How soon is too soon to get pregnant again?

[Artemy]

We had our little girl in January and she is doing well. We are thinking about a second but how long should we leave it ideally, and how son is too soon?

Also the health visitor told us that I cant get pregnant while breastfeeding. But checking online it seems I can. Any ideas who is correct?

Do whats right for you.
its all good and well having random people say go for it! But its your body.

i was 38 with my first and started trying for no 2 at 39.5 with a view to "giving up on no 2 if i wasnt pregnant by 40".
As it was my cycles were very "normal" i had a better understanding of cycle timings and I fell pregnant first cycle so was just over 6m for my birthday (fun).

I have a 20m gap and had 2 under 2.
2 under 2 is HARD and breastfeeding them both is possible but will make it harder.
I really needed to pay attention to my nutrition and and time at 40 is a lot harder.

I was breastfeeding daughter and still feel pregnant when she was 6 months old. Sadly it did end in miscarriage.

There is 15 months between my son and my daughter though and although it's hard work (especially the first few weeks!), it's so lovely to now see them play and laugh together.

I'm now pregnant again, so there will be just over 2 years between this one and my daughter ☺️

Got pregnant when my 1st was 15 months, and got pregnant when my 2nd was 13 months. Although Iove the age gap between them all, my body is suffering big time for it. I'm 33.

In what way are you suffering and do you think this would have been different with more of a gap?

I've definitely found second pregnancy harder!

I've been dry nursing since my milk went, slowly trying to wean my DD at her own pace, and just last few days been dropping having any booby before bed. It has also meant weaning before I think either of us would have been ready otherwise. After initially being open to breastfeeding 2, I now really would like her weaned if I can before baby comes (due in 6 weeks). The aversions when breastfeeding / dry nursing when pregnant are horrific, and for some that can continue even after pregnancy. Never experienced any aversions before pregnancy. So even if ones milk supply doesn't drop, its very possible to finding breastfeeding intolerable due to aversions. The more posts I see about the challenges of tandem feeding, the more I'd like to try to avoid it (which wasn't initially my plan).

Health visitors genuinely scare me. Without any exaggerations.

The things I've heard them say (to me and others).

Your health visitor is wrong! I'm one of those mothers who got pregnant while breastfeeding. Not exclusively, DS was seven months and weaning, and he was also sleeping well at night which can encourage ovulation. My periods came back at four months post partum, when I was exclusively breastfeeding, so I knew there was the possibility of pregnancy and I was happy to have a small age gap.

So I have a 16 month gap between them. It was fine, I bounced right back and while it was tough with two babies, it was OK. I was younger though, around 30.

At 38 I'd be inclined to start trying now, to be honest.

I got pregnant when my first was 15m, and fell pregnant this time when second was 14m. I enjoyed the age gap the first time so hoping it will work again!

It’s definitely possible to get pregnant whilst BF, though I think it affects fertility differently for everyone. I haven’t got my period back since stopping feeding completely both times, so I think it stops me from ovulating.

HV is uneducated putting it kindly. You can certainly get pregnant when breastfeeding as long as your periods have come back.

It's really up to you but beware a lot of people get broody around this time then change their minds once their baby is mobile!

I got pregnant when my baby was 4 months old, I was still fully breast feeding and my periods had not started again. I was not aware of the pregnancy until I was five months pregnant as I had no noticeable symptoms! My doctor did a pregnancy test as I had gone to see her because my periods had not returned after I had stopped breast feeding when my daughter was six months old.

This was my third pregnancy, my previous deliveries had been very straightforward and fairly short, my doctor thought I should consider a termination as she felt it was too short a gap but I didn’t even consider it. I did have three children under the age of 4 which was tough but we got through!

The time is never right I think if you can afford it do it when you want.

You absolutely can get pregnant when exclusive bf. I have a 13 month gap and was exclusively bf to a baby who woke multiple times a night for a feed still got pregnant. HV should be corrected that's such poor advice!!

Sorry, just seen this reply. I ache a lot all the time, lower back being the worst.
Good question, possibly? It might have nothing to do with it, it could be that I've always got a child/baby in my arms. The oldest is 4, middle is 2 and youngest is 3 months. I could still possibly be recovering from labour. I'm also super sleep deprived. I should've added that in my op.
But I absolutely love them being so close in age so if my body is like this forever now, I'll take it all day long if it means I have these wonderful age gaps.

Emotionally I wasn't ready for number 2 until my daughter was 3. I had severe pnd and went from mat leave to sick leave and then had to do a phased return from there. It took until 2 to recover from the pnd and then another year to feel in a stable enough place to want to go through it again. It took 8 months from then to sort out my meds and come off meds that cause issues in pregnancy.
Your mental wellbeing is as important as your physical

We had C-section with DC1, so waited 12 months before TTC again, couldn't really leave it any longer due to my age... if time had been on my side would have waited a bit longer.