demand, around the clock. Gaps of longer than a few hours could easily mean a return to fertility for you.