How likely is it to be pregnant when breastfeeding?

[Nov19]

My son is 8 months old and my periods returned when he was 5 months old. He’s slept through pretty much from day 1 so I wasn’t surprised they came back so soon considering he was exclusively breastfed. Due to me needing to return to work, I’ve got his feeds down to just breastmilk in the morning. My periods returned when I was breastfeeding in the afternoon and evening so I thought with me only feeding in the morning they would start getting back to normal.

AF was due around the 1st June. I’d taken a pregnancy test a few days after and thought I saw a very faded line. I had a box of internet cheapies and Over a few days I thought I seen a very faint line on some and completely nothing on others.

I’ve got a pregnancy test being delivered today courtesy of amazon. DP and I have openly said we won’t use contraception as a small age gap would be ideal for us, I’m just trying to not get my hopes up but I’m wondering whether I could have just ovulated late and I could actually be pregnant.

I’d like to continue to breastfeed even just of a morning for a while longer but i was hoping my cycle would be a bit more regular as pre baby I was like clockwork.

Just wondering, for anyone who’s conceived when breastfeeding, has it been in line with your cycle? Has breastfeeding meant ovulation was late etc?

Thanks!

Breastfeeding a 10 month old and the morning after pill. Still got pregnant, so it's not impossible.

@InkieNecro That must have been a shock! I’m hoping if I’m not pregnant then AF hurries up so I know where I’m at.

It was, but my early pregnancy symptom is an excessive amount of saliva so I realised at about 3 weeks before I had missed a period. Plenty of time to adjust!

If you are then it will suck for about 6 months, but after that it definitely gets easier when they start being able to play together.

If your periods have returned then your fertility will be more or less back to normal. Breastfeeding only provides some contraceptive protection if you are ebf, feeding every four hours through the day, and not going any longer than six hours between night feeds.

One of my NCT friends got pregnant with her second when her baby was 5-6 weeks. I'm pretty sure she was breast feeding at the time of conception and I know she hadn't got her period back because she said that's why they hadn't been using protection... It was (obviously) unplanned and she didn't find out until she was almost 12 weeks.

I got pregnant whilst breastfeeding DS but he was 16 months at the time (periods came back at 6 months despite EBF and having a terrible sleeper!). Feeding once or twice per day usually. He ended up self-weaning when I was about 8 weeks pregnant.

It's not completely unlikely, my cycles were also pretty wonky when they first came back after BF, so a late ovulation is definitely possible as well.Good luck!

I got pregnant whilst breastfeeding DD (20 months). I think once your periods are back then it is fair game to fall pregnant unless contraception is used

Kind of holding out hope that mythical self weaning happens soon though as my nipples are absolute agony every time she latches 😩

One thing to bear in mind, if you are pregnant your milk may well dry up as a result.

Kind of holding out hope that mythical self weaning happens soon though as my nipples are absolute agony every time she latches 😩

I think the fact I winced every time he gets probably gave him a gentle push 😬

I got pregnant with DS2 while still breastfeeding DS1, DS1 was only seven months at the time. It was a shock as it had taken almost a year to conceive DS1, but we wanted two close in age so were delighted about it. DS1 self weaned at 9 months, when I was about 12 weeks pregnant and I was delighted he did, to be honest.

From what I've read (I was trying to get pregnant while bf my son, which I did but he was almost 2 by the time I got my periods back), your cycles can take a while to settle down but it varies.

You can get pregnant whilst bf before your period returns so the fact that your period has returned makes it likely. Fingers crossed for you.

My grandmother had 16 children some are less than a year apart so according to her wisdom its very likely that you can get pregnant while breastfeeding

Thank you for your replies!

My test came from amazon and it’s a BFN. Looks like I’ve just got a bit of a messed up cycle at the min. I’ve had AF symptoms for 2 weeks now so I thought I’d be pregnant as for me the symptoms are always so similar.

Fingers crossed it comes soon!

Breastfeeding does mess cycles up. I got my periods back when baby was 2 months old. He’s 6 months old now and I have only had 2 periods.

I was nursing my 11 month old 2-3 times a day and conceived . I only had sex once the whole month and it was on my period . It was towards the end of my period ( day 5 or 6 ) but I can only assume that nursing affected my ovulation. My periods had returned at 5 months postpartum and were mostly regular though so I really don’t know 🤷‍♀️