My husband and I are about ready to start trying for our second one. Our little girl won't be one until May, but we would like to be pregnant around her first birthday or soon after making them just under 2 years apart. So we would like to start up within a few months, so we are trying to prepare both body and mind :)
My question is that I am breastfeeding full time (7 months now) and has still not gotten my period. I know I hear woman get pregnant all the time while breastfeeding and not having their period, but I tend to think this is more of a rarity than a rule.
Is my only option to either wait for the oops pregnancy where I am not having a period, but we find out we are pregnant (which doesn't seem likely to me since we haven't been using protection regularly for 4 months now) or do I have to slow down on the breastfeeding to get my body back into working order?? I can see that with the introduction of food my daughter is feeding on me less, but in reality we are still at it full time!
Are there other natural options??
I will ask my OB in April during my yearly check up, but I thought I would ask you gals, since I am sure some of you have dealt with this.
We are by no means desperate to be pregnant right away and I can wait for nature to take its course, but I guess I am just more curious as to how this all works.
Thanks for any insight.
Thanks for all your advice!
I for sure am not stressing about getting pregnant :) lol
We aren't even really "trying" to at this moment; we just have moments of not being overly careful. I was just more curious about how it all worked and when I could expect to see a period again.
I have no plans on stopping breastfeeding early. Having time with my daughter and doing what is best for her is my #1 priority!
In June we will officially be trying to have another and I just hope that by then my cycle will be back on tract.
Thanks for all the words of wisdom!
You have received some great responses from Moms out there, but I am not sure why you would consider waiting until April to speak with your doctor. Your doc is just a phone call away with your medical history at hand.
Have fun in the meantime. That is usually the best way to conceive!!!
I had one period around the time my son was 7 months old (keep in mind he was not eating much food due to reflux, so he was still nursing quite a bit). Needless to say I was pregnant before I was able to have a second period. If you can convince your husband to use protection that might be the easiest route to time it right.
Good luck!
R.
Just some thoughts--It takes about two year for your body to completely recover all your resources from being pregnant and nursing. So if you do get pregnant around one year the pregnancy will be h*** o* your body because you will not be completely recovered from your first pregnancy. Also, do you really want to wean your daughter from what is the healthiest thing for her for a baby that doesn't have to come now? I would suggest letting nature takes it course because in the long run it will be easier on all of you--including the new baby because Mommy won't be so stressed out from taking care of two very small children!! Just my take. Good luck!
J.
I think everyone's body is a bit different, and some women get pregnant right away while others can't seem to until they wean. In general, if you are feeding every 4-6 hours and are not supplementing at all, you are generally not going to get pregnant. However, there are no guarantees once you start solids. I think your body protects you from getting pregnant until it is ready again, as bf and pregnancy take a lot out of our bodies. I was tracking my ovulation, and I ovulated only sporadically until I night weaned my daughter at 25 months. I got my period at 8 or 9 months, but it was really irregular--with 2.5 to 6.5 weeks between periods. Once I weaned her at night, my cycle was regular again, and I got pregnant again right away. Other people I know couldn't get pregnant until a few months after they weaned completely. I think your body knows when you are ready, and does a good job taking care of that. I wouldn't wean prematurely, just to space children a certain distance apart. That's just my opinion, but I would just relax and see what happens over the next 6 months--which would still give you kiddos less than 2 years apart. And I do second the opinion that a call to your OB could put your mind as ease--answering your questions, and letting you make a more informed decision. Good luck with adding to your family!
I don't think the women who got pregnant without having a period just got pregnant without ovulating. What my doula told me is that they just happened to get pregnant the first time they ovulated after giving birth, and their body did not have a chance to menstruate.
There is a theory that when you breastfeed, your body will tell you when it is ready to be pregnant again (natural childspacing), which could be 6 weeks postpartum to years.
As you know, periods come back at different times - with my first child, it came back when she was 5 months old. My son is almost 13 months, and it has yet to appear. I got pregnant again when my daughter was 12 months. (you sure you want them so close together? - lol)
I breastfed her until 1 month before my son was born.
I think you might be able to get the mini pill from your doctor and it may tell your body to start ovulating. You would have to be on it for a few months (sounds like it's defeating the purpose, right?) and then go off and see what happens.
Good luck! I know the feeling of wanting to be pregnant again! Hope it works out for you!
I agree with listening to your body, it usually knows what it's doing. The only thing I will add is not to stress about it. Stress does not help your body to ovulate, let alone get pregnant. So, best advice, have fun and when it happens, it happens! When it does happen, I am a birth doula in your area and would be happy to help ;)
I highly recommend the book "Breastfeeding and Natural Child Spacing" by Sheila Kippley. It explains how all of this works, and I found it to be extremely informative and helpful. You can figure out what will work for you and your body once you have the information. :)
Many women get pregnant while breastfeeding, and sometimes they will ovulate before having thier first period after the previous birth. Whether this will happen for you? Who knows, but I do think that it is really important to keep breastfeeding your baby for as long as possible, it is so healthy for you both. This is a very precious and fleeting time in your life, your sweet little baby will be grown before you know it, so just relax and enjoy this first year of your baby's life before you try too hard to have another one.
A bit more on the subject... The link between breastfeeding and ovulation is really facinating in it's own right, breastfeeding can delay ovulation IF your body "knows" that it cannot sustain both milk production and pregnancy at the same time. This really only works in hunter-gatherer type societies where women have to do lots of hard physical labor and consume very few calories, they simply don't have the nutritional reserves to sustain more than one baby at a time, their babies are typically spaced 3 years apart or more. In modern America this is not the case as we have access to abundant food and we do not have to dig tubers and walk 15 miles a day. If you are too thin and work out excessively this will harm your fertility however, it is a more common problem than one might suspect. Of course the reverse is true too, excess body fat can also harm fertility. If you want to know more about fertility and help your chances of getting pregnant there are many good books that you can borrow from your library about it.
I breastfeed full time and got pregnant when my son was 11 months old. Around 8 months old I started to get periods because my son had started more solid foods and didn't need to nurse as much.
I would also recommend "Breastfeeding and Natural Child Spacing." On these types of questions it really depends how you are breastfeeding and if the baby gets any of its sucking needs away from the breast. Personally, I breastfeed pretty often, and my 12-mo-old daughter is eating a decent amount of solids. I haven't had a period yet. The book I mentioned says the average time before a period if you breastfeed on demand and often is 14 mos.
You definitely can, but fertility/ovulation returns for every woman differently. A great book is "Taking Charge of Your Fertility" by Toni Weschler. They also have a support message board with women actively trying and succeeding on getting pregnant while breastfeeding and also trying to avoid pregnancy (www.ovusoft.com)
just a caveat.. my friend had two babies that ended up nearly 1 year apart exactly... so you can get pregnant while breastfeeding! (she got pregnant nearly the first time they had had sex after their 1st was born... and they tried for years to get pregnant the first time.)
anyway, that said... I don't think you have to wean completely to be pregnant again.. just remember breastfeeding takes a lot out of your body and so does being pregnant... so you might want to cut back or start weaning if you want to get pregnant again. (i'm pregnant with my 2nd right now and I so do not remember being this tired with my first... but then again, i didn't have a 2 y.o. to chase around).
does your daughter take a bottle? would you consider starting to supplement with formula? my daughter (now 2) wouldn't take a bottle no matter what we tried... but by the time she was 7 or 8 mos, we started giving her a cup... pumped breastmilk at first, then we started giving her a little formula (I had gone back to work too... so this was necessary as i wasn't able to pump enough). I would bf her in the morning and at night, but otherwise, it was formula. this seemed to work well and be a good transition. by 9 mos she ended up preferring the cup and weaned herself.
good luck whatever you decide to do.. and congrats on your little girl and best wishes for the new little one to come.
