Breastfeeding and Period

well mine came back for christmas so Max was about 7 months old. and its now getting back to a regularish schedule.

well everyone is different my sister had her son 2 days after I had Max and she still (so she says) doesnt have hers...but take that with a boulder of salt.

I hope this helps you,
K.

I got mine 1 yr later and not very heavy or anything. It was only 1x time then I got PG... now w/ #2 looking forward to another yr w/o aunt flo! lol! Enjoy her absence!

With both of my girls it stayed away until I stopped breastfeeding. Within a couple weeks of weaning it was back,and the last time it came with a vengence! So just enjoy while you can,if it's not back within a few weeks of weaning I suggest you talk to your Doctor , sometimes our bodies get confused by the long break.

Hi C.,
I breastfed my first son for 17 months, and my period came back at about 6 months. I was surprised because I thought that I wouldn't get it at all until I was done breastfeeding. I can't really remember how heavy it was, but I think that it wasn't that bad.
S.

hi again C.. with my son, i got my period back at 9 mos, he had started solids at 6 mos, and was exclusively breastfed until then (except for a very rocky first few weeks of messing with formula and stuff till we got our act together). my periods were pretty regular and normal right from the start, and i breastfed him for 18 mos.
with my daughter, i got one short freak period when she was about 5 mos, i think that one period was really due to stress, it was a really bad time for me, then no period again till she was 13 mos. i had started her on solids at 6 mos also. she was also exclusively breastfed the first 6 mos, except for her very 1st week when she was in the nicu and they wouldnt let me. when i got my period back at 13 mos, it was pretty much normal, and i got pregnant again like 10 min later and weaned her at 15 mos.
i think the nighttime nursing has a lot to do with it, too. hth, D.

Hi, I had my daughter almost a yr ago. I tried to breast-fee, but it wasn't quite working out on her end, she didn't want to latch on...but I did continue to pump for the first 2 months. I had still been bleeding from the pregnancy (i had a c-section, so it may be totally different from your experience). I bled from the pregnancy for about 9 weeks, and by about the 10th week it stopped, a couple weeks later i got my period, and YES, it came back with a vengence!!! I had to wear an adult diaper ONTOP of wearing my normal overnight pads. But don't worry, it was only the 1st period that was horrible! By my 2nd period, things went back to the way they were before the pregnancy! Although, I had been told by a couple of friends, that since they had a baby, their periods are more on schedule, and are much lighter then they used to be. I wish I was so lucky!!! I would say that if you haven't gotten your period yet, it's been too long (unless you were that irregular before your pregnancy)...and you should call a dr. again. Best of luck. Hopefully your one of those lucky ones to have lighter, less painfull periods!

hi C., i'm still breastfeeding my daughter for ,14 months now, and still don't have my period. she only nurses about 2-3 times day- but still no period. i think its mainly because she nurses at night, that represses the ovulation the most, does your daughter nurse at night? sometimes i feel few cramps, but no blood ever.i really enjoy, periodless times, except i would like to get pregnant again soon, and dont know if i can.
enjoy it while you can!

I had to stop breastfeeding completely before it would come back.Enjoy this time........

Hi C.,
My son was born 7/31/06. He is breatfed, no formula at all. We started solids gradually at 5 months, by 6 months he was eating baby food and not just cereal. My period starting again in the begining of March, but I only had it for two days and it was very light. I did have some cramping and some major mood swings though. :) During that time my milk suply also dipped drastically. I thought it was the end for us actually, but everything is back to normal now.

Hope that helps.

My daughter was born Jan 13th and I did not get a period until Christmas morning, almost a year. I was on Ortho Micro-Nor birth control the whole time. It did not come back with a vengeance it was fairly normal as far as I could remember. However, I did get it quite frequently for the first few months, it took a while to figure out a schedule. My nursing had begun to decrease when I finally got it again and we were done by her first birthday so that may have been the cause of the period returning.

Hi C.,

As you all ready said, it is different for everyone. My period returned when my daughter was just 4 months old. I breastfeed exclusivly and did not give her solids until 6 months. I also breast fed on demand. My daughter is 16 months now, and still nursing. My period is still very strange. I spot alot and it isn't as heavy at times. My cycle is very wacky, I get it every 30 days, 32, 40, 20, 28 days... it varies month to month. If for some reason you WANT your period back, I would suggest not nursing at night (while sleeping). People at my leleche league meeting often do this to get their periods back when trying to conceive another child.

I usually have gotten my period around 7 months after the birth. Yep..pretty heavy :(
By my understanding is that yes, everyone is different, but the norm for women nursing in our culture, is to get the period around 7 months. Mainly b/c we try to space out the feedings and have the baby sleep through the night. If I nurse every 3 hours, I generally won't get my period. At this point, I don't have my 9 month old sleeping through the night ( I know, It's sad), and am nursing at least every 4 hours. I haven't gotten my period except for once. Cross your fingers. Maybe you won't get yours for a while! :)

Hi C.,
As you already know everyone's body is different. I solely nursed my daughter and before I had her people kept telling me that I wouldn't get my period while I was nursing....well guess what? They were wrong. My period came back normally every month even though I was nursing. When it first came back it was heavier then usual, but then it went back to what it was before I had my daughter. I know I didn't answer your question in full, but I hope this helps you a little bit.
P.

Girl enjoy it I didn't get my period for about 3 yrs Yes everyone is different I didn't have any signs I just started bleeding one day I wasn't bad

With my now 27 month old, I didn't get my period back until I completely stopped nursing her, at 11 months old. At that point, she was only nursing once in morning and once at night! And just nursing THAT little kept my yucky period at bay. Oh, the joy LOL.

With this one, I had to supplement because I wasn't producing enough, and all the pumping in the world and nursing didn't bring it back up. It's down to ONE nursing session first thing every morning, and she eats formula all day. Still, I have no period. Baby's nearly 5 months old, has been nursing ONCE a day for about a month now, and nursing ONCE a day has so far kept me from a period, yey, me! LOL Hope your luck is as good as mine, eh? LOL

I breastfed BOTH of my boys. With my first boy- I never got a period, I got pregnant again. (We weren't being as careful as we such have been because we used infertality drugs to get our first son.) Also I had not had a period. with my second son I was on a birth control pill that was safe for breastfeeding. I took the pill daily, like I was supposed to. I did not have a period (or get pregnant). I finally had my first after-baby period- when he was a year-old and completely weaned. There weren't really any signs that my period was coming back. I had changed to a regular birth- control pill, after my son was weaned. Then I got my period during the last week of my pill pack. I have found that my periods are lighter and I have less cramps than I did before I had children.

Hi. When i breast feed my first daughter i got mine a couple of months after i stopped. With my second daughter it came when i started to lean her off. So yours will probably come when you start to lean her off, or when you start to slow down. when its all over. haha

Every one is different... I breastfed both my kids for a few days, i know thats sad, but i physically couldn't do it. Before my son, i got my periods very irregularly, but i still counted the days like i was supposed to get it, and after him, i never got it again. my daughter was born 5 weeks ago, and the only bleeding i've had was from giving birth. I'm anxious to see if i get my period again. I don't miss it, but no one could figure out why it never came back. I'm having my tubes tied May 2nd, and i don't even know how your periods are supposed to be after that. I've suffered from pelvic pain for as long as i can remember, and it was always frustrating becuz my period never came even though i was having the cramping. They have yet to find out what that is from. Hope that helps :) Enjoy your period free time :)

I got my first period just before x-mas when my son was 6 mos old. I was no longer breastfeeding exclusively as I had gone back to work. And it was about the same time as I stopped pumping as well. I went back to work when my son was 12 wks and it still took me another 3 mos to get my period. I don't think it was any heavier then a normal period. But they were irregular at first. I don't think I got my next one for about 38 days or so after that. Then little by little every month it got closer to 28 days. It took several months to get back to regular again.

everybodys body is different,
as long as you are breast feeding they say it wont come back,
when you stop breast feeding it could take a while to come back and It may or may not come back with a vengence, depends on your body and how you were before you got pregnat.
Mine came back totally different,
I bleed harder now than I ever did, and longer, But i am not on birth control, If you go back on birth control it will control your periods, and lighter ones too.