Conceiving while BF

jgy2323

LO is 9 months and I'm still BF.  I would like to continue until she is a bit older.  Due to work related circumstances beyond my control I may have to speed up our timeline and try for #2 in January.  I have not gotten my period yet.  Is conception possible while BF?  Is ability to conceive reduced?  TIA!

megs68

When I was BFing DS, I didn't get my period for a year.  When I dropped a few feedings, it returned.  I'm not sure if it was a coincidence or not.  Also, although your period may return, you may not be fertile for a few cycles.  Sometimes it takes a few months to ovulate and sometimes, like for me, my luteal phase for a cycle or two was too short to sustain a pregnancy. 

meltoine

The book, Taking Charge of Your Fertility has a great chapter on postpartum fertility that can give you all the info you need.

drcolleen

Lots of people do it... if you don't have your period yet you may need to make a few changes ie night weaning or cutting out some feeds/pumps to encourage this and then there is no guarantee.  

Personal experience- worked >FT and pumped at work until around 15months, period returned 16mo, long cycles x 2-3, pregnant and miscarriage, pregnant again w/o a period after miscarriage = another miscarriage, cycle x1 and DD1 self weaned at 2nd b-day and got pregnant w/ DD2 that time.  I was not willing to wean DD1 to conceive but then, I had no rush other that the fear of deployment leading to a long interpregnancy interval.  But I do think I got pregnant every time I ovulated so moral is if you ovulate you have the possibility to get pregnant.

pitterpatter129

Just fyi - night weaning doesn't always equal the return of AF.  I night weaned long ago and have stopped daytime work pumping and still no AF.

bellelamb

I conceived with out trying while bfing!! I was on chlomid for a year and tried for almost two years to get pregnant with ds #2. I was still bfing him and had only gotten two periods when I got pregnant this time. I got af after I dropped one pumping session during the day while working but continued to bf even after I found out i was pregnant until ds was a year old.