A ? For those who've conceived while breastfeeding...

ninakbo79

Was you child night weaned when you got pregnant?  Was it necessary to night wean in order to conceive?  Just wondering as we are going to start TTC soon, but my DS still night nurses.  TIA!

ncbelle

I nightweaned Callum around 15 months and ovulated for the first time within a month or so - and got pregnant right away ;-)  He was still nursing a lot during the day at that time.

StefandTodd

No way.  My son had only started solids 2 weeks before, and we did 100% BLWing.  I had been working 6 weeks, was pumping three times a day, and he was sleeping in our bed all night long, nursing 1-3 times overnight...and I got pregnant.  Still night-nursing at 22 weeks pregnant.

danienross

DD was still nursing every 3hrs when I got pregnant.  Now she only nurses roughly twice a day but she cut back all on her own.  She was 14mos when I got pregnant and my cycle came back at 7mos PP.

nosoup4u

My cycles return only when my kids night wean. I night weaned DS1 at 21 months or so, in the hopes of triggering ovulation. I never got my period, but got pregnant right away when we started TTC. DS2 recently night weaned, and I just started cycling again.

You can always start TTC and see what happens, and then cut back on nursing sessions if you need to.

pixieprincss

Nope. My period came back at 4 months PP despite nursing on-cue around the clock, cosleeping, and spending little time apart. I got PG when DS was 10 months old and nursing every 2 hours at night and every 3-4 hours during the day.

terri_doula2010

Pregnancy is the only reason we ever night weaned. He was still nursing several times a night at 20 months when we conceived.

sbartschke

When I got my BFP DS was nursing at nap 1PM and bedtime 9PM sometimes at 10AM as well as thru the night. The only reason I night weaned was because I got pregnant and my boobs hurt and I was tired.

00jennifer00

I think it's super individual.  I got my ppaf back at 15mo with #1, 17mo with #2, 13mo with #3, and 15mo with #4.  I got pg within 4mo each time (had some losses though between #1 and #2, and #2 and #3).  #1 nw'd at 27mo (supreme solids issues/monster gag reflex, so I wanted to keep him nursing as much as possible, but I nw'd him when I was about 6w pg with #2).  #2 and #3 both nw'd around 18mo.  #4 is still nursing 2-3x most nights, and sometimes more, SIGH.  Once I get through this all day/night morning sickness we're going to nw, I just can't bear to be upright to rock her at night right now.

My best friend gets her ppaf back between 4mo and 9mo every time, even though she nurses around the clock.

Another friend doesn't get her ppaf back until she nw's, but she's had two of her babies nw spontaneously around 5mo and ended up pg before her period returns both times.

ninakbo79

Wow, this is all very encouraging....I guess my follow-up question would be did you all use OPKs, chart, etc.?  My cycles still haven't settled into a predictable pattern and I have fertile signs sporadically, like when I least expect them!

danienross

ninakbo79:

Wow, this is all very encouraging....I guess my follow-up question would be did you all use OPKs, chart, etc.?  My cycles still haven't settled into a predictable pattern and I have fertile signs sporadically, like when I least expect them!

I was charting for BC purposes and we weren't as careful as we should have been.  I'm pretty sure I got pregnant the first month I could have though because my LP was too short (4-7 days) in the 6 cycles I had before that. 

erbear

Mine was, but she night-weaned around 9 months and I got pregnant when she was 14 months and only nursing morning and night.

CalinsBride

Yes, DS was night weaned when I got PG with DD. 

catdwg83

Nope. I got my first PP period 6 weeks after delivery & it was regular the whole time after that. I BF DS until last month.

KateLouise

ninakbo79:

Wow, this is all very encouraging....I guess my follow-up question would be did you all use OPKs, chart, etc.?  My cycles still haven't settled into a predictable pattern and I have fertile signs sporadically, like when I least expect them!

I got my first PPAF at 7mths. It took until LO was around 10 or 11 mths for it to fall back into its normal 28-30 day cycle. We got pregnant when LO was 15mths.

She was nursing first thing in the AM, late afternoon (after I picked her after work), bedtime and then once or twice at night.

We charted in that I paid attention to my CM, but didn't temp or anything else. We got pregnant first cycle trying. 

nosoup4u

ninakbo79:

Wow, this is all very encouraging....I guess my follow-up question would be did you all use OPKs, chart, etc.?  My cycles still haven't settled into a predictable pattern and I have fertile signs sporadically, like when I least expect them!

Uh, we just stopped using condoms, and I got pg pretty much right away.

Angela814

I am still nursing DD2 at night, and I found out I'm (unexpectedly) pg last week. 

 We had TTC when DD1 was just over a year, and after 6 months of trying, I did not get pg. She was still nursing a few times a day and at night at that point. Our timing have been off, or I may not have gotten pg bc she was nursing often.  

WildcatPrincess

My cycles returned like clockwork when DD was 5 months old, by the time we were ready to TTC around the year mark I was charting and we had no problem.

StefandTodd

nosoup4u:

ninakbo79:

Wow, this is all very encouraging....I guess my follow-up question would be did you all use OPKs, chart, etc.?  My cycles still haven't settled into a predictable pattern and I have fertile signs sporadically, like when I least expect them!

Uh, we just stopped using condoms, and I got pg pretty much right away.

Ditto this.  We stopped preventing, and I got pregnant. 

I only had one post partum period, and it was actually 5 weeks before I conceived #2 (according to an u/s at 6 weeks, when I thought by LMP I was 9 weeks!), so my cycles hadn't normalized at all (and I was pre-pregnancy someone with very "normal" 28 day cycles).

tomkat35728

I did not night wean DS when I became pregnant with DD. He night weaned on his own when I was about 8 weeks pregnant.

ETA: AF came back when DS was 3 months old. I had been charting to avoid pregnancy for several months. We started TTC in August and I was pregnant in October

ninakbo79

Thank you all for your responses.   I suppose we have been passively trying to get pregnant in that we are not preventing since AF returned in April.   I'm a little freaked out because prior to getting pregnant I was very regular and we conceived on our first try.   I guess I'm just going to try to relax a bit now that I know it's possible without forcing the night weaning.  

Rdautenhahn

ninakbo79:

Thank you all for your responses.   I suppose we have been passively trying to get pregnant in that we are not preventing since AF returned in April.   I'm a little freaked out because prior to getting pregnant I was very regular and we conceived on our first try.   I guess I'm just going to try to relax a bit now that I know it's possible without forcing the night weaning.  

I am so glad you posted this question. My son is 10 months and I'm still waiting on the return of my cycle. It's giving me so much paranoia!

Is your LO sleeping through the night? My son is not night weaned so it makes bbt charting very difficult.  

ninakbo79

Rdautenhahn:

ninakbo79:

Thank you all for your responses.   I suppose we have been passively trying to get pregnant in that we are not preventing since AF returned in April.   I'm a little freaked out because prior to getting pregnant I was very regular and we conceived on our first try.   I guess I'm just going to try to relax a bit now that I know it's possible without forcing the night weaning.  

I am so glad you posted this question. My son is 10 months and I'm still waiting on the return of my cycle. It's giving me so much paranoia!

Is your LO sleeping through the night? My son is not night weaned so it makes bbt charting very difficult.  

DS is definitely not STTN and I rarely get a solid three hour block of sleep necessary for temping.   I may just start and hope I can still see a temp shift.   Otherwise, I may just try to BD every other day and see how that works...

KelliLynee

DD night weaned on her own really early, and so AF came back early as well, even though DD was exclusively breastfed. I had had AF for months by the time we started TTC. 

Todd&Laura

When I conceived, my son was down to nursing only right after waking up. I have a friend who was EBFing her 6-7 month old when she got pregnant with her son. I don't think you necessarily need to night wean your baby to conceive.