Does breastfeeding affect OPKs?

[Starrysky812]

TTC baby 2. DD is 14 months and still EBF. I'm wondering if breastfeeding can be affecting my OPK results. I'm not using them religiously but have done a couple this month on the day I was expecting to ovulate and didn't even get a control line. A couple of previous months I've had the control line but a consistently negative OPK despite all my usual signs of ovulation (cramps, cm, higher sex drive) and having an exact 28 day cycle.

Is it likely that the OPK results are being thrown by my breastfeeding hormones or is it more likely that I'm actually not ovulating at all?

Thanks in advance for any advice! :)

Hi op, are you testing every day?

I ask only because I thought I wasn’t ovulating too, turns out that I am, just much later than pre baby, as I understand from some research that breastfeeding suppresses/ delays ovulation. I am ebf my 11 month old and despite my cycle now being 28/29 days, I seem to be ovulating on day 18/19. It might just be that you are ovulating later?

Quite likely. I didn't get pregnant whilst breastfeeding then conceived the month after I weaned.

Thanks guys. @Cdoc no I'm not testing every day but that is a thought. Maybe I'm just missing my ovulating window. I have ewcm from cd 10/11 to cd 15/16 though. Would it not continue for longer if I was ovulating later?

@mitogoshi that's really interesting. I wondered if maybe I'm just not ovulating at all as DD still feeds a lot, particularly overnight. What did you do to start weaning? She's still so keen for the breast, I can't envisage her being very happy if I begin withdrawing ☹️

Have your periods returned OP? We conceived when baby 1 was 9 months old and EBF. I did seem to ovulate a bit later than normal knowing when baby was conceived

I don't know anything about OPKs as they weren't invented back when I had my DC, but I do know that dropping night feeds is supposed to encourage ovulation.

I also had a 28 day cycle and knew pretty much when I was ovulating. I conceived DC2 much more quickly than expected given that I was breastfeeding a lot. It happened literally the first time of trying, when DC1 was seven months - it coincided with him sleeping longer and dropping a couple of night feeds.

Nope.

Prolactin the hormone that is highest during nursing can affect Ovulation though. So when you ovulate can change. It can also keep progesterone levels lower preventing successful implantation. Especially if you night nurse where levels are the highest.

I believe this was my issue. We started to TTC I'm Feb DS was 15 months old and I EBF and my cycles were manic all over the place.
Once I weaned fully in July 2 months my cycles became normal and 2 mo tha later fell pregnant and nearly 16 weeks.

Prolactin levels vary woman to woman. Some it affects pregnancy and ovulation and some have no issues at all.

My periods returned 6 weeks postpartum and were manic 21 day cycles - 43 day cycles. And yes we used OPKs when we TTC as well. The only change was weaning thats when I saw all nir al cycle.patterns and hormones return fully such as the acne, pain etc etc.

@LittleRobins yes periods returned when DD was 8 months and I'm back to my pre-pregnancy 28 day cycle now. That's why I'm assuming I'm ovulating - I have all the signs of it and my cycles are normal again.

I am keen to think about weaning night feeds. DD wakes up many times overnight and it's exhausting. I've read that one of the reasons why EBF babies waken so much overnight is because there's something worth waking up for. When she's in that semi asleep state, she'll always pull herself out of it and wake up fully because she's looking for that comfort of the breast. If she learned not to expect it, she might sleep better.

Any thoughts on that and advice about how to begin implementing with a baby who is constantly looking for the breast overnight? 🙏

Night waking isn’t linked to whether a baby is EBF or not. My EBF baby started sleeping through when he was 3 months old. His formula fed nephew still wakes for two feeds in the night at 2 years old. It’s often just luck I’m afraid. I do think being well rested might help you to conceive though

@LittleRobins lucky you! Wow sleeping through from 3 months is amazing. I'm seriously going to consider night weaning. Sounds like it might help to ensure I definitely ovulate and might help us to get a bit more rest at night xx

Definitely, as much rest and as little stress as possible. I hope I didn’t sound smug about it, they always say if you’re lucky with the first baby sleeping well that the second one will make up for it so in a few months I’ll realise just how lucky I was first time round!

I had the same my DS was hungry from the get go. You know how they say to set alarms at night will i realised after 4 days that was not needed he was waking well before my alarms. My GP and HV said boys are hungrier and some more then others. He didnt loose any birth weight and his weight went shooting up. I only EBF. So the HV was shocked. He went from 9th centile to 50th at 8 week check up.
We weaned at 22 months and he started to sleep lomger stretches only waking once or twice and then after a while he alstopped waking up at night. Only happens now when teething or sick.

@LittleRobins no not at all! It's great to hear not everyone is having such disturbed sleep. Since DD is such a terrible sleeper, hopefully my next one will be good! 🤞

@MixedCouple that's exactly the sort of thing I've heard lots of mums say - that their little ones start sleeping for longer periods once they're not expecting BF at night. Gives me hope!

@Cdoc I think you were right - I've done an OPK this morning on cd16 when I'd normally have given up thinking ovulation would've happened if it was going to, and I got a dark line! Almost as dark as control line. So hopefully it's on the way up and I've not missed the peak! Will keep testing for the next few days and see where it goes, but great to know for next cycles too that I'm ovulating a bit later than expected. Thank you!

How often would you recommend doing opks? Just daily or more frequently? Xx

Oh that’s great news that you have got a dark line! Big fingers crossed for you! it sounds like your peak may be very close? I would test again just after lunch and again this evening, I know that seems excessive but my peak usually happens in 12 hours and then I’m back to very faint lines, so if I don’t test a few times in the day I’d think I wasn’t ovulating!

Definitely good news for later cycles, I don’t know about you but I have found with breastfeeding I tend to get much much more ewcm earlier in my cycle, almost as soon as my period finishes. I’ve just put it down to all the hormones!xx

I think breastfeeding can sometimes cause hormones to stay a little out of whack for conception. We started ttc no.2 when our first turned one. Fell pregnant first cycle but ended in early MC. Dropped her feeds to just once before bed shortly after and then when she was 18months we weaned completely as still no BFP. She actually weaned really easily despite my worries it was going to be a battle. After we weaned her she started more consistently sleeping through the night and 3 months later I was pregnant with no.2. That's my experience but I know lots of people do conceive and have successful pregnancies whilst still breastfeeding.

@FizzyFlamingo thanks for sharing your experience and I'm so sorry you had a MC. It sounds like you have a lovely family now but I can understand how hard that must be ❤️ how did you wean in the end? I've read a lot about it online and lots of suggestions of reducing feeding time eg. by 2 mins every 2 days or dropping a feed. Overnight she just wakes up so randomly and sporadically - she might have 3 wake ups in a night or it might be 9! I just never know and they always last differing amounts of time. Did you do the cold turkey approach? If so, how did that go?

@Cdoc yes I'm very pleased thanks for your suggestion! I've actually found the opposite - less ewcm while I'm breastfeeding which I also put down to hormones. Although it does make me worry I'm less fertile while BF. I've just done another and both lines were pretty much the same, although both quite light. I've had quite a lot of water though so I'll make sure I don't drink much before my evening test. 🤞🤞🤞

It didn't with me but my son was only feeding during the day and sleeping through the night.

There is light at the end of the tunnel.
I miss the night snuggles but love my sleep.
After weaning to get rid of those 1 or 2 wake ups I just gave him his own water bottle and I spoke to him loads about sleeping in his own space with his teddies. It took some time but he started to sleep through the night at 24months. He tells me he misses me at night which breaks my heart. But in the morning he is so happy to see me and we have lots of cuddles. And he still remembers nursing and talks about it daily 😂 just hope he wont be too jealous once baby arrives.

@Starrysky812 we had already been giving her milk from a bottle or sippy cup for her other milk feeds in a morning/before nap which she had taken too fine so we just switched the nighttime feed to a cup too and she just accepted this and never even asked for me to feed her again (probably just really lucky). I still held her until she was asleep for a few months so she had that comfort of being close. Gradually we then started putting her in her cot awake but we stayed with her until she was asleep for a few months and then we just started leaving her awake and now she goes to sleep on her own. We just did it all really gradual and didn't rush anything with her which she seemed to respond well to. Good luck - hopefully it won't be as difficult as you anticipate, we were pleasantly surprised

Breastfeeding an older baby isn’t exclusively breastfeeding, as they have other sources of nutrition. If you are having a regular cycle then the chances are you’re ovulating each month, just maybe not on the day you expect.

Try not to get too hung up on tracking cycles and checking OPKs. Have sex every 2-3 days throughout the month and within 6-12 months you should be pregnant. Breastfeeding, even regularly, can affect ovulation but your baby is over one and you’re having regular periods so unlikely to be affecting it significantly.

@MixedCouple that's so sweet. I also love the snuggles but sleep is more important for all of us. Especially her - she must be exhausted with waking up so frequently! I've heard lots of people say that things get better at age 2 so hopefully it's the same for us.

@FizzyFlamingo sounds like gradual is the key. Thank you - it's always really helpful to hear someone else's experiences. I hope DD adjusts as well as yours has!

@Sidge thank you. That's very reassuring and you're absolutely right - I don't want to become obsessed with OPKs and symptom spotting, although it is hard. I'm an older mum and I feel time is against me. Although I know that sort of thinking isn't helpful either! 😆