Seeking Advice How Getting Pregnant Whilebreastfeeding

If you are having any trouble, I HIGHLY recommend the book "Taking Charge of Your Fertility" by Toni Weschler. It is SO incredibly informative about your cycle and determining when you are the most fertile. Good luck.

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You can ask any doctor, you cannot breastfeed while pregnant. I had to stop breastfeeding my daughter at 10 months old. I too wanted to continue, but wasn't allowed.

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If you're menstruating again, you probably don't need to worry about it. Lots of women get pregnant while breastfeeding - I did too.

I must confess that I found breastfeeding a bit of a chore when I had morning sickness, and that I weaned my firstborn at 21 months because I just didn't care to feed two at once, although I know some mothers do.

I had sporadic periods for the first year after my baby was born. My last period was on Nov. 27 (Thanksgiving). My baby had just turned 14 months old and was still adamant about her breastmilk. I found out in early January that I was pregnant. According to my OB, the body weans naturally. My milk supply did seem to become less, but I was ready to wean so I don't know if it would have continued producing as long as my baby was still interested. (It still took me 2-3 months to wean her.) I have read about many women who breastfed through their entire pregnancy and some even tandem nursed the new baby and first baby! Soo it seems that whatever suits your plan is possible. Good luck to you!

In Sweeden, and a few other countries, they've done some AMAZING studies on this.

Come to find;

- There is a chemical reaction between a baby's saliva and the nipple/areola. Hence, how the milk your body produces changes with your little one's needs.

- Exclusive breast feeding for BC ONLY works if the infant is EXCLUSIVELY breastfed. AKA, no solids, purees, juices, OR WATER. Nothing, nada, zilch, except for breast milk. The babies saliva tells our bodies that essentailly, we're beginning to wean, and therefore it's time to get ready to be pregnant again... even if it's just plain old H20.

From what I've read, a woman has an equal chance of getting pregnant while nursing as she does while NOT nursing, if her baby has been introduced to other forms of nutrition/hydration. The studies done in socialized medicine countries are HUGE, compared to our teensy weensy ones. Socialized med. countries researchers can plug in relevant data, (without ever knowing the patient's name) and work in studies of hundreds of thousands...over decades. Here in the US a "BIG" study is usually 1500-2500.

Of course, that doesn't really take into account that many of our bodies are survivalists, that don't allow implantation of an ova when we're stressed (ummm...hello? a new mum stressed? No way!) or malnourished (aka dieting...we don't do that either, do we?). And, so too, that's a study in a country where mum's AND get a year to a year and a half of paid maternity leave.

So in short:

- Rest
- Relax
- Have fantastic sex (okay, that's just my 2 cents, count it in the relaxation column)
- Eat for 3 (oh darn. Pass the pizza?)
- Make sure your young one is not exclusively nursing

Good luck!

http://www.early-pregnancy-tests.com/ has inexpensive, high quality tests that you can buy in quantity. Get some ovulation tests and pregnancy tests to have on hand for the price of 1 or 2 tests in the store. I was very happy to have found this site when I was trying to ge pregnant!

Oh and I got pregnant with my second while breastfeeding my first with only sporatic periods. The old "breastfeeding is birth control" is a TOTAL wives'tale!

Good luck!

If you have your period and/or are ovulating, you can get pregnant.

i didn't get Aunt Flo until DD was a year old. but when she was 15 months old i found myself pregnant... what a surprise since it took us 18 months to conceive the first time!

DD and i continued to have a healthy breastfeeding relationship and still are now that her sister is over 2 years old. we had some difficulties during the pregnancy (lower supply, sore nipples, colostrum tastes different, etc) but we kept going and she loves it now with all the milk i'm making for the baby! it just takes patience, persistence and a willingness for both mom and older nursling. It helps if you have a supporting family (i didn't... my hubby kept encouraging me to let her wean while she wasn't as interested, my mom, my dad, MIL...everyone who doesn't understand why i was still BFing in the first place) and it's amazing to be able to tandem nurse!

As far as i've read there are very few instances when a woman CAN'T or SHOULDN'T nurse while pregnant... even in cases where preterm labor is a problem. And if you don't have a problem with PTL, it surely won't affect you (i had DD#1 at 40 weeks and then defeated the wives tale that the second comes earlier: DD#2 was 8 days late!).

Breastfeeding does not prevent pregnancy. My 2nd child was conceived while breastfeeding #1. I stopped nursing him about 2 months before she was born.

Good luck!

You CAN get pregnant while breastfeeding... I did. And I continued to breastfeed until my daughter self-weaned.
Many women get pregnant while breastfeeding.
And each woman is different.

You can also research online "extended breastfeeding while pregnant" for example.

Good luck,
Susan

You can get pregnant while breastfeeding. I did twice and continued to breastfeed. I did check with my doctor and he was more than fine with it and just suggested that I be sure to get enough calcium for all 3 of us! Congratulations on your decision and good luck!

Great job breast feeding & allowing for self weaning! My son is 2 and we're stillnursing too, but I haven't had a period yet. If you have, just give it a try and you'll get pg. I have several friends that hjave gotten pg while nursing.

Hi, my doctor told me you can get pregnant while best feeding, just make sure you eat good & well balanced meals cause you are feeding 3 people ;)
Good luck

Hello there -

I also became pregnant while breastfeeding - on the very first cycle we tried. :) The first thing you need to know is whether or not you are ovulating yet. (You may not be ovulating even if you have gotten your period back). There are simple and non-invasive ways of determining if and when you are ovulating without using any expensive tests or visits to the doctor. If you don't have it already, you should buy or check out the book "Taking Charge of Your Fertility" by Toni Weschler. This book is great, and has all of the information you need. Best of luck! :)

I stopped breastfeeding during the night and I got pregnant. My son had just turned 2 years old. He still breastfed every few hours during the day.

I used Emerita progestoerone cream in the am, after my shower and rubbed it over my ovaries. I didn't cycle it though, but rather administered it for 3 months straight and we ended up pregnant.

While breastfeeding him, we got pregnant with #3 and I continued to nurse him for about 5 months...and by then, he had weaned himself to 1-2 feedings per day. Once I stopped, there was no milk left anyway, or very little.

You can definitely get pregnant while breastfeeding--and continue to nurse, as well. I became pregnant with my youngest while nursing her older sister, and I continued to nurse DD1 well into my fifth month of pregnancy, when I think I just dried up. She stopped, I didn't want her to at all! So yes on both accounts, and hoorah for you!

N.,

Lots of women get pregnant while breastfeeding with no effort. Others can't get pregnant until they quit. The first thing you should try is night weaning if you haven't already. Many women don't get their period back until they night wean. If that doesn't work, you may have to keep gradually cutting back on nursing until your period does come back. I wasn't one of the "lucky" ones. My period came back 4 months post partum with both of my kids in spite of nursing around the clock. LOL I nursed both my kids well past a year.

T.